In conversation with Chef Sam Gowing

This interview first appeared in 2018 as part of a feature for The Kitchens at Robina Town Centre.

From Restaurant Tables to Food as Medicine

Why did you become a chef?

I’ve been cooking since I was six years old. I grew up around the tables of my father’s first restaurant in Melbourne, where both he and my grandmother, Evie, taught me the foundations of cooking.

After finishing high school, I applied for a job at Wendy’s Hamburgers and was told by an employment officer that the hospitality industry wasn’t the right career path for me. Thankfully, I ignored that advice.

I spent decades working in front-of-house hospitality before retraining as a clinical nutritionist. In 2012, almost 30 years after beginning my culinary journey, I was invited to become Head Chef at a health retreat in Northern NSW.

Today, my work brings together my two greatest passions: culinary arts and nutrition science.

What’s on your plate this autumn?

Autumn is a beautiful time to embrace nourishing, warming foods.

You’ll often find cauliflower, parsnips and basmati rice featuring in my seasonal dishes. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, white foods support lung energy, the dominant organ system during autumn.

As we move into cooler weather, I also love cooking with chestnuts, aduki beans, quinoa, pumpkin, lima beans, ginger and shiitake mushrooms. These ingredients have warming properties and can help support the body during cold and flu season.

What’s your favourite food trend?

The move towards cleaner, simpler eating.

I’ve been advocating for this approach for almost 20 years, so it’s wonderful to see people becoming more interested in food that is closer to its natural state and genuinely nourishing.

What’s your least favourite food trend?

Anything that arrives in jars or is unnecessarily “deconstructed”.

If I have to smash my own avocado or assemble my own cocktail from a board of ingredients, I feel like I may as well have stayed home.

Dining out should feel effortless.

What’s your late-night craving?

I don’t usually have late-night cravings, but whenever I’m back in my hometown of Melbourne, I make a pilgrimage to Supper Inn, the iconic late-night Chinese restaurant.

Some traditions are worth keeping.

What excites you most about food?

The wonderful thing about food is that there is very little that is truly new.

Ingredients remain as Mother Nature intended; it’s how we combine them, elevate their flavours and transform their textures that keeps food exciting.

Even after more than 40 years in hospitality, discovering a truly exceptional restaurant still gives me goosebumps.

What’s the one kitchen tool you can’t live without?

A handheld Microplane.

It allows me to zest, grate and garnish while still engaging with guests — and, importantly, without losing a finger.

Who is your celebrity chef crush?

Without question, Anthony Bourdain.

He once cooked me a birthday lunch at Chef Ray Capaldi’s former Melbourne restaurant, Fenix. It was an intimate event for just nine guests.

Ray did most of the cooking, while Bourdain did most of the Corona drinking — and swearing.

It was unforgettable.