Danielle Alvarez

The chef and Australasia's first OXO ambassador shares what inspires her, the kitchen gizmos she can't live without and a recipe for your repertoire.

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I grew up in a Cuban house in Miami in the US.

The women in my life, my mum and grandmothers specifically, were all beautiful cooks. More than that, they were incredible hosts. We were always having parties where food played a central role in the gathering.

I studied art history at university. I never really considered being a chef or being in hospitality as a career when I was young, but once I was out and working in the world, I quickly realised that cooking and sharing food was all I ever wanted to do.

I enrolled in culinary school in my early twenties. As part of that, I needed to complete my degree with an internship. I wrote to The French Laundry (a three Michelin-starred restaurant in the Napa Valley) and asked if they would take me on. To my delight they said yes.

I moved to California and worked at The French Laundry for a year in front and back-of-house roles. I then moved to San Francisco and lived and worked in the Bay area for several years before ending up at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Chez is considered one of the first farm-to-table restaurants in the United States, opened in the 1970s by Alice Waters. The kind of simple seasonal cooking I learned, combined with the fresh produce available from local farms in California, made me realise that this was how I wanted to cook and feed people for the rest of my life.

It was a chance encounter while on holiday in Sydney that introduced me to the team at [hospitality company] Merivale. After a bit of to-and-fro it was decided I would move to Sydney to design, create and open what would be Fred's restaurant in Paddington. It was a very beloved restaurant in Australia and received much critical acclaim. I ran it for six years until 2022, when I wanted to try other things. Eventually I partnered with Trippas White Group and the Sydney Opera House to be their culinary director of events.