Roundhouse has appointed Joey Ingram as Executive Chef, with the experienced chef taking over the culinary direction of Crystalbrook Kingsley's signature restaurant in Newcastle.
The appointment sees Joey move into one of regional Australia's most recognised dining rooms following his time as Executive Chef at Crystalbrook Byron, where he led the food offering at Forest.
With more than two decades in professional kitchens, Joey arrives with experience spanning fine dining, luxury hotels, regional hospitality and Michelin-starred restaurants overseas.
A career built across different kitchens
Joey's career has taken him through some of Australia's most respected dining environments.
His background includes time at Tetsuya's, one of the country's most influential restaurants, as well as experience in Michelin-starred kitchens in Paris. He later went on to lead Margan Restaurant in the Hunter Valley, where the restaurant retained its chef's hat for four consecutive years.
Most recently, Joey oversaw the culinary program at Crystalbrook Byron, where the focus on local produce, seasonality and sustainability helped shape the direction of Forest restaurant.
The move to Roundhouse adds another significant role to a career that has spanned both metropolitan and regional hospitality.
Taking over one of Newcastle's best-known dining rooms
Roundhouse has established itself as a prominent part of Newcastle's dining landscape since opening within Crystalbrook Kingsley.
Positioned above the city skyline, the restaurant has developed a reputation for contemporary Australian cooking, premium produce and a strong connection to the region's growers and suppliers.
For any incoming executive chef, stepping into an established restaurant brings both opportunity and expectation.
The foundations are already in place. The challenge becomes maintaining what diners know while gradually introducing your own perspective to the kitchen.
That process often happens through menu evolution rather than wholesale change.
A familiar connection to the region
While Newcastle is a new chapter, the Hunter is familiar territory.
Joey's years at Margan helped establish relationships with producers across the region and provided a deeper understanding of the area's agricultural strengths.
In comments surrounding the appointment, Joey highlighted the quality of local produce and the strength of the region's food culture as key attractions of the role.
Those qualities have become increasingly important to restaurants looking to build menus around seasonality and provenance rather than relying on ingredients sourced from further afield.
The role beyond the menu
The appointment also expands Joey's responsibilities.
Alongside Roundhouse, he will oversee the broader food and beverage operation within Crystalbrook Kingsley, adding leadership across multiple outlets and teams.
For executive chefs, that shift often means balancing kitchen creativity with team development, consistency and operational performance.
It is a different challenge to running a single service or developing a menu.
Success is measured not only by what leaves the pass, but by the strength of the team behind it.
What comes next
Leadership changes rarely transform a restaurant overnight.
More often, they reveal themselves over time through menus, supplier relationships, kitchen culture and the direction a chef chooses to take.
For Roundhouse, Joey's appointment marks the beginning of that process.
For the industry, it represents one of the more notable chef movements of recent weeks, bringing a chef with experience across Tetsuya's, Michelin-starred kitchens, Margan and Crystalbrook Byron into one of regional Australia's most prominent dining rooms.
What shape that next chapter takes will become clearer in the months ahead.
