Executive sous Chef at La Lune, Oskar Pinter, was exposed to a world of excellent food from an early age. Being half-Austrian, he spent his childhood savouring the delicacies of cured and slow-cooked meats, where his life-long love and inspiration of incorporating rich and homely flavours was born.
Oskar Pinter
Pinter started his career in 2016 when he was offered an apprenticeship at the Loose Box under the MOF Alain Fabregues. Initially, Pinter thought he wanted to become an architect and world-class equestrian rider; however, after his first week under the teaching of Fabregues, he became entirely immersed in a new passion and love for the world of food.
Trained in classic French cuisine, Pinter occupied his time mastering his cooking and cultivating new and innovative dishes embedded with old-school traditions of sourcing locally fresh ingredients and utilising every possible aspect of the animal, from nose to tail.
Pinter learned the methods of curing, smoking, and preserving food and took great care and pleasure from gardening, spending the last four years perfecting his green thumb in organic food production.
The latest creation from Pinter is an apple-brined pork rib rack, which has been brined for seven days and smoked for eight hours.
“We have recently started growing our herbs and vegetables for use in our kitchen,” said Pinter.
His passion has led him to be an award-winning executive sous chef, earned through his work as either a leader or part of the team for renowned restaurants. However, he is also incredibly proud of opening the Nest in Canada.
Moving forward, the hospitality industry is expected to come up against challenges. The most significant for Pinter is finding young, excited, passionate and hungry-to-learn chefs. He continued that chefs being in short supply is an issue compounding an industry already feeling the pinch of increased costs of produce and trying to manage overheads that have crippled small businesses.
His advice to other young chefs is to absorb the knowledge of those with industry experience and be mindful of constantly watching and asking questions about the things happening around them.
“Read lots of books to grow your knowledge. Use common sense. Don’t let the little things get to you. Put in the extra effort.”
He topped it off by adding that throughout it all, aspiring chefs should also stay in the present and enjoy the fun of the industry and the experiences they have to offer.
For the future, Pinter has his sights set on having his small restaurant, which is based on a farm-to-table style and methodology.
