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Travels From:
Sydney
Fee Range: E
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Luke did his apprenticeship with Hermann Schneider at Two Faces in South Yarra, Melbourne, and later at Delgany Country House, Portsea, Victoria. After qualifying, Luke left for Europe where he worked at the Waterside Inn, the world-famous 3 Michelin star restaurant in Bray, Berkshire. From the Waterside Inn Luke went to work at Kensington Place, run by another Roux-trained chef, Rowley Leigh. Leigh taught Luke how to adapt his classically French training to suit the modern palate. After returning to Australia, Luke and his business partner Lucy finally settled at Restaurant CBD in Sydney's city district where Luke was appointed Head Chef and given the opportunity to interpret his training in his own style.
After a very successful 4 years, Luke left CBD to open his own restaurant. Salt restaurant and Fix bar opened in February 1999 in the newly renovated Kirketon Hotel, Darlinghurst and with Luke in the kitchen once again, Sydney-siders flocked to try it. In September 1999, Salt was awarded the coveted Sydney Morning Herald award for Best New Restaurant 2000 and gained 2 hats in the new guide, an amazing result for a restaurant only 8 months old. The awards continued until the restaurant's sale in mid 2005.
Following the success of Salt and Fix, Luke and Lucy opened a second restaurant - Bistro Lulu in Paddington, Sydney. Bistro Lulu was the realisation of their desire for a French style bistro where the emphasis was on a relaxed, fun and casual dining space with affordable prices. Lulu opened in October 2000 to rave reviews and was packed with hungry diners until the day it closed in December 2005.
Luke opened his third restaurant, Moorish Restaurant & Bar in June 2003. Located at the northern end of Bondi Beach, Moorish offered a modern interpretation of Spanish and North African flavours. After receiving Best Mediterranean Restaurant in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2005 and one chef's hat, Luke and Lucy sold out of Moorish in order to focus on new projects.
Whilst running their 3 successful Sydney restaurants, Luke also established a consultancy business to assist in restaurant set-ups. Their first project was at the new Hilton Auckland in New Zealand. Luke joined the Hilton Auckland team for two years in March 2001 to direct the food style and menus. His brief was to set a new standard for Auckland by establishing and maintaining White, the Hilton Auckland's contemporary style restaurant. In January 2003, White won Best Restaurant in The Tegel Restaurant Awards, a prestigious annual national awards program.
In July 2001, Luke was appointed Guest Food Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Melbourne Age. Luke's column 'eat in' drew on his experience of writing recipes for the home cook, and shared insider tips from the professional kitchen. The column proved so successful, Luke was appointed Food Editor in January 2002 until March 2004, running every week in the Good Living section of The Sydney Morning Herald and Epicure of The Melbourne Age.
Luke has also written three cookbooks. His first cookbook, BLD, co-authored by friend and Sydney Morning Herald journalist Lisa Hudson, is a cookbook to "live alongside the saucepans and wooden spoons" and reflects Luke's philosophy in the kitchen: simplicity. Luke's second cookbook, Luke Mangan Food, was released in October 2002. Luke Mangan Food features contemporary, accessible recipes with fantastic flavour combinations and clever blending of food styles. Luke's third cookbook, Luke Mangan Classics, released in March 2005 is a combination of easy to cook recipes through to impressive dinner party recipes. It reflects a man who not only adores food, but also has an irrepressible enthusiasm for it.
In 2003 Luke was honored with an invitation by James Beard; flying to NYC to support Beard's charity activities. Preparing the menu and supplying the best Australian ingredients Luke used his professional skills with gracious goodwill to outstanding success.
In 2004, Luke was invited by the Australian Embassy to showcase a number of Australian menus in Copenhagen during the week of the Royal wedding of Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson on Friday 14th May 2004. He was invited by the Red Cross and Danish Embassy to cook for them again in 2005 at several events on their Royal Australian Tour in March, including the Red Cross Dinner for 1000. Not only the Danish Royal couple, but also many other celebrities have searched for Luke's culinary services in order to add a tremendous value to a variety of special occasions.
