When it comes to sourcing produce, there's nothing quite like the practice of gathering wild food. This month, Ducks trio, Andy Allen, Darren Robertson and Mark La Brooy joined fellow chef James Viles, and headed down south into pine forest country to forage for wild pine mushrooms. What they came back with was a very impressive [...]
REAL FOOD EXPERIENCES ACROSS FOUR VENUES. EXPLORE OUR LOCAL OFFERS.
Mark started his career in cooking straight after high school in 1999 and landed an apprenticeship under Klaus Huber, the executive chef for Bennelong and the Opera House restaurants. He went on to work at Tetsuyas where he met fellow mate and Duck, Darren Robertson. Opting out of fine dining, he was invited to run café Morso on Jones Bay Wharf and became a registered buyer at the Sydney Fish Markets, where he selected fresh fish for services daily (right up his alley).
In 2004, he left to live the dream, snowboarding and cooking in chalets during the winters and surfing the French, Portuguese, Spanish and Moroccan coastlines during the summer with his well-earned Swiss Francs. In 2008, Mark set up residence in Zurich where he worked at Josef and quickly became the sous under the owner/head chef, loving the progressive style of cooking in an otherwise traditional cuisine city.
It was 2010 when the penny dropped and the idea behind Three Blue Ducks came to fruition. The Ducks found instant success and became the first café to be invited to the Good Food Guide restaurant awards under a new category 'best breakfast'. Three Ducks became five when they joined forces with Jeff Bennett and Darren Robertson to open for dinner. Six weeks later, they were awarded their first hat.
In 2014, The Ducks built and opened Three Blue Ducks on The Farm in Byron Bay for which they were awarded Gourmet Traveller’s Best Regional Restaurant. In 2016, Three Blue Ducks Rosebery opened with co-owner Andy Allen, which was awarded a hat in the 2018 Good Food Guide. The Ducks newest venture is a restaurant at the W hotel in Brisbane. Mark has co-written three books, The Blue Ducks (2012), Real Food (2014) and Blue Ducks in the Country (2017), and is an OzHarvest ambassador.
Passionate about subsistence hunting, Mark largely hunts wild animals considered pests, such as deer, rabbits, kangaroos and goats, and spearfishes for Spanish mackerel, tuna, snapper, mahi-mahi, squid, cuttlefish, lobster and sea urchin – everything he hunts, he eats. For Mark, hunting is an important way of engaging with the environment, and becoming an advocate to protect it.
Away from the tools Marky, as he is affectionately known, is as avid road bike motorcycle racer, cyclist, forager, surfer and loving partner to his wife, Hannah.
English born and raised, I came to Australia in 2014, where I quickly joined the Three Blue Ducks at their original outpost in Bronte, Sydney! Back then, there was only one restaurant and all of the owners worked out of it! Being part of a company that really cared about the farmers and the growers who were supplying them with produce, the Ducks passion was infectious. I still feel so fortunate to work for a company that's renowned as the Sydney progenitors of paddock to plate, grow it yourself, minimum waste movement.
I suppose not surprisingly, during my time with Three Blue Ducks, my interest in agriculture – in particular pertaining to the world of viticulture – piqued.
Over the last five years, I have loved exploring the country's amazing and varied wine regions, discovering and learning as much as I can about Australia's wine industry. So much so, I am now studying a Bachelor of Viticulture alongside my role as the group's sommelier!
I took some time out to travel around Australia and fell in love with Byron Bay in 2014. The idea of moving here wouldn’t go away, and I kept dreaming of creating a life for myself and finding a job in my field. I moved here within the year.
I was introduced to Three Blue Ducks and was very inspired by the project and their ethos. Our values are really aligned. I thought that I could contribute and create something different to what they already offered, pushed for a job.
I started with working on the floor, and not long after I started I began talking to the owners, highlighting my experience in events coupled with sending my CV to them every week for 2 months!!! I really wanted to show them just what I could bring to the company.
I was offered the position I kept putting myself forward for, and set about creating an entire department from scratch. That has been a huge and exciting project, for which I am incredibly grateful for.
Now we have a well-established department and over 50 happy couples.
The wedding industry comes with challenges but working for the boys I feel really supported.
I love the fact that I am creating the most magical day for a couple. It makes it all worthwhile and reassures me that this is exactly where I am meant to be.
There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing an event all fall into place - even better to have a client approach you to say that their event was everything they imagined and more. I love that the ethos of Three Blue Ducks continues to attract like-minded clients who have a passion for good food, urban aesthetics and having a great time! My role at Three Blue Ducks allows me to be involved from the conception of ideas to the planning, creation and execution of a wide range of events, functions, parties and weddings.
During the 15 years I have worked in the hospitality industry I have developed extensive experience in on the spot problem solving - ensuring that customer experience always comes first - even when the unexpected pops up. I have worked in many different areas of events however I would have to say my keen eye for detail was developed over the 6 year period I spent managing a team of stewardesses running events for high profile clients onboard luxury yachts between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. I now am well practised in coordinating successful events and functions and maintain great relationships with external suppliers and contractors.
Every client has a different idea of how they want their event to run and I absolutely love assisting in that process whether it be consultation or collaboration. My main aim is that your event unfolds exactly how you envisioned.
Pawel Klodowski has joined Three Blue Ducks from his previous role as chef de cuisine at hatted restaurant Noosa Beach House, where he worked and trained alongside Peter Kuruvita.
