Stuart Bell – Chasing a Chef’s Tall Hat
At Harry’s on Buderim, chef-owner Stuart Bell has spent almost eight years proving that a good meal doesn’t need bells and whistles – just local produce, classic technique and a menu that knows when to stop. In this episode, Stuart takes us from a childhood in Melbourne’s south-east, watching his mum cook Sunday roasts and dreaming of a chef’s tall white hat, through the grand kitchens of the Windsor Hotel, a decade at Ten Minutes by Tractor on the Mornington Peninsula, and stints across Ireland, London and France. In 2018, he found the heritage-listed Buderim building and knew straight away it was the one.
We talk about the discipline of pulling flavours back once you’ve learned to layer them on, the real economics of running a restaurant that people assume is glamorous, and why staff costs are the hardest thing to keep in check. Stuart also opens up on the creative streak running through his family, and on what it takes to keep a kitchen – and a hospitality life going strong.
