Admiralty House and Char head chef Michael Foster’s rise to the top

The new head chef at one of the Territory’s favourite restaurants speaks candidly about his path to the top role, and how TV inspired his impressive career.

ADMIRALTY House new head chef Michael Foster has taken an unconventional path to senior jobs at two of the Territory’s favourite restaurants.

Born in Darwin, the indigenous Territorian has family ties to country in Daly River and Kakadu, and was raised in Jabiru.

Checking out of school at 16, Mr Foster used the weeks and months to carve a career path that led to one of the Territory’s most respected cheffing jobs.

Appointed head chef at Admiralty House in May, his two years working at Char and The Darwin Club mirror his career which began with relatively minor roles and through diligence and hard work led to top jobs.

“I’ve had a broad spectrum of experience from very basic resort work to very high-end fine dining in kitchens down in Melbourne,” he said.

“I was in high school, I wasn’t attending many classes and would leave for home early.

“Fortunately there were cooking shows on TV.

“I’d sit down, watch a few cooking shows and I’d be hungry so I started going into the kitchen to see what I could do with no experience or no skill.

Char Chef - Michael Foster

“I made house dinners when I was 14 such as doing little roasts at home for Mum, my sister and family but really took notice of cooking shows like Huey’s Kitchen or Ready, Steady Cook, learning from the ideas and presentation on the shows.

“It really struck something in me and one day I just woke up and said ‘Hey, I think I want to be a chef’.”

Mr Foster accompanied his mother Jacqui to Melbourne where she studied law and he landed his first kitchen job at Cafe Vue in Heidelberg aged just 16 under an overseas born, Michelin-rated chef.

“I was doing 16-hour days with breakfast, lunch and dinner as an apprentice and the skills and knowledge I picked up during those 16-hour days will be with me forever,” he said.

“I’d do it all again.

“It was so valuable to my experience as a chef because it showed it’s not all pretty things.

“It’s long hours, it’s late nights alone but when you run through that type of regimen as a chef it really throws you up for what’s to come later on down the line.

“The way I learnt was an old-school way of cheffing so it wasn’t the happiest of days but the experience I couldn’t sacrifice for anything else.”

Char Chef - Michael Foster

His own climb to head chef in Darwin began as a casual pastry chef at the back of Admiralty House kitchen after shifting from Cooinda Lodge in Kakadu.

After pastry he went through the larder, pans and the grill and was progressively promoted along the way from junior chef to commis chef to sous chef and now head chef.

Along with executive chef Richard Brown, Mr Foster oversees about 25 people including a dozen permanent staff between both restaurants and is stamping his mark on the menu.

Char head chef Michael Foster is drawing on his own experiences in serving up delicious meals. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

“We’ve just relaunched the menu at Darwin Club and I have had a bit of menu progression with the old menu and about 40 per cent on this menu so getting a lot more feel for ideas and experience comes with it as well,” he said.

“There’s still a few steps to learn along the way like any chef would but a lot of it is coming up with ideas, speaking through it with the executive chef and going from there.”

Admiralty House head stockman Matthew Isabella had no hesitation giving the final tick of approval to Michael’s promotion.

He said the premises last year obtained a chef’s hat from the Australian Good Food Guide, in the process becoming the only venue in Australia encompassing two-hatted restaurants served from one kitchen.

“When Richard approached me regarding his thoughts on Michael’s promotion I never for a second questioned it as his impact on this business has been profound,” Matthew said.

“This company from director down believes that merit, hard work and integrity-driven choices are the only metrics we use to determine value. With these in mind Michael ticked every box.

“The significance others have placed on this appointment because of Micheal’s age and ties to Country is a source of pride.”