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SBS Australia
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
"One day I'd like to be a wild woman"
A Girl's Guide to Hunting, Fishing and Wild Cooking When world-renowned chef, Analiese Gregory gave up the restaurant business around five years ago, she started on a path of personal discovery that eventually silenced the mental noise of self-doubt. 'Before I moved to Tasmania, I was always so nervous,' Gregory tells SBS. 'I used to ask myself 'can I actually cook?' I wondered about my cooking skills constantly. I had big impostor syndrome.' This was despite the fact that Gregory was – and still is – one of the most celebrated chefs of her generation . She fine-tuned her cheffing skills under the mentorship of Peter Gilmore at his acclaimed restaurant, Quay and later worked at the Michelin star restaurant Le Meurice in Paris. Her personal journey is faithfully documented in the SBS series A Girl's Guide to Hunting, Fishing and Wild Cooking and in season two , it's apparent that Gregory has settled into a much wilder existence. And she is also ready to come full circle as she works towards opening an eatery, run out of a renovated shed on her property. The 'anti-restaurant', which is due to open some time in August 2025, does not focus on serving fine dining dishes, nor will it focus on increasing covers. Instead, the plan is to host 10 diners at a time. Guests will eat seasonal food that Gregory has grown, hunted and foraged. The menu will work with nature and hero ingredients that celebrate the chef's connection to her local environment. In Tasmania, the chef feels she's returned to a truer version of herself and rediscovered her connection to food, the land and sea. 'There's been a real joy in living here and doing what I am doing,' she says. 'As a child I was always out in the fields. Then, I got older and hated camping. For so long in my adult years, I didn't own a flat pair of shoes (apart from my kitchen clogs). I only wanted to wear dresses and high heels, and be in big cities visiting art galleries. I was very much the city girl. 'When I lived in Sydney, before I moved to Tasmania, I didn't even cook at home. I worked six days a week and, most nights, I'd eat a staff meal before service and snacks after service. On my night off, I'd go out to eat. I think I only ever cooked at home once every six months.' Eventually, Gregory heard the call of nature summoning her to live a more sustainable life. So five years ago, she bought a cottage in need of renovation in Tasmania's Huon Valley , 40 minutes drive from Hobart, and chased her food goals. 'I used to dream of having an old wooden farmhouse and a kitchen that was filled with bowls of homegrown produce. I really tried hard to make my house in Tasmania be just like my dream. It's now all paid off.' 'When you live in any big city, all kinds of food are available at any given time of year. But in Tasmania, you have to eat and live with the seasons properly. You can fight against it but it's much easier to give into it. I've come around to accepting these sorts of things.' Now, Gregory eats regularly at home and feasts on foods that she's passionate about because she's grown, sourced or made them herself. In her kitchen there are fruits and vegetables from her garden, homemade pickles and other condiments, honey from her bees, cheese that she personally crafted and prosciutto that she cures herself. She also eats sea urchins, fish and abalone that she sources locally herself, often forages for native greens and has also raised chickens, goats, pigs and sheep, as well as grown herbs in her farm. And, she courageously takes on hunting – even if it feels confronting – and fishing in the wild, including underwater spearfishing, in a bid to stay true to her values. 'I feel as though I've come full circle. I feel more fulfilled. Nature has definitely been healing.' The impostor syndrome is also gone. 'This period in my life has been a time of upskilling. Now I'm like: 'oh okay. I can do this'.' Gregory now aims to continue strengthening her connection to nature. To do that, she seeks inspiration from Indigenous females across the globe who have traditionally fulfilled the hunter-gatherer role. 'One day, I would like to be 'a wild woman'. To me, being 'wild' means being able to live within nature but not necessarily harm it. You have to be comfortable being with yourself in nature, with your own thoughts. There's also a certain amount of self-reflection that has to happen for you to be able to do that. That's what I think of as being 'wild'. 'I don't know if I fully achieved it yet, but I feel like that is something I want to work towards.' Season 2 of A Girl's Guide to Hunting, Fishing and Wild Cooking premieres on Monday 23 June, 2025 at 7.30pm on SBS On Demand and SBS Food. Watch now Share this with family and friends
Hospitality Net
14-05-2025
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Pascal Billard has been appointed General Manager at Le Meurice in Paris
Dorchester Collection announces the appointment of Pascal Billard as general manager of Paris's Le Meurice, effective from August 1, 2025. It will be a welcomed return to Dorchester Collection for Billard, who served as resident manager at Le Meurice's sister Parisian hotel, Hôtel Plaza Athénée, from 2009 to 2013. With more than 35 years' experience in the hospitality industry, Billard joins Le Meurice having held the position of general manager at Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona for the past 12 years. Born and educated in France, Billard has held food and beverage and management positions across an exceptional portfolio of luxury hotels in the Americas and Europe. He originally studied at the Jean Drouant Hospitality School of Paris, and his illustrious career has included roles for Novecento, China Grill Management and Morgans Hotel Group. His most recent position with the Majestic Hotel Group saw him reposition the brand's flagship Barcelona hotel on the Passeig de Gràcia. Open since 1835, Le Meurice was the first hotel awarded the official "Palace" distinction in France, and last year was awarded three Michelin Keys. The hotel is home to two Michelin-starred Restaurant le Meurice Alain Ducasse, and a patisserie by world leading pastry chef, Cedric Grolet. Billard will be taking this position following the retirement of Franka Holtmann, who departed in February having served as general manager for more than 18 years.
