I began my career as an apprentice pastry chef in Australia, working in hotels from age 16. I had always known that I wanted to cook and create as a profession. I also worked with many Europeans and saw they had a more professional attitude towards work. So, at the age of 25, with a relationship in tatters and a burning desire to test myself in Europe, I left the comfort of Australia and arrived in the seductive chaos of London for what seemed like starting my apprenticeship all over again.
My career took a turn here, and I became more involved with other areas of the kitchen at a time when the London food scene was starting to take off. I had so much to learn; and looking back, I was pretty green. Working under the pressure of a London kitchen at full pace helped me appreciate the merits of hard work, long hours in the kitchen and doing what you love. It prepared me for my future life as a chef on large private yachts and in villas, cooking for UHNW individuals and families for the next 22 years. Yachting life is not the life for everyone, but it was the life for me.
In March 2022, Barry launched Ocean Earth Chefs, a private chef recruitment agency that services the yachting, villa and chalet industry.
