Conversation with a chef

#364 Laura Boulton | Heide Kitchen by Jo Rittey

I finally caught up with Chef Morris Danzen Catanghal at a Boodle Brunch during the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, after circling this conversation for months. A boodle brunch is based on a traditional Filipino way of eating: food laid out generously on banana leaves, eaten together, by hand. It’s casual, communal, and built around connection rather than ceremony, and for Morris, it’s a reflection of how he grew up eating. The brunch was also a collaboration with Filipino food content creator Abi Marquez, for whom the day marked a personal milestone; her first time cooking service in a professional restaurant kitchen. Morris was clearly proud to be part of that moment, guiding her through the intensity of cooking for a room full of people while watching her passion translate from screen to service. The food stayed true to its Filipino roots, with gentle nods to Australian produce, making the whole experience feel generous and thoughtful. Morris moves between kitchens and cultures with ease. He cooks modern Italian at Buono in Parkdale, while CMD Supper Club gives him the freedom to explore Filipino flavours, techniques and stories on his own terms. Talking to Morris at the end of the service, what came through most clearly was his gentleness and generosity as well as a genuine pleasure in cooking for and alongside others. Now, I do just need to say I chatted to Morris while the café was being packed up, so there’s tables being dragged across the floor, and excited post-event chatter and occasional shrieks. So it’s absolutely real and you are now very much a part of it!

After a few years working across Australia, Asia and London, Maltese chef Jonathan Brincat went back home to Malta to cook his own food, his own way. He opened Noni in Valletta, a restaurant built on the flavours he grew up with and refined through years in other kitchens. Six years on, it holds a Michelin star. Noni is about Maltese food, but not as you might expect. Dishes that start with memory and familiarity are reworked with technique and precision. The flavour stays front and centre. The rest follows. Jonathan is in Melbourne for the Food and Wine Festival, bringing a version of Noni to Maha using Australian produce. It’s the first time a Maltese chef has been part of the global series, and a chance to put Malta, and his take on it, on the table here.