Luke has regularly appeared on a number of television food programs both in Australia and overseas, with twelve appearances on NBC's Today show with Matt Lauer and Katie Couric. Luke was appointed as a 'roving food reporter' for the Today Show in April 2004. This role continues today and his segments cover all topics relating to food, anything from a major food event, new openings, items of interest or anecdotes and tips, tune in to see what it's all about! Beside Luke's appearances on Channel Nine in Australia, Luke had also filled in for Martha Stewart on her show in NYC, when she was too busy in court! Luke won the Chef's Category in the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2003 acknowledging Luke as one of Australia's best chefs and highly regarded internationally as a shining example of the excellence of Australia's food and wine culture.
After meeting Sir Richard Branson when dining at Salt, Richard invited Luke to cook for him on Necker, his private island, as a celebrity guest chef. Having cooked on Necker Island, Luke established a working relationship with Virgin Limited Edition, which runs Branson's luxury hotel resorts, and some of Luke's chefs have since worked at Kasbah Tamadot in Morocco and Ulusaba Private Game Reserve in South Africa.
In early 2005 Luke and his business partner Lucy Allon initiated an exciting new national award, Lexus Young Chef. Their intention in establishing this award was to contribute something back to the restaurant and catering industries, providing the framework and opportunities for outstanding young chefs to be rewarded and assisted in reaching their full potential in their careers.
"Although I have achieved significant high points in my career, I have encountered times where I have lacked enthusiasm, energy and focus. The encouragement and advice I received from mentors during these times, allowed me to persevere. We hope that this award will provide the impetus for young chefs to succeed in this business". Luke Mangan January 2005 Lexus Young Chef met with such success that they introduced another category, Lexus Young Waiter in February 2007. In August 2007 they also made the exciting announcement of a new program title, Lexus Appetite for Excellence and the introduction of a third category in 2009, Lexus Young Restaurateur. glass brasserie at Hilton, Sydney, Luke's most recent Sydney venture opened mid July 2005. Glass brasserie features a 13- metre floor to ceiling glass wall, which frames a captivating view of the Queen Victoria Building.
The spectacular room provides guests with an unprecedented dining experience in the heart of the city. The menu is simple and elegant, prepared using classical French techniques, ever-changing to make use of Sydney's fresh local produce. At glass you can enjoy an experience like no other in Sydney with quality and consistency in all aspects of food, wine and service making glass brasserie a truly memorable experience. In September 2007 glass brasserie earned a sought after chef's hat in the 2008 Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide which is testament to its on-going success.
Whilst there are more projects in the pipeline and Luke's ultimate dream is a restaurant in New York, Luke's been fully devoted to his latest projects: developing his own Mangan product line of food, wine & pots & pans, as well as a restaurant in Japan, and a food and South wine bar in San Francisco. Salt Tokyo and World Wine Bar opened in April 2007 and with simplicity and elegance as Luke Mangan's trademark, Salt Tokyo has already become a unique dining experience and a sought after dining experience in Japan's capital city.
Running two restaurants at the same time and shooting a new TV show all around Asia didn't stop Luke from taking part in another exciting project: a wine bar in San Francisco. The South bar opened in second half of 2007, concentrating on the best from New Zealand's wines and Australian cuisine. Luke's culinary venture certainly doesn't stop at South San Francisco as he has already plans for opening South LA wine bar in early 2009 and Luke's successful story goes on with Luke having his eyes laid on a restaurant location in his hometown - Melbourne.
Beside Luke's passion for food and his dedication to the hospitality industry, Luke is constantly striving to contribute back to the industry and community that has provided him with such an exciting and stimulating career and as such Luke devotes a significant amount of time and energy to charity and community projects, especially those with a particular focus on children. Among many fundraising organizations and charities out there, Luke's helped to raise the funds for Starlight Foundation, Camp Quality and George Gregan Foundation. Luke was, for example, auctioned as a 'prize' at a fundraiser dinner for The Royal Children Hospital - he was 'bought' for AU$29,000.00 for a dinner for 20 people in Melbourne!
Luke is also one of the Australian Government's 12 Healthy Active Ambassadors. This program is an initiative of the Australian Federal Government inviting well-known people who live active and healthy lives to become 'official Ambassadors' promoting the benefits of healthy life choices to the community. The key objective of the Ambassador's program is to assist in the battle against growing obesity in the Australian community, especially amongst children by displaying an active lifestyle and illustrating how easy it is to enjoy a nutritionally balance and healthy diet. Luke's career to date has certainly been an exciting one involving travel and entrepreneurship whilst he does what he loves most: cooking. It just goes to show that with a career in hospitality, the world really can be your oyster!
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