Jo Barrett

The Age Good Food Guide’s 2024 Chef of the Year, Jo Barrett boasts a professional pedigree that spans nations, regions, institutions and critical acclaim.

Throughout her almost two decades as a chef, a commitment to her unique philosophy has remained consistent. For Jo, cooking and eating well has always been about getting closer to where the food comes from.

After completing her apprenticeship in Canada, Jo honed her pastry skills in iconic Melbourne institutions, including Movida Bakery, Tivoli Rd Bakery, Bar National and Long Shot. A stint in Sydney as part of Matt Stone’s team at Stanley Street Merchants extended her expertise in artisan bread and pastry, before returning to Melbourne to work with Stone and sustainability champion Joost Bakker at Brothl (later Silo), a zero-waste venue, using bones saved from the kitchens of Rockpool, Attica and European to produce nutritious soups for the masses.

In 2015, Jo became Co-Executive Chef at Oakridge, Yarra Valley, further pushing the boundaries of hyper-local cooking in an ever-changing menu that hinged heavily on the enterprise’s own kitchen garden. After five years at Oakridge’s helm, she joined the groundbreaking Greenhouse Project, working and cooking at an experimental farm in the middle of Melbourne’s Federation Square, in a closed loop system that set the bar for sustainable living.

In 2022 Jo and partner David Osgood applied their philosophy to their own restaurant Little Picket, earning a Good Food hat and critical acclaim in its two years of operation as a community-focused restaurant celebrating native ingredients and regenerative produce.  In 2023 Jo also released her book, Sustain.

Today Jo consults on a range of purpose-driven projects and is also Co-Founder of WildPie, a solution-oriented business that produces ready to bake, handmade Australian wild game pies and sausage rolls.