Celebrity Chef Demonstrations
John McFadden
Australian born and trained, John McFadden commenced his career in the kitchen at the age of 12, starting as a humble kitchen hand. He has over thirty years in the food industry and is well recognised for his attention to detail and leading multiple teams and operations.
Along with Carol Selva Raja he was one of the first and youngest Australian chefs to be invited to cook at The James Beard Foundation in New York for 80 New York food critics. Johns last 17 years has been at a Group Executive Chef level overseeing multiple operations and teams nationwide delivering varied food concepts and training programs.
John recently won the Seafood category at The World Food Championships here in Australia. He then moved on to The World Food Championship title in Dallas, Texas, and brought home the World Title beating over 80,000 entries worldwide. John (who competed solo) has just returned from Bentonville, Arkansas in May 2023 taking out Final Table and the overall World Food Champion competing against the other 9 category winners and their teams of three.
He has just returned going back to back World Seafood Championship titles.
Olivia Rand
Olivia Pizzirani is a qualified chef, restaurant and food truck owner from Tasmania.
After travelling and living across Europe, NZ and the americas Olivia then opened her first restaurant at 22. At 24 she found herself the proud new owner of her first food truck and launched a catering business shortly after, spanning across all areas of the state.
Her restaurant has featured in country style magazine and Olivia has headlined a multitude of culinary events. She has since moved to Hobart where she has opened up her own Italian fusion space and galavants across the countryside with her food truck and catering at most big festivals and events.
Having learnt from the best in the business (her nonna) Olivia’s food centres around her Italian heritage, paying homage to the essence of her growing up whilst also taking advantage of the amazing produce and quality available in Tasmania.
She is passionate about food sustainability and resourcing and knows the importance food can hold when bringing people together.
Chris Williams
Executive Chef from Rupert and Hound.
After earning his chefs stripes in his native Scotland, including some Michelin-starred establishments, Chris Williams took on the world --- cooking in the United States and aboard cruise ships.
He made landfall again in Western Australia, where he met and married a former Tassie girl, who encouraged him to return with her to the island state.
He arrived in Tasmania permanently 10 years ago to be head chef at Launceston’s Cataract on Paterson, then designed the kitchen at sister restaurant Rupert and Hound and took on the group executive chef role across both establishments.