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TWiSK recently chatted with Huey to discuss his newly published memoir, Who Called the Cook a Bastard?, reflecting on his early career, his legendary run in St Kilda, and his thoughts on the local dining scene.
“Huey” is a New Zealand-born Australian chef, restaurateur and author, best known as one of Australia’s first celebrity television chefs. Famous for the braces, the down-to-earth humour and a no-fuss approach to food, he became a daytime TV fixture for nearly three decades, with regular spots on Healthy, Wealthy and Wise and GMA with Bert Newton, followed by hit shows including Huey’s TV Dinner, Huey’s Cooking Adventures and Huey’s Kitchen.
After stepping away from television in 2019, worn down by the filming and travel schedule, Huey found an unexpected second act on TikTok. Although he does not own a mobile phone, his daughter Charlotte convinced him to post short, classic cooking clips, which struck a chord with younger viewers and helped earn him a nomination for the inaugural Food Creator of the Year at the Australian TikTok Awards.
Musical beginnings and early kitchen days
Before the kitchen came calling, Huey’s first love was music. In the 1960s, he played guitar in New Zealand psych bands including Sebastian’s Floral Array and Cellophane, and even won the prestigious New Zealand Battle of the Bands.
“I came over to Australia originally in 1970 to further my career,” Huey recalls. “I was going to be the next Beatle, of course.”
However, a gig at the Melbourne Town Hall changed everything. Seeing the band Daddy Cool blew his mind. Huey remembers his wife at the time, who was a keyboard player, turning to him and saying, “Iain, I think your future lies in the kitchen.”
“It certainly wasn’t in music after seeing them,” Huey laughs. “I actually sent that note to Ross Wilson when I was writing the book, and he sent back, ‘So, it’s Daddy Cool that made you the success you are today.’ That was very flattering.”
Like many young musicians and actors waiting for their big break, Huey started working in kitchens as a “dish pig” to keep body and soul together. He had no formal culinary training. “In those days, the culinary schools were pretty ordinary, particularly in New Zealand,” he explains. “My training came really from eating out a lot, travelling overseas, seeing what people were doing in restaurants, and trying to picture and imitate it.”
His first big break came after time in London, where his older brother Don owned wine bars, followed by The Gallion in Christchurch and a return to Melbourne at the Lemon Tree Hotel in Carlton.
The Lemon Tree was a rough pub turned hotspot for young professionals, with cold beer, a serious wine list and a kitchen that made a virtue of cheaper cuts and offal. “We did tripe, brains, sweetbreads, stews and braises,” Huey says.
The St Kilda years: Tolarno and beyond
Huey’s St Kilda chapter began after he had already built a formidable reputation in Melbourne dining. In 1977, he opened the seminal French-style restaurant Clichy in Collingwood with food critic Sigmund Jorgensen – a venture he briefly revived in March 2026 with a three-night, sold-out pop-up at Bistra in Carlton.
But Huey’s move to the South side of town cemented his local legacy. His first restaurant there was Fleurie in Toorak, a highly successful 44-seat BYO that earned three hats, followed by Champagne Charlies also in Toorak , and then the Last Aussie Fishcaf in South Melbourne.
Later came Tolarno. Huey had long loved the St Kilda institution, and when he heard a prospective buyer planned to paint over its famous murals, he stepped in.
“I thought, ‘Oh, we can’t do that,'” Huey says. “So, I put in an offer and bought it. I couldn’t have anyone painting over the murals. It wasn’t a planned thing, but I had always loved Tolarno. I still have huge affection for it.”
Under Huey, Tolarno became a well-priced, approachable favourite with a packed public bar. He later had a minor silent-partner role in the early days of Barney Allen’s on Fitzroy Street.
What St Kilda Needs Today
Looking at Fitzroy Street today, Huey feels a sense of sadness about how Tolarno and other venues have fared under later owners who tried to push them too far upmarket.
“With Tolarno they made the most dreadful mistake of taking it upmarket,” Huey observes. “They spent money, cleaned up the toilets – maybe we should have too – but they put the prices up dramatically. And it has been proven time and time again in St Kilda, they don’t want that.”
He says Fitzroy Street works best when it serves locals: good food, fair prices, music and atmosphere, rather than another expensive dining room.
To Huey, the venue currently cracking the Fitzroy Street code is Irish pub The Fifth Province. “He has hit the nail on the head. He is doing not bad food, reasonable prices, he puts bands on, and he’s a good operator. That’s what the street needs. It doesn’t need another upmarket restaurant.”
Simple food and heritage
That belief in simple, useful cooking has followed Huey from television to TikTok. From his first day on Healthy, Wealthy and Wise, he says the brief was clear: make food people could actually cook, with freely available ingredients.
When asked what he cooks at home when he wants a low-effort comfort meal, Huey admits with a smile: “I hardly ever cook at home, to be very honest. My wife does the cooking at home after my 50 years of working in commercial kitchens. But if I wanted something simple, as long as it’s got flavour and guts to it – I’m a great fan of anchovies, chillies, garlic. And I still like simple things like the perfect roast chicken or a good stew.”
Who Called the Cook a Bastard? is available locally at Readings and via Products | Cheers Huey
Photo credit: Ronnie Tres Reyes – We Are Crew
