Take a seat in jacqui’s kitchen by Nikki Fisher

TAKE A SEAT IN jacqui’s kitchen

Chef Jacqui Selleck has a long connection with the Mornington Peninsula and has honed her craft at some of this region’s finest winery restaurants. Jacqui left commercial kitchens behind to offer intimate cooking classes in her beautiful home and hasn’t looked back. Here she shares her story of life in hospitality with Nikki Fisher.

“I grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley and spent my childhood summers at Dromana and fishing with my family at Sorrento. I had always been drawn to the Peninsula, maybe because my ancestors were the original Cape Schanck lighthouse keepers. So I finally moved here in 2013 and worked as a chef at Montalto Vineyard and Olive Grove and then later at Stillwater at Crittenden Estate. I became a chef later in life after a few career moves, one being a professional dancer on stage and TV in the ‘80s.

“Becoming a chef in fine dining and being classically Frenchtrained was important to me and was inevitable because I used to wake up with four open cookbooks on my bed most mornings and watched every cooking show known to man. It was a hard slog as a mature apprentice, but I only wanted to learn from the best, so I dug in and it has been a great and rewarding career choice – and yes, I still wake up with cookbooks on my bed. My biggest influences of my career have been chef Rodney Graeme, chef Zac Poulier, chef Grant McPherson from America, and many more from here and overseas.

“Later I started catering as a private chef in people’s homes creating lavish and elegant dinner parties, and now I prefer to create those parties in my own magnificent home that I share with my husband, Tony. They say some chefs should stay in the kitchen for a reason, but I enjoy people and love sharing my nurturing side by teaching others how to cook the food I love to cook, to enjoy the process and to not panic in the kitchen. “My experience as a chef working in some of Melbourne and Europe's best professional kitchens under the most talented, passionate, and humble chefs has made me the chef I am and allows me to help you become a better and more confident cook. The food I love to cook is French cuisine with a modern influence, elegant European cookery, and Australian cuisine, introducing native ingredients. Seasonal, sustainable, and fresh ingredients are an absolute must in my kitchen, which my kitchen garden plays a huge role in – as do my local Mornington Peninsula suppliers and producers. We have a few precious things in our life that give us pleasure and enjoyment, and cooking and eating food does just that. Therefore, I invite you to cook with me in my kitchen and to enjoy a magnificent four-course meal at my table. Book your French cooking class and dining experience or your elegant catered affair today. Bon appetite!”