Kyabram’s Rory Brown, won the prestigious Best Chef award at the 2024 AHA Victorian State Awards for Excellence on Monday, May 20.
Over 1200 of Victoria’s top food and hospitality figures attended the event at Crown Melbourne, eager to hear from the best of the past year.
At the start of the night, Rory Brown was thrilled to be among esteemed food figures; by the end, he was one of them.
“I was like ‘man, I’m so stoked to just me here’, like to have made it as a finalist is a huge feather in my cap,” Mr Brown said
“When they called my name, my god.
“I’m still not over it, I’m still in shock – it’s pretty wild stuff,” he said.
Rory Brown had his start in the kitchen of the Kyabram Club 16 years ago, where he completed his apprenticeship under the guise of chefs Baden Fraser and Peter Kaladis.
Mr Brown said that his experiences in the Kyabram Club as an apprentice set the tone for the rest of his career.
“Baden was a hatted chef before he worked at the club, so we were doing a lot of things from scratch - that sort of laid the foundation for my career,” he said.
He then jumped out of the frying pan into the fire when he moved to Bendigo and worked his way up the ladder from casual dining to French cuisine and eventually to where he is now – the award-winning Five Flags Hotel in Campbells Creek.
When his manager at the Five Flags Hotel nominated him for the Best Chef award, Mr Brown thought nothing of it.
The nomination process intensified with multiple interviews and anonymous tastings, and suddenly Mr Brown was a finalist.
“I’ve never thought of myself as the best chef of anything... I’m pretty blown away,” he said.
From humble beginnings in Kyabram to standing on the state stage, Mr Brown maintains strong ties to his hometown.
“We’re known for being hard workers in Ky – and there’s a huge sense of community there,” Mr Brown said.
“It was one of the best upbringings I could have wished for, I was very lucky to have a great mother and father, a great community and a great family around me.
“If there was work for me back in Kyabram I’d probably move back in a heartbeat,” he said.
Rory Brown’s next step towards culinary excellence will be competing at the National AHA Awards in Brisbane later this year.
Meanwhile, you can enjoy his delicious food at the Five Flags Hotel in Campbells Creek.
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