Having completed his education and training in Poland, Pawel continued his international career over the subsequent 15 years working in world-class restaurants in his home country of Poland, as well as in Ireland, Denmark, the US, Cyprus, Copenhagen, Fiji and Samoa.
REAL FOOD EXPERIENCES ACROSS FIVE VENUES. EXPLORE OUR LOCAL OFFERS.
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Born & bred in Korea, Heeju crossed the pond to Sydney in 2016 where she fell in love with the Aussie cuisine.
Though her skills may not lie in the kitchen or behind a bar, Heeju made her way into the hospo industry with her love of numbers.
Now, 8 years on, 3 degrees, 6 restaurant openings & 3 closures later Heeju heads up our accounts team at The Ducks.
When she is not crushing numbers in our Sydney HQ, Heeju loves exploring new restaurants and cafes in the city with her fiancé or hitting the gym early doors during the week.
I was raised in a household with great food at its heart. Each social occasion meant pulling out recipe books, lists of ingredients, days of preparation, and a thorough run sheet. I learnt from a young age how effective food is at bringing people together.
All my first jobs were in hospitality - an Italian bakery where I learnt to make coffee, the Indian restaurant that left my uniform smelling of saffron and cardamom, the bar where I poured my first beer. After university, and a decade working in scientific research, a chance to volunteer at a cooking school while living in Seattle reignited my passion for food and hospitality. After working as an event producer in the USA, I moved back to Australia in search of the perfect fit.
For me, hospitality has always been about the guests; my drive is towards building a community around good food and great wine. This love of community is what brought me to the Three Blue Ducks. I love it here. When you visit, you'll find me mixing up cocktails in the bar or chatting to guests on the floor, ensuring you all have the best experience possible.
I grew up on a property in the rural northeast of Italy, in the region called Friuli Venezia Giulia where we had pigs, cattle, goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits, and lots of veggies, as my dad grew up in a family of farmers, he didn’t like to go to grocery stores unless necessary.
Dad used to take me everywhere with him. One day was hunting, one day fishing, make cheeses or jams, pasta, gnocchi, passata, pickles with grandma, so every day was something different.
He taught me when to harvest vegetables and grains, what to feed the pigs to produce richness in the meat, how to cure things properly, how to fish in many different ways, how to cure products with only fire and air, how to cook with fire, how to build a clay oven on the river banks, but most importantly, to be respectful of the ingredients and animals we use, as they gave their life for us.
Due to that I’m really into Nose to Tail type of cooking, what’s seasonal and I really love game.
I landed in Sydney in October 2011, a few weeks before my birthday. After about a year of finding my feet, I moved to Paddington where I started my new job at the Paddington Inn, from there I worked at a few venues owned by Merivale and then I decided to go to Asia.
I spent a good year between Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam, I loved the food, the culture, and the differences in food between each region of every country, probably because it sent me back home for a second here and there.
In 2017, I met my wife to be and decided to move to Melbourne.
I got a job at LEMONGRASS in Carlton, I worked there for 3 years then…COVID arrived, the restaurant had to close so me and Head Chef PAULA BERTUS worked together for about a year doing Chef’s table dinners at guest houses or for bigger events when possible. After a while me and my wife Elena decided we had enough of big cities and wanted to go back to the country, where we both felt at home.
That’s when I got the job with the Ducks in Nimbo, thank God for that, and as they say, ‘the rest is history’!
From: Gloucestershire, England
Backstory: I never wanted to be a chef, I wanted to work in the Front of House of restaurants but ended up doing work experience in a kitchen whilst studying hospitality at college and found it more enjoyable and seemed to be good at it. This led to a bunch of opportunities around the UK, including my first Head Chef role at 25 in a 5 STAR hotel. I spent the next 10 years in London, working 4 years for the England MasterChef presenter, John Torode, as Head Chef of his restaurant and 5.5 years in Mayfair, running two restaurants as Executive Chef. These roles were a great development opportunity for me but living and working in Australia was something I wanted to pursue since my early 20's.
Arrival: I arrived in Australia for the first time in 2017, for a 7-week eating + drinking fest… Basically, I enjoyed lunch and dinner every day across Sydney and Melbourne's best venues! I moved back here for good in 2019, working for Merivale, Mary's Underground, and a small chain of hotels.
Present: I wanted to get back to a bustling restaurant environment and it's been the perfect time to come on as Head Chef of the Ducks in Rosebery, with hospitality scene coming back to life. I like the creativity and cooking style that the Ducks are known for and look forward the warmer months ahead.
During her 20-year accounting career, Lindsay has been fortunate enough to do the most boring job in some of Australia’s most exciting organisations including the Sydney Opera House, Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and now, Three Blue Ducks.
Lindsay has always been passionate about food and maths, which stood her in good stead to take the reins as resident numbers guru at the Ducks. When she is not quality testing the latest breakfast special or mainlining coffee, she can be found attempting to right the world’s wrongs using Microsoft Excel.
Born and raised in the north of England, Lindsay now lives in the Northern Rivers (Bundjalung Country) with her husband, two daughters, and miniature dachshund.
Born & bred in Korea, Heeju crossed the pond to Sydney in 2016 where she fell in love with the Aussie cuisine.
Though her skills may not lie in the kitchen or behind a bar, Heeju made her way into the hospo industry with her love of numbers. Now, 8 years on, 3 degrees, 6 restaurant openings & 3 closures later Heeju heads up our accounts team at The Ducks.
When she is not crushing numbers in our Sydney HQ, Heeju loves exploring new restaurants and cafes in the city with her fiancé or hitting the gym early doors during the week.
