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Executive Chef, Oliver Buenviaje
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Ever since Oliver Buenviaje was a young boy he loved cooking, it was a passion that was passed down to him from his grandfather in the Philippines, who gathered his own ingredients and cooked them into big wholesome family feasts.
Wanting to please his Mother, Oli enrolled to study engineering in Perth but was longing for something more, in his spare time he was buying food magazines, reading cookbooks and cooking for friends, in his heart he knew engineering was not for him and he secretly quit his studies and enrolled in Asian and Commercial Cookery courses. After completing his qualifications, he returned to the Philippines to be with his family and joined the Shangri-La Group based in Manila but after a short while his hunger for learning and passion for food lead him to France where he mastered the art of French cuisine and learnt the art of flavour profiling through “taste by smell” at the Michelin star restaurant Le Meurice by Alaine Ducasse. Oliver worked his way up through the ranks, before his skills in French cooking lead him all over the world, head hunted by prestigious establishments including the Burge al Arab where he had the opportunity to present his food to many a celebrity. But the temptation to learn new skills found him travelling to Thailand, China, Japan and finally Macau where he joined the management team to open Four Seasons hotel before returning to Australia where he undertook Executive Chef roles overseeing multi venue resorts and new hotel openings. When the opportunity came up to join The Melbourne Hotel he knew it was a role where he could utilise all the cooking principles he had developed through his travels and showcase them amongst a diverse range of venues. |
