Vincent and Kasae met in Australia through cooking in a hatted restaurant on the Mornington Peninsula. They then moved to New Zealand and continued to cook in exciting fine dining restaurants like Gemmayze street bistro and Paris butter. After spending a year there, they moved to Sweden and cooked in Michelin star restaurants Operakallaren and Oaxen Krog.
Now they have settled in Bath, where they continue to grow and use exciting British products.
In Melbourne, Kasae started out as a waitress in Mercer’s which, at the time, was a one-hat restaurant. Drawn to the buzz of the kitchen, she soon made the leap over and hasn’t looked back.
She trained classically and has worked in Michelin-starred restaurant Operakallaren Matsalen in Sweden, Gemmayze Street, in New Zealand and now heads up the kitchen at Robun in Bath.
“In Australia, we always watch the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver, and while that might have sparked my interest, it was my first job in the industry that really ignited it and kept that flame going. I started as a waitress in a small fine dining restaurant in the suburbs of Melbourne, Mercer’s. I then moved to trainee front of house manager, trainee sommelier, and then into the kitchen for my apprenticeship.”
“At this point, I didn’t fully understand the industry. I just knew that I wanted to be a part of the creation, camaraderie, and apparent ‘bad boy’ lifestyle that I thought it was. It wasn’t until around the second year in my apprenticeship that I realised how much Mercer’s would shape my aspirations and career goals.”
“Between running a restaurant, being head chef and training us apprentices, my bosses Ute and Stephen Mercer managed to coach me through cooking competitions, qualifying and all. Stephen had competed in the culinary Olympics in the late 90s, so he was such a rock when it came to my technique and training for cooking competitions.”