Funny story. I actually met Ha in the spa pool in my apartment building. He was talking to some other neighbours in the pool about restaurants and about his cooking school, Otao Kitchen, which obviously piqued my interest. I told him about Conversation with a Chef and very happily for me, he agreed to talk to me. I had walked past his original cooking school venue on Victoria Street so many times and had often thought about doing a class or having a chat to the chef. On the day I walked down to talk to Ha, it was 32º and I hadn’t realised that he had new premises, still on Victoria Street, but a little further down. I was a molten version of myself by the time I got there, but the school was cool and high ceilinged and quite beautiful. Ha had a big bottle of sparkling water for me and generously gave me a lot of his time and told me his story. Ha is originally from Hanoi in Vietnam and pursued cooking studies in Wellington, New Zealand before coming to Melbourne and working at a hiking lodge on the Great Ocean Road for six years. He now runs a highly successful cooking school in Abbotsford. I'm now booked in for a dumpling Master Class next week and I can’t wait.