We are delighted to announce that Massimo Mele will join us as featured chef for our dinner event on Saturday evening 25th November, in this inaugural year of the Farm Gate Festival - what a great way to kick off!

Massimo is a Tasmanian chef who has earned his stripes on the mainland and overseas but returned to Tasmania because his family and his heart are still very much here - and because some of the best produce in the land is so readily available and easily accessible here.

All the chefs in inner city Sydney talk the talk about fresh produce, he says, but here in Tasmania you can be based in central Hobart or Launceston and know that the produce you’re buying in the markets there has been trucked in that day from farms just a few kilometres away - and you’re probably buying from the producer as well.

Born in Tasmania, Massimo spent his early years in Naples, helping his Nonna chop tomatoes for passata and watching his aunts fry artichokes. He learned the value of fresh produce handpicked from around the region early on, the family sitting around the table and feasting together. His curiosity for food had begun.

Returning with his parents and brothers to Tasmania when he was eight, Massimo’s food journey took flight. He spent school holidays working in the restaurant, introducing locals to honest Italian fare made from the epicurean treasures of Tasmania.

Massimo worked in notable Hobart restaurants amid the dawn of Modern Australian cuisine but never lost sight of his culinary heritage amongst the cobbled streets and kitchens of Naples.

Today Massimo specialises in bringing exquisite dining events to the diner at events around Australia. October 2017 sees the opening of his own restaurant in Martin Place, Sydney. We are delighted to welcome him to northern Tasmania and look forward to tucking our bibs into our shirt collars and enjoying some of the best of our region, Massimo style!