Straight To The Source

Behind the global acclaim, award-winning restaurants and culinary innovation of Josh Niland is a story rarely told. The story of two people building a business, raising four children and navigating the extraordinary pressures of hospitality together.
Josh’s contribution to Australian food has earned him international recognition and countless accolades, including the prestigious 2020 delicious. Produce Awards Maggie Beer Award for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Food. In 2025, Saint Peter was ranked No. 66 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants extended 51–100 list, the only Australian restaurant to feature.
Their new book, Saint Peter: Chapter & Verse, marks a decade of the restaurant that transformed how the world thinks about fish. But it's also a remarkably candid account of the highs, lows and realities of building a hospitality business.
Ten years after opening Saint Peter in Sydney, Josh and Julie Niland join Lucy Allon for a deeply personal and refreshingly honest conversation about what it really takes to open a restaurant, keep it open and sustain a marriage and family along the way.
For the first time, we hear more of Julie's story. Largely out of the public spotlight until now, she's been instrumental in building the business from day one, managing everything from finances and operations to marketing, e-commerce and new commercial opportunities.
Together, Josh and Julie reflect on the pressures, personal sacrifices and difficult decisions behind their success. They share how their partnership works, what they've learnt about leadership and resilience, and why the emotional cost of running a restaurant deserves more honest conversation.
From the painful decision to close restaurants to Josh's emotional response to reading Julie's chapter, this is a conversation about much more than food.
In this episode:
Julie Niland's pivotal, largely unseen role in building Saint Peter
The financial and emotional realities behind restaurant success
Marriage, parenting and working together under pressure
Business closures, setbacks and the courage to make difficult decisions
Building a trusted team and learning to delegate
Diversifying beyond restaurants through innovation and e-commerce
Cooking with the world's best: Rasmus Munk, Joan Roca & Virgilio Martínez
The personal stories behind Saint Peter: Chapter & Verse
Why, after everything, Josh and Julie still consider their friendship their greatest success
About Josh & Julie Niland
Josh and Julie Niland are the husband-and-wife team behind Sydney's internationally acclaimed Saint Peter, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in September 2026. Josh is one of Australia's most influential chefs, renowned for revolutionising the way the world thinks about fish through his innovative whole-fish philosophy. While Josh has been the public face of the business, Julie has played an instrumental role behind the scenes, driving operations, finances, marketing and business development while raising their four children. Together, they've built an extraordinary hospitality business through innovation, resilience and an unwavering commitment to their craft. Their latest book, Saint Peter: Chapter & Verse, offers an honest account of the triumphs, challenges and personal sacrifices behind a decade in business.
Find out more
Saint Peter Restaurant & Hotel: www.saintpeter.com.au
Saint Peter: Chapter & Verse: Explore the book
Saint Peter Shop: shop.saintpeter.com.au
Fish Butchery: www.fishbutchery.com.au
About Straight To The Source
Straight To The Source brings you closer to the chefs, producers, growers and makers across the entire food chain - the people shaping where food is headed and why it matters. Hosted by food experts Tawnya Bahr and Lucy Allon.
Follow, rate and review Straight To The Source to help more people discover the stories shaping Australia's food and hospitality industry.
You can find us:
• Straight To The Source Podcast: https://lnk.to/jBCTBE
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/straight_to_the_source/
• Website: http://straighttothesource.com.au
Tawnya Bahr
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tawnyabahr/
Instagram: @tawnyabahr
Email: tbahr@straighttothesource.com.au
Lucy Allon
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyallon/
Instagram: @lucy_allon
Email: lucy@straighttothesource.com.au
@straighttothesourcepodcast: https://www.youtube.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Damien Pignolet, an icon of Australian dining, and acclaimed chef Jason Roberts sit down to reflect on a relationship spanning more than 30 years, one shaped by food, mentorship, trust and friendship.
What makes someone back a young chef before everyone else can see what they’re capable of?
From Claude’s and Bistro Moncur to the Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year Award, this conversation explores mentorship, trust, kitchen pressure, and the evolution of Sydney dining.
Damien recalls recognising something in a young Jason that mattered more than hierarchy: guts, determination and creativity. When Bistro Moncur suddenly lost its head chef and several brigade members, Damien put Jason in charge at just 23. His approach was simple: spot talent, support it and give it room to grow.
For Jason, that mentorship became something far bigger. After a difficult childhood and growing up without a consistent father figure, food became a place of safety, and Damien became one of the people who helped shape not only the chef he would become, but the man.
Together they reflect on four decades of Australian hospitality: restaurant reviews, Michelin-starred memories, uncompromising standards, staff culture, impossible services and the enormous pressure of keeping a hospitality business alive. Damien also shares the reality of navigating the Global Financial Crisis, when his businesses were losing around $100,000 a week, while protecting food quality and looking after staff remained non-negotiable.
But this isn’t a nostalgia piece.
Damien and Jason also look at what hospitality needs now: genuine mentorship, stronger support for young chefs, better kitchen cultures and the confidence to put your hand up and ask for help.
