Tobie Puttock - Cooking Career

Cooking Career

Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Puttock trained at Box Hill Institute of TAFE, and first worked at Caffe e Cucina in South Yarra. Working around Australia, and eventually Europe, Puttock first met Jamie Oliver in 1999 at River Café in London, where both of them worked for a time. Puttock returned to Melbourne, where he set up his own Italian restaurant, Termini, and appeared as a regular guest chef on the Australian version of Ready Steady Cook, a cooking game show based on a British format.

In 2001, he was contacted by Oliver, now a well-known celebrity chef, who asked for his help in setting up a training restaurant for underprivileged young people. Puttock returned to London, and helped Oliver set up the first Fifteen restaurant in Hoxton, London. The creation of the restaurant and training scheme formed the basis of a 2002 TV series on Channel 4, Jamie's Kitchen. Puttock remained at Fifteen as executive head chef for several years, until homesickness prompted him to suggest to Oliver that they set up an Australian version of Fifteen in his hometown of Melbourne.

Oliver agreed, and in 2006, a follow-up series Jamie’s Kitchen Australia was shown on Australia's Network Ten, which chronicled the establishment of Fifteen Melbourne and the training of its staff. Puttock is now executive head chef of the Melbourne restaurant.

Puttock was a guest judge on My Kitchen Rules, along with fellow guest judges Karen Martini, Guy Grossi, Liz Egan and judges/hosts Manu Feildel, Pete Evans.