MARK BEST

AEG AMBASSADOR

Mark Best image
I AIM TO BRING, THE EXTRAORDINARY PRODUCE OF AUSTRALIA, TO A POINT OF CELEBRATION & UNNATURAL EXPRESSION
I AIM TO BRING, THE EXTRAORDINARY PRODUCE OF AUSTRALIA, TO A POINT OF CELEBRATION & UNNATURAL EXPRESSION
MARK BEST

HIGHLIGHT

 
 
 
1990

Commenced an apprenticeship at the Macleay Street Bistro, Potts Point

 
1995

Received the Josephine Pignolet Award for Sydney' best young chef

 
 
 
 
 
1995

Opened his first restaurant, Peninsula Bistro, Balmain

 
1999

Opened Marque, Surry Hills

 
 
 
 
 
2010

Awarded Break through award for World’s 50 Best

 
2016

Bistro by Mark on the Genting Dream (Dream Cruises)

 
 
 
 
 
2019

Netflix Final Table Finalist

  • 1990

    Commenced an apprenticeship at the Macleay Street Bistro, Potts Point

  • 1995

    Received the Josephine Pignolet Award for Sydney' best young chef

  • 1995

    Opened his first restaurant, Peninsula Bistro, Balmain

  • 1999

    Opened Marque, Surry Hills

  • 2010

    Awarded Break through award for World’s 50 Best

  • 2016

    Bistro by Mark on the Genting Dream (Dream Cruises)

  • 2019

    Netflix Final Table Finalist

 

Mark Best started by discovering the stoves accidentally and ended up becoming an unquestionable symbol of the new Australian Cuisine. His perseverance and his 'eternal dissatisfaction' (as he calls it himself) are the vitamins for his spectacular personal development.

"I live in a melting pot of new ideas and cultures," says Mark Best. "We do not have the shackles of culinary history; we are free to be inventive, spirited, adaptive and progressive."

"I aim to bring, the extraordinary produce of Australia, to a point of celebration & unnatural expression" These words accurately describe Best's approach to cooking. Its food, focussed on flavour, with technology at the service of the ingredient.

Mark Best started his working life as an electrician in the gold mines of Western Australia before starting his culinary career at the age of 25. He commenced an apprenticeship at the Macleay Street Bistro, Potts Point, in 1990. This was the beginning of his passion for French food. It was the heyday of modern Australian cuisine "- the fusion of European techniques and ingredients with the flavours of the Asian region "- and a flourishing time for Sydney's food scene. In 1995 Best won the annual award for Sydney's best young chef, The Josephine Pignolet Award.

Recipe by mark best 1
Recipe by mark best 2
Mark has become an unquestionable symbol of the new Australian Cuisine

In 1995, he opened his own restaurant, Peninsula Bistro, Balmain, which soon developed a strong local following and rave critical acclaim. During this time he decided to further his study of French Cuisine in France. In 1998 he worked at 'L'Arpége' in Paris, (under Pascal Barbot) Alain Passard's three Michelin Star Gastro Temple. He followed this with a stint at Raymond Blanc's, 'Le Manoir Aux Quatre Saisons' in Great Milton, UK. His time overseas fuelled his desire to start another restaurant. Marque opened in 1999.

Mark Best has won Chef of the Year in the annual Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, Restaurant of the Year in Australian Gourmet Traveller, Sydney Morning Herald, Time Out magazine and in the Restaurant and Catering Association's Awards for Excellence. Marque has also featured for three years running in the San Pellegrino & Restaurant Magazine's Worlds 50 Best commencing with the 2010 "Break through award".

Mark also owns Pei Modern, Melbourne & Sydney, an award winning contemporary bistro and recently opened 'Bistro' by Mark Best on the Genting Dream part of the expanding Dream Cruise lines.

RECIPES BY MARK BEST

Experience exceptional meals and take your taste further with these recipes from AEG Brand Ambassador Mark Best.

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