There are some cracking stories along the way too, from Jason sleeping overnight at the restaurant to monitor terrines to wedding-day confessions, café de Paris butter, foie gras and the debate over whether cooking or cycling is better therapy.
And beneath it all sits a bigger question: if time is our most valuable currency, who and what deserves it?
For Damien and Jason, the answer comes back to people.
In this episode
Why Damien Pignolet backed Jason Roberts to become head chef at just 23
What great mentors see in people before the rest of the room catches up
Claude’s, Bistro Moncur and the kitchens that helped shape Sydney dining
The brutal pressure behind running a restaurant when the numbers stop adding up
Why old-school standards don’t have to mean old-school kitchen culture
What young chefs actually need from leaders now
The fine line between resilience, pressure and knowing when to ask for help
Jason sleeping at the restaurant to keep an eye on terrines, plus a few other stories that probably shouldn’t have left the kitchen
Michelin memories, foie gras, café de Paris butter and the things chefs never quite stop obsessing over
Why time may be the most valuable currency we have, and who is actually worth spending it on
A thought worth taking away
“My relationship with Damien goes beyond food. It’s food and life. It’s food and dreams. It’s food and death. It’s food and humility.” – Jason Roberts
“You see talent, you should identify talent and you should feed talent. Feed it with practical things, feed it with love and respect because it’ll come back.” – Damien Pignolet
About Damien Pignolet
Damien Pignolet is one of the great figures of Australian hospitality, a chef, restaurateur and mentor whose influence can be felt across generations of Australian kitchens.
Over more than four decades, he helped define Sydney dining through landmark restaurants including Claude’s and Bistro Moncur, bringing together classical French technique, exacting standards and a deep belief in nurturing young talent.
His legacy is not only in the food he has cooked, but in the chefs he has backed, challenged and helped shape. He also created the Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year Award to support the next generation.
For many in the industry, Damien is more than a celebrated chef. He is a teacher, a mentor and a genuine legend of Australian dining.
About Jason Roberts
Jason Roberts is an internationally recognised chef, author and television personality whose career has spanned Australia and the United States. Born in New Zealand, he built his culinary foundations in Sydney, spending seven years as Executive Chef at Bistro Moncur under the mentorship of Damien Pignolet.
Known for his classical French training, warmth and instinctive approach to food, Jason went on to become a familiar face on Australian and US television, including Fresh, Ready Steady Cook and The Chew.
His career has moved across restaurants, media and food advocacy, but mentorship, connection and a deep respect for produce remain central to his work.
People, places & dishes mentioned
Claude's
Bistro Moncur
William Angliss Institute
Foie gras
Terrines
Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year Award
Café de Paris butter
La Buvette
Nathan Sasi
Morgan McGlone
Neil Perry
Episode Partner
This episode is proudly supported by Seaway Logistics, local experts in global trade.
Website: https://www.seaway.com.au/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seawaygroup
About Straight To The Source
Straight To The Source is an Australian food and hospitality consultancy and podcast sharing the stories of chefs, farmers, producers and the people behind our food.
Hosted by Tawnya Bahr and Lucy Allon, it explores provenance, knowledge and lived experience to better understand where food comes from, who shapes it and why it matters.
You can find us:
• Straight To The Source Podcast: https://lnk.to/jBCTBE
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/straight_to_the_source/
• Website: http://straighttothesource.com.au
Tawnya Bahr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tawnyabahr/
Instagram: @tawnyabahr
Lucy Allon:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyallon/
Instagram: @lucy_allon
@straighttothesourcepodcast: https://www.youtube.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is it easier to buy imported tuna in an Australian supermarket than tuna caught off our own coast?
Heidi Walker, co-founder of Walker's Seafood and Walker's Tuna, explains why. Australia exports about 70% of the seafood it catches and imports about 70% of what it eats. Local fishers pay Australian wages and Australian fuel prices, and they compete against subsidised foreign fleets fishing the high seas with few rules. The country also has no scaled seafood canning facility left.
Heidi and her husband Pavo started with one of the oldest wooden tuna boats on the East Coast and no experience. They built Australia's largest wild-caught tuna company and became the first Australian tuna business to earn MSC certification. Now Walker's Tuna is the first Australian MSC-certified tuna stocked by a major supermarket, and it is in every Coles in the country.
This episode is proudly presented by Seaway Logistics, local experts in global trade.
In this episode:
Why imported tuna dominates Australian shelves, and what it costs to send one boat to sea ($70,000 a trip)
The last tank of fuel and the recycled fishing line that saved the business
How one swordfish for George Calombaris started a direct-to-chef strategy
What MSC certification actually proves, and why "line-caught" or "small boat" doesn't automatically mean sustainable
Creating a preserved albacore with Neil Perry, packed in Australian cold-pressed olive oil
Why the product is made in Thailand, and why that isn't a compromise
The proposed marine park that Heidi says could push Australians toward more imported fish
About Walker's Seafood and Walker's Tuna
Walker's Seafood Australia is a family-owned wild-caught tuna and swordfish business based in Mooloolaba, Queensland, founded by Heidi and Pavo Walker. It started with one old wooden boat and now runs four vessels in the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery, supplying chefs across Australia and exporting to the US and Japan.
