Lauren Murdoch is an Australian

head chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads a kitchen and its cooks. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is a chef that manages multiple kitche ...

Early life

Murdoch grew up in Coff's Harbour, New South Wales and moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

as a teenager. She was raised by her father, and initially started training as a nurse before deciding to try a career in food.

Career

Murdoch began her career in food at Atlas Bistro, and then moved to Rockpool to learn the art of pastry. Her next position was at the Concourse Restaurant at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

, where she met chef Janni Kyritsis. In 1997, she joined Kyritsis in his new restaurant, MG Garage, as

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members o ...

. In 2005, she became head chef at Lotus in

Potts Point Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government area o ...

, followed by a position as head chef at Ash St. Cellar. In 2010, she launched a new French restaurant for the Merivale Group, Felix Bar and Bistro, also in Sydney. She left the position in 2012, saying that she wanted to work with friends on a casual basis. She took a six-month break, then went on to a position as head chef at The Restaurant at 3 Weeds in

Rozelle Rozelle is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 4 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Inner West Council. Location Rozelle s ...

. In 2015, she was appointed head chef ar Portside Sydney Opera House, a restaurant located on the western broadwalk. Felix Bar and Bistro was awarded a

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

Good Food Guide Chef's Hat and was placed in

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

’s Hot 50 Restaurants list. Murdoch herself has received a number of Chef's Hat Awards in her career.

Media roles

Murdoch has appeared on

MasterChef Australia ''MasterChef Australia'' is an Australian competitive cooking reality show based on the original British ''MasterChef (British TV series), MasterChef''. It is produced by Endemol Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and ch ...

, and the Lifestyle Channel’s Chef’s Christmas series. She has a regular slot on Sydney radio station ABC702.

Other activities

Murdoch is an ambassador for

Oz Harvest Ronni Kahn (; née Hellmann; born 1952) is a South African-born Australian social entrepreneur, best known for founding the food rescue charity OzHarvest. Kahn, who emigrated to Australia from Israel in 1988, was awarded the Local Hero Awar ...

, a food charity, and coordinates the “Young Chefs' Dinner” for Sydney Morning Herald's Good Food Month.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murdoch, Lauren Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Chefs from Sydney Australian women chefs