Richmond Rodrigues on instinct, clarity and winning Australia’s Chef of the Year

Richmond Rodrigues, executive chef at Aanuka Beach House in Coffs Harbour, cooks with intent, instinct and purpose.

His food is bold without noise, grounded without being safe and built on years of work across Australia, India and the UK that taught him to trust flavour first. Winning Australian Chef of the Year in 2025 confirmed what many chefs already knew about him. His cooking has a voice.

Rooted in family and flavour

 Richmond grew up surrounded by food. His parents ran a catering business in India, and the kitchen was never quiet. Stockpots, spices, smoke, celebration and chaos all shaped the way he understood food before he ever stepped into a professional kitchen. Watching his mum work taught him resilience, energy and generosity. Feeding people was not a job. It was a responsibility.

Moving to Australia opened his world. The ingredients, the produce, the scale of the industry and the calibre of the kitchens forced him to grow quickly. He trained under chefs who pushed him, challenged him and shaped the instincts he relies on now.

His time at The Press Club with George Calombaris sharpened his creativity. Lizard Island and Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley taught him the discipline and consistency of luxury resorts. Soho House in the UK gave him international pace and perspective. At Spicers Retreats and Muse Kitchen he found the balance between refinement and restraint, and the importance of telling a story through flavour rather than technique alone.

The mentors who built his foundations

Richmond’s cooking is a reflection of the people who opened doors for him. He speaks about his mum with the same respect as he does about the chefs who shaped his career. Thomas Pirker and Nathan Johnson taught him structure, discipline and standards. George Calombaris unlocked a creative gear. Neil Smith and Cameron Mathews pushed him to think deeper about flavour, seasonality and purpose. Those lessons formed the backbone of how he cooks today.

“Let the flavour lead” is advice he still hears in the back of his mind. It shows in the way he plates, seasons and edits. It shows in the dishes he trusts in competition. It shows in the dishes he serves at Aanuka Beach House.

The moment instinct took over

Like many chefs, Richmond’s early food was built on complexity. More techniques, more components, more ideas. But experience changes instincts. The shift came when he stopped trying to impress and started cooking from a place of clarity.

“I began trusting my palate, simplifying dishes and letting ingredients lead,” he says. “My food became clearer, more grounded and more me.”

That clarity became the centre of his work. It shaped his mindset going into the 2025 Chef of the Year competition. He was not chasing approval. He was chasing truth, balance and purpose. The result was the best version of his food.

Competing until the voice becomes clear

Richmond has competed for years, not for trophies but for growth. Early attempts taught him calm under pressure, patience and how to recover when something goes wrong. Failure shaped his approach as much as success.

Each year he returned, he came back sharper and more focused. He learned how to cook for himself rather than for the room. He learned how to back instinct over hesitation. By 2025, the noise had fallen away. For the first time, the dishes felt complete.

In the final he felt unusually calm. “I wasn’t forcing anything. I trusted my preparation and my instincts,” he says. When he plated his last dish, he knew he had cooked with clarity.

Cooking with instinct, not noise

Ask Richmond what instinct looks like on the plate and he pauses before answering. It is not improvisation. It is not guessing. It is the sum of years of repetition, mistakes, mentorship and refinement.

Instinct is trusting the ingredient. It is stripping back the unnecessary. It is confidence in seasoning. It is knowing when to push and when to stop. It is allowing memories and technique to merge into something clear.

“Instinct keeps the dish honest,” he says. “When the flavour leads, the dish speaks.”

Leading a kitchen built on culture and purpose

At Aanuka Beach House, Richmond’s leadership is defined by culture more than control. He cooks with intention, but he also builds teams with intention. He teaches his chefs how to think about flavour, not just how to reproduce it. He focuses on communication, trust and respect for ingredients.

His team feeds his approach as much as he shapes theirs. Their creativity, energy and commitment sharpen his instincts and push him forward. “Winning Chef of the Year was as much about them as it was about me,” he says.

He values kitchens where learning is part of the rhythm. Young chefs are expected to grow, question and explore. He wants his team to find their own voices, not imitate his.

Flavours that honour the past and push forward

Richmond’s signature dishes often connect back to home. His modern take on his grandmother’s pork curry is an example of how he balances memory and technique. The foundation is traditional but the produce is local, the method refined and the flavour bold without being crowded.

His style draws on Mediterranean coastal flavours, seasonal Australian produce and the primal depth of cooking over wood, smoke and heat. But fire is not the story. Flavour is.

He is driven as much by people as ingredients. Growers, artisans and producers who care about their craft inspire him to do justice to their work. Simplicity and boldness sit together because they serve the same purpose: clarity.

Cooking with responsibility and connection

Beyond flavour, Richmond is deeply committed to sustainability and ethical cooking. He works with local producers, sources responsibly and minimises waste. Not as a trend, but as a responsibility.

“Food should tell a story,” he says. “It should be bold, grounded and memorable. But it should also respect the ingredient and the person behind it.”

The next chapter

Winning Australian Professional Chef of the Year has strengthened his direction, not changed it. He wants to keep pushing fire-driven cooking, working closely with growers and building menus with seasonal integrity. He is also committed to mentoring young chefs to help them develop their own instincts and identities.

“I’m excited about new menus, new collaborations and continuing to grow,” he says. “Awards are fuel for the fire. But the real joy is cooking with purpose.”

Final words to young chefs

His advice is simple:
Trust yourself. Respect the ingredient. Let experience become instinct. Do not cook to impress. Cook with clarity, heart and purpose. If you do that, the food speaks for itself.