PHIL WOOD

Pt Leo Estate (Merricks, Victoria) Having grown up on a hobby farm outside Christchurch, Phil Wood is somewhat accustomed to living among the local fauna. As a child, he earned pocket money by raising orphaned lambs or, wait for it, picking the wool off dead sheep to sell. But having to wait for stray cows or kangaroos to move off the road on the drive home after dinner service at Pt Leo Estate on the Mornington Peninsula was still something of a shock for a chef who had spent much of his adult life in Sydney. “I never anticipated I’d have to call people at work and let them know there are a lot of kangaroos on the road,” he says.

On the flipside, the former Eleven Bridge chef relishes being closer to the producers that his restaurants rely on. “It’s definitely given me a different perspective on seasons and how farmers operate.” His favourite discovery, though, is the coffee at the local general stores found on the Peninsula.

“They know me as double-espresso guy.”