Mark Best describes himself as a pre-internet chef. He opened his acclaimed Marque in Sydney in 1999, winning three hats in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide for 10 years in a row. When he closed Marque last year to concentrate on a number of projects including Bistro by Mark Best on the luxury cruise line Genting Dream and an ambassadorship with AEG, the cry went up, "Fine dining is dead."

Shaun Quade of Lûmé in Melbourne, he of the air-dried emu and cow's udder with rhubarb, has long been inspired by Best's methodology, creativity and intellect, and shares much of his restless, questioning drive.