Cantina

Credited with serving some of Australia’s most exciting food, Paul Wilson has been described as one of the most extraordinary culinary talents in Australia and continues to receive critical acclaim for creating inspiring dishes that take an innovative approach to culinary traditions. Lured to Australia by Sir Terence Conran after working as Executive Chef at Quaglino’s in London (where, at the age of 27, he was awarded the prestigious Acorn Award), he re-launched Melbourne’s retail icon Georges and its cutting-edge restaurants. He went on to make the Melbourne Park Hyatt’s signature restaurant Radii one of Australia’s finest, and it was here that he was awarded Melbourne’s highest culinary honour: 3 chef’s hats, as well as the 2002 Chef of the Year, in The Age Good Food Guide. Paul is regarded as Australia’s foremost expert on Latin-American food cultures, with his Mexican-inspired ventures at the Newmarket Hotel and Acland St Cantina among the most popular and celebrated restaurants in Australia. Wilson’s latest endeavours include relaunching iconic Bondi restaurant Icebergs and transforming Surry Hills’ legendary Macquarie Hotel; after a sojourn to Canggu, Bali, to establish a beach club in Echo Beach, he will return to Melbourne to set up his first restaurant based on the foods of Mexico, Cuba and Peru.

‘Mexico has the most misunderstood, underrated, underrepresented cuisine on earth. It is far, far older, deeper, richer and more sophisticated than most who claim to love it know. It’s a large and varied, distinctly regional cuisine—like China or Italy have—and right now, one of the fastest growing, most exciting and progressive areas of the modern food scene. It's where the action is. Paul Wilson brings it all home. Brilliantly. A little time, a little love, you too can get it right.’  —Anthony Bourdain