Simon Bryant

UK born Simon Bryant was until recently the Executive Chef at the Hilton Adelaide running a large commercial kitchen serving a number of restaurants, including The Brasserie. He left school to become an apprentice mechanic, specialising in motor bikes, before going on to University where he took a job in the Uni cafe to support his studies. He discovered that he liked cooking more than his lectures.

His first proper cooking job was at a Thai restaurant, working for a man who had eleven different ethnic restaurants. He worked in these for some years and, through a series of events, eventually started work at the Hilton Adelaide in 1995. He says a recipe is nothing; technique is everything, and when things go wrong you have to be able to wing it.

In Maggie Beer's kitchen, he and Maggie cooked and experimented together using their skills to provide the viewer with an insight into how to get the best out of the chosen raw ingredients on ABC TV's, The Cook and the Chef.