21/10/2026
π₯ INDUSTRY FEATURE β Fire, Smoke & Charcoal | Why the best are so hard to copy
Fire was the first way we ever cooked. Yet very few chefs have truly mastered it.
Doing it at this level every single night is a different game. There's no dial on a fire. Wood changes with species, moisture and season. Chefs cook by touch, smell and sound, not timers. And Michelin judges consistency between visits, so the coal bed on a wet Tuesday has to deliver the same plate as a packed Saturday.
That's why the ones doing it well stand out:
ArkhΓ©, Adelaide β Jake Kellie's open-flame kitchen in Norwood just earned one of Australia's first Michelin stars.
Burnt Ends, Singapore β Perth-born Dave Pynt cooking over custom four-tonne ovens and wood grills. A Michelin star every year since 2018.
Agnes, Brisbane β Ben Williamson's Fortitude Valley kitchen cooks entirely over wood, with no gas or electricity. Gourmet Traveller's 2023 Restaurant of the Year, only the second Queensland restaurant ever to win it.
Exhibition, Brisbane β Tim Scott's 24-seat basement room, built around his homemade hibachi grill.
Terra Firma, Queensland β French-born Charly Pretet left fine-dining kitchens behind to cook everything over open flame, with the fire set up in the middle of the event.
Firedoor, Sydney β Lennox Hastie, ex Asador Etxebarri. No gas line, everything over wood.
Mr Morris, Auckland β Michael Meredith's Britomart dining room, opened after he closed his acclaimed Meredith's. Open fire runs through the menu. Two Cuisine hats and recommended in NZ's first Michelin Guide.
Tala, Auckland β Henry Onesemo lights an umu as guests sit down and cooks over open fire. The world's first Samoan restaurant with a Michelin star.
Notice the lineage. Kellie ran the pass at Burnt Ends before opening ArkhΓ©. Hastie spent years on the grills at Etxebarri. Fire cooking gets passed hand to hand, cook to cook. You learn it standing at the coals next to someone who already has it.
Chefs: want to cook over fire? Go stage in one of these kitchens.
Who are we missing? Tag the fire cooks doing it right in ANZ π
