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Spicers Retreats welcomes Minh Le into the highly acclaimed Spicers Peak Lodge team as the new Head Chef of their two-hatted restaurant, The Peak.

Born in Vietnam Le’s was early to the kitchen, preparing family meals from the age of 8 helped to stoke the flames that lead him into a diverse and exciting cooking career. Shortly after completing his apprenticeship, Le began working with renowned Brisbane chef Mark Maric at the Coro Hotel, where they would later win Queensland’s best Seafood Restaurant in 2006.

Le had worked at many fine dining restaurants around Brisbane before securing his first Head Chef role at Grasshopper Asian Kitchen in 2009, which enabled him to come into his own as a leader in the kitchen as well as reconnect with his Vietnamese heritage.

Le began working for Duck and Deer Bistro in 2011, here the owners allowed him full autonomy in the kitchen. Under this new level of freedom Le was able to explore fully his creative ambitions igniting further his craft and passion for cooking further refining his culinary art.

In 2014, Le pursued his dreams of opening his very own restaurant, with The Foraging Quail receiving one Chef Hat within the first year of operation. This platform propelled Le’s career further, appearing on the cover of Taste of Queensland as well as being nominated for Australian Chef of the Year, as well as being a finalist in Gault and Millar awards.

Le’s cooking style and pallet for food has been greatly influenced by his Vietnamese heritage as well his many years cooking and living in Australia. These influences place a strong emphasis on umami flavours, native Australian ingredients and incorporating fresh and local produce into his cooking.

“Taking on the new head chef roll at Spicers Peak Lodge is definitely an amazing opportunity. I love the fact that I get to be more involved with the land and being able to cook with what we have surrounding us was one of the biggest draw cards to make the trip from Brisbane. Native ingredients surround us here and it is an amazing thing that we can practice a sustainable way of cooking, using produce from local farmers and native ingredients that have been on the land since before we arrived”.      

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