From a young age, Adam Woodfield has loved food, a passion that led him to become one of Melbourne's most acclaimed chefs.
Adam Woodfield, Executive Chef at Salted Egg at the Quincy Hotel entertainment precinct in Melbourne, has always had a deep passion for food.
Following his parent’s divorce, Woodfield went to live with his father in Melbourne. He said that eating out a lot in different places created a buzz of exciting smells and sounds coming from the kitchen. As a young teen, he became curious to know what life was like behind the pass.
Woodfield first fell in love with Southeast Asian dishes two decades ago on his travels through Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and more. Since then he has honed his skills to pay homage to each region’s culinary individuality through a fine balancing act of heat and spice, and all-important interplay between sweet, sour and salty elements.
He has worked alongside some of Australia’s most celebrated and authentic Southeast Asian restaurants, like Sydney’s Jimmy Liks, Melbourne’s Chin Chin and Hamilton Island’s Coca Chu. I also owned ‘Betel’ restaurant, in New York.
“I love to prepare modern Southeast Asian cuisine – true to origin – that extends beyond use of traditional ingredients to age-old tools and techniques. It's something I have introduced to Quincy Melbourne and at Salted Egg,” said Woodfield.
David Thompson, one of Woodfield’s inspirations, has played a big role in his love for Thai food. Woodfield had the chance to host his second book launch for two nights at one of his restaurants. During that time, Thompson showed him new ways to approach Thai cooking, how to cook with a palate and the importance of sourcing traditional ingredients and not using substitutes.
Woodfield said the rising costs of everything – from wages to ingredients and utilities - will cause challenges within the industry.
“As chefs and business people, I believe we need to be smarter in our operations and look at ways to integrate technology to achieve sustainable returns.”
Aside from his wife, Samantha, and the birth of his two boys, Kingston and Baz, Woodfield’s career highlight has been the opening of Betel, his New York restaurant. At only 26, Woodfield opened Beter after only being in New York for two years. He said the whole experience was a learning curb, and he has many fond memories of his time there.
At Salted Egg, Wooffield has looked at ways to incorporate Indigenous produce and producers into the menus, which he is very excited about. He said that Indigenous produce can work really well with Southeast Asian cuisine and offers a modern spin on a very traditional cuisine.
He said young chefs should be prepared to work hard, and not be scared of taking risks. He said it was important to learn wherever they go.
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