This London born Brit blends rock-solid cooking credentials with a ‘real food’ philosophy. A passionate advocate of farm-to-table cooking, a media personality, restaurateur and an author of several cookbooks.
Darren was trained in the UK under acclaimed Chef Mark Raffan at the Michelin starred ‘Gravetye Manor’. Planting the seed for his cooking philosophy, he learnt classic techniques using produce picked from the restaurant’s own garden.
Moving to Australia in 2001, his skills were further honed working at globally acclaimed Sydney institution ‘Tetsuya’s’, rising to the position of Head Chef. Tetsuya’s held three chefs hats and was voted the 5th best restaurant in the world in 2007.
Ready for change, Darren started cooking to the beat of his own drum creating guerilla-style dining experiences called ‘The Table Sessions’. These secret, underground affairs were awarded Best Event 2011 by ‘Australian Gourmet Pages.’
With the time ripe for Darren to set up his own business, he joined forces with several like-minded friends at ‘Three Blue Ducks’, a humble café in the relaxed beach suburb of Bronte. Now as a chef and co-owner he could co-create dishes that represented his ethical food practice philosophies. ‘Three Blue Ducks’ has received multiple accolades including one hat in the 2015 ‘Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) Good Food Guide.’
With that success, several more Blue Ducks have been born including ‘Rosebery’, ‘W Brisbane’, ‘Locura Byron Bay’, and what has become one of Australia’s most iconic and visited restaurants, ‘Three Blue Ducks on The Farm at Byron Bay’, which was awarded the 2015 ‘Regional Restaurant of the Year’ by ‘Gourmet Traveller.'
In 2017 Darren opened ‘Rocker’ in North Bondi, a European-style coastal eatery overlooking Bondi beach. Rocker has since earned 4 out of 5 from ‘Delicious’ magazine and a SMH chefs hat.
Darren is an experienced TV host and media personality. He has appeared on almost every major cooking show in Australia. He both Produced and Presented Lifestyle Food’s ‘Darren Robertson’s Charcoal Kitchen’.
Darren hosts his own online cooking show ‘The Pretty Good Feed’ showcasing local food, cooked outdoors around Australia on Youtube and IGTV.
Darren is the Co-author of three best-selling cookbooks. He had his own recipe column in ‘SMH’s Spectrum’ for 2 years and is currently a Contributor for ‘Delicious’ magazine.
He is an Ambassador for a number of charities including ‘Australian Cancer Council’, ‘Oz Harvest’ and ‘Surfaid,’ and sits on the prestigious judging panel for the ‘Australian Delicious Produce Awards.’
When he’s not foraging or surfing, he’s in the kitchen cooking, fermenting, pickling, and testing recipes with his fiancée - meteorologist, journalist, TV presenter and food author, Magdalena Roze and sons Archie and Charlie
