Elia Donati has loved food and cooking since a young age, watching his mamma and nonna in the kitchen preparing his favourite meals. It wasn’t until he was 22 and in search of adventure on the other side of the world that he started learning to cook professionally. As soon as Elia moved to Melbourne he fell in love with it, and he particularly loved discovering all the cuisines we have here, in particular, Asian and American, which were a departure from the Italian food he grew up with. Having worked in a few different venues, Elia has discovered that what he really loves is the one-on-one contact he can have with diners as a private chef. He loves entertaining through food, ambiance and the role food can play in connecting people. He is also working on a line of his own products, including a delicious coffee, as well as a project aimed at bringing families together over food, Cooking Bond. This was a lovely chat about food, becoming a chef, growing vegetables and some really great advice for cooking the perfect steak.