Cooking Comes from the Heart for SA ‘Chef of the Year’ BY TYLER MAUND
Stirring jam over a wood stove in sweltering outback Australia is a treasured memory for newly awarded AHA|SA Chef of the Year, Anna Kittel. “My great aunty had a wood stove in Iron Knob, and I used to go over there and make pasties and jam with her,” she said. “I wouldn’t do anything else, I’ve tried other things but I keep coming back to it, it comes from the heart and it’s in my blood – it’s just what I really love doing. “I’ve been in hospitality for over 30 years, I spent a little time away when I had children but I went straight back to it – I’ve always had a good support system with my family,” she said. Anna is the Executive Chef at the Uraidla Hotel in the Adelaide Hills and proudly accepted her award that recognises her skills as a talented chef and a hospitality management professional. Anna has been at the Uraidla Hotel for the past six years, beginning in 2016, after spending seven years as head chef at The Crafers Hotel.
“It is a job of creativity and passion and we need to make it easier for chefs.” “I have a really diverse team, which is fantastic, but it is really hard to find people,” she said. “You can do extraordinary hours for very little reward, the ones that are passionate stay in it, and the ones that aren’t go and do something else. 20 | Hotel SA | W W W . A H A S A . A S N . A U
“The job itself is like riding a rollercoaster, at some places you’re serving 200 meals in two hours, you need a lot of people that can work well together in a team environment, it is emotionally and physically draining at times.” At the Uraidla Hotel Anna works tirelessly to combat this by helping her staff maintain a work-life balance as well as they can. “We need a big overhaul in Australia to make it less gruelling. It is a job of creativity and passion and we need to make it easier for chefs.” She has an exceptional knowledge on all facets of kitchen operations which has seen her excel over many years, this includes stock control, employment, instruction and mentoring of staff, rostering, budgeting, cleaning schedules, health and safety operations, menu creation and customer service. With over three decades of hospitality management experience, Anna Kittel is a deserving winner of the 2022 AHA|SA ‘Chef of the year’ award. 900 people convened at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Tuesday the 18th of October to celebrate the best of the South Australian hotel industry. Anna is an adored figure at the Uraidla Hotel, affectionately known as ‘Mum’ in the kitchen by her staff. She sees her role not only as a leader but also a nurturer for the younger generation that are coming through. “I just want to nurture and take care of them because they are our future. “Seeing them do well makes me happy, I get a lot of Back to Contents
