Jake Furst is head chef of Cinder, the elegant fire-driven restaurant in Fitzroy North’s 150-year-old pub The Terminus Hotel, and also executive chef of the Kickon Group, a hospitality group that runs large scale, high-end venues in Melbourne, Sorrento, and Queensland. Since the Group took over the Terminus, they have completely renovated it, creating a casual pub feel out the front, extensive beer garden and marquee seating, a private dining room upstairs and Cinder, which really is breathtaking. It is quite the maze in the Terminus and Jake took me for a tour before we sat down to chat. When we came through the door to Cinder, there was a lot to take in, blue stone back wall, timbered ceiling and wall features and the original pendant lights, glowing softly and bathing the room in a golden light. Cinder also has a private dining room with exquisite wines forming a wall at one end. For the lucky 80 people who have signed up to the Cuts Club (there are still places), they have a specially assigned steak knife hand made by Mathieu Deschamps in the Dandenongs hanging in a wooden awards cabinet on the wall for when they come to visit. It really feels like a magical place. Jake is all about the collaborations and you can check them all out on the Terminus website, but important to note is the upcoming Melbourne Food and Wine Festival event, where Good Food’s Young Chef of the Year Nicholas Deligiannis (Audrey’s) will join Jake on March 28 and 29 for a unique take on the surf’n’turf. Deligiannis’s love for seafood and Furst’s passion for dry-aged beef will collide. Jake and I talked about all sorts of things and once we had finished, Jake told me that he had prepared lunch for me and I very happily sat down to delicious dry aged Cape Grim steak, perfectly cooked, of course and felt very special indeed.