Scott Lord was born in Dunedin in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and knew from a young age that he wanted to pursue hospitality as a career. After a few years of working under various chefs, he joined the multi-award-winning restaurant Pier 24 as Chef de Partie, working alongside Michael Coughlin at the St Clair eatery. When Scott and his wife moved to Melbourne in 2015, he secured the role of chef de partie at Cumulus Inc. before joining Commune Group’s modern Japanese restaurant Tokyo Tina as head chef for two years. He then joined the Sunda Dining family as sous chef before returning to the Commune Group to take on the head chef role at New Quarter, changing its offering to focus on Neo-Vietnamese and bringing in his modern interpretation of some favourite Vietnamese hits such as banh mi finger, beef tartare and duck floss noodles. Last year Scott jumped to Balaclava to help launch Moonhouse, bringing Chinese cuisine to a bistro setting and his commitment to the restaurant group saw him quickly promoted to Executive Chef of New Quarter and Moonhouse. I met Scott at Moonhouse on a Monday when the restaurant is closed, but he had lit the fire upstairs and we sat in the beautiful art deco curve of the building on a table positioned under a beautiful chandelier. Scott is calm and articulate, and it’s easy to see why he has risen though the ranks of a top Melbourne hospo group so quickly. He cares about his team, loves the food and is super aware of the diners’ experience. Moonhouse should definitely be on your list of places to go.
