Zoe Birch

Zoe Birch has been hailed as one of the most exciting chefs in Victoria right now. With over 20 years of experience in hospitality, Zoe has been awarded two Chef Hats from The Age Good Food Guide, received two Chef of the Year nominations, and earned a myriad of other accolades and nominations for her restaurant, Greasy Zoe’s.

Starting from humble beginnings, her cooking career began at the age of 15 in Traawool, a small regional town in the Goulburn Valley. It was there she honed her craft, learning how to grow her own produce and mastering old-world cooking techniques such as preserving, fermenting, cheese making, and curing.

Birch went on to work at and run many top restaurants across Melbourne. In 2017, she and co-owner Lachlan Gardner decided to make a tree change to the hills of Hurstbridge in The Nillumbik and opened Greasy Zoe’s. As one of the first micro-restaurants in Victoria, Greasy Zoe’s serves only 8 guests per night, catering to 32 people a week, with a strong focus on sustainability, low-waste cooking, foraging, and supporting small, hyper-local, family-owned businesses.