Pete Evans

Born:  Melbourne VIC

History:  Award-winning Australian chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, TV presenter, adventure seeker and father, celebrated chef Pete Evans is a familiar face to many adoring Australian and overseas fans. 

This determined chef was raised on the Gold Coast and by age 13 had established an insatiable love for the waves.  To support his lifestyle that consisted of fishing and surfing, he began rolling pastry at a pie shop and really enjoyed it; Pete realized as a teen that cooking could be the perfect job, being a good trade for him that would leave his days free. 

Flash forward to 1993 when Pete graduated from catering college and took on the role of executive chef at Pantry in Melbourne, commencing his success.  In 1996, Pete and his business partners followed that with the launch of Hugos restaurant group in Sydney, history in the making.

After nearly a decade dealing with Hugos' business expansion, Pete Evans became a cookbook author with the release of “Fish”, published by Murdoch Books (2007).  Come July 2012 he will officially release his sixth book with them entitled “Pizza”, attesting to his appreciative readership who resonate with his down-to-earth persona.

In the About Me section of his website Pete graciously explains, “Thankfully the emails from people who read my books, try my recipes and cook them for their friends and families have all been incredibly positive. I’m busier than ever doing what I love to do most.”

With growing public popularity, Pete Evans was approached by TV execs about appearing on television but they were met with trepidation as his comfort zone was in the kitchen behind the scenes.  The Lifestyle Channel finally enticed Pete onto the screens in 2001 with ‘Home’, followed by ‘Postcards from Home’, and including the doco 'Cooking for our Princess Mary'; thereafter he worked on Channel 9's 'Fish', followed by 400 episodes of ‘Fresh’.

In 2009 Pete began co-hosting Channel 7's ‘My Kitchen Rules’ (MKR) with Manu Feildel whom he’d established a great friendship with in the early days of Hugos. By 2012 the third season of MKR proved to be one of the highest-rated Australian TV shows on television.

Pete Evans is one to give back, donating his time and support to charities that are close to his heart:  Children’s Hospital Foundation, Connecting Hands, The Starlight Foundation, The National Breast Cancer Foundation and the Paul Newman Foundation.