Meet Point Cook’s very own master chef, Jack Lee.
Mr Lee was crowned Chef of the Year by Foodservice Australia in May after contesting a three-day competition in Sydney against 180 other entrants.
He cooked his way through several live rounds of food challenges, sometimes against head chefs from big venues and hotels.
Mr Lee said he was “overwhelmed” to win the contest.
He said he believed his experience participating in a Chaine des Rotisseurs competition for young chefs, which he won two years ago, prepared him well for the Foodservice Australia event.
He has also previously worked as a senior sous chef at Hentley Farm in South Australia.
Now Mr Lee is planning to use his experience to open a cafe in his home suburb.
He’s hoping to open Beansmuggler later this month.
“I’m excited but I’m also a little bit nervous, it’s my first business,” he said.
He said it was Melbourne’s well-known cafe culture which inspired him to open a cafe in Wyndham.
“Me and my girlfriend, when we wanted to go for brunch or a meal, couldn’t find many places to go, so we decided to set up and said, ‘Let’s make the best cafe in Point Cook’,” he said.
“I’m trying to get the northern brunch culture here in Point Cook.”