In 2015, Walker's became the first Australian tuna company to achieve MSC certification, the global standard for sustainable wild-caught seafood. Every boat carries 24/7 cameras and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority monitors them.
Walker's Tuna is the company's preserved range: Australian albacore in Australian cold-pressed olive oil, sold in jars and foil-lined pouches and developed with Neil Perry. It is the first Australian tuna stocked by a major supermarket, and it's available in every Coles nationally, around 200 Woolworths stores and independent grocers. Food service packs and frozen saku and poke cuts are also available for chefs.
Links
Walker's Seafood Australia: https://walkerstuna.com/
Walkers on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/walkerseafoods
Heidi Walker on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-walker-2b98b1123/
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): https://www.msc.org/en-us/for-business/supply-chain-companies/get-certified
AFMA, Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery: https://www.afma.gov.au/
Learn More & Connect with Seaway Logistics
Website: https://www.seaway.com.au/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seawaygroup
Australian tuna, albacore tuna, MSC certified tuna, sustainable seafood Australia, imported seafood, Walker's Tuna, Heidi Walker, Pavo Walker, Mooloolaba, preserved tuna, freight logistics
About Straight To The Source
Straight To The Source brings you closer to the chefs, producers, growers and makers across the entire food chain- the people shaping where food is headed and why it matters. Hosted by food experts Tawnya Bahr and Lucy Allon.
Follow, rate and review Straight To The Source to help more people discover the stories shaping Australia's food and hospitality industry.
You can find us:
• Straight To The Source Podcast: https://lnk.to/jBCTBE
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/straight_to_the_source/
• Website: http://straighttothesource.com.au
Tawnya Bahr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tawnyabahr/
Instagram: @tawnyabahr
Email: tbahr@straighttothesource.com.au
Lucy Allon:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyallon/
Instagram: @lucy_allon
Email: lucy@straighttothesource.com.au
@straighttothesourcepodcast: https://www.youtube.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meredith Dairy’s marinated goat cheese has become one of Australia’s most recognisable food products. But behind that famous jar is a far bigger story about farming, family, innovation, sustainability and what it really takes to build an Australian food business with global reach.
In this episode of Straight To The Source, Tawnya Bahr sits down with Angus Cameron, the next generation helping steer Meredith Dairy, to get beyond the cheese and into the realities of running one of Australia’s best-known family-owned dairy businesses.
Meredith Dairy began after Sandy and Julie Cameron turned to sheep and goat dairying in the early 1990s as traditional farming economics became increasingly difficult. Today, the vertically integrated business farms, milks and manufactures its products on its 4,500-acre property in Meredith, Victoria, controlling its supply chain from paddock through to finished product.
Angus talks about growing up inside the business, stepping into a second-generation family operation and the responsibility that comes with taking an established Australian food brand into its next chapter.
And then there is the question most consumers never ask: what happens to the male goats?
Dairy farming inevitably produces animals that cannot enter the milking herd, raising much bigger questions around whole-animal utilisation, waste, animal welfare and how we place value on food. It is one of the less comfortable realities sitting behind dairy production, and one chefs and consumers rarely get to see.
The conversation also digs into sustainability beyond the buzzwords. At Meredith Dairy, grains grown on the farm feed the dairy animals, straw becomes bedding, cheese whey is fed to cattle and manure is returned to the soil, while the business continues to invest in renewable energy, water conservation, recycling and land management.
For chefs, there is another lesson here. Knowing an ingredient means understanding more than flavour and functionality. It means understanding the farming system, the people, the animals, the waste streams and the decisions made long before that ingredient lands in your cool room.
Meredith Dairy products are now sold across Australia and internationally, with Angus working across marketing and export as the family business continues to grow beyond its Victorian farm gate.
This is a conversation about Australian goat cheese, but it is really about something much bigger: how you build a food business that can scale without losing sight of the farm it came from.
In this episode, Tawnya and Angus explore:
How Meredith Dairy grew from a Victorian family farm into an internationally recognised Australian food brand
The story behind Meredith Dairy’s goat cheese and yoghurt
Growing up inside a family farming business
What succession really looks like when the next generation steps in
The realities and pressures of farming in Australia
The uncomfortable question of what happens to male goats in a dairy system
Whole-animal utilisation and why chefs should be part of that conversation
Sustainability beyond marketing language
Turning farm by-products into useful resources
Maintaining quality while growing production
Taking an Australian regional food brand into international markets
What Angus believes the next chapter of Meredith Dairy could look like
This episode is proudly presented by Seaway Logistics, local experts in global trade.
Learn More & Connect with Seaway Logistics
Website: https://www.seaway.com.au/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seawaygroup
About Meredith Dairy
Meredith Dairy is one of Australia’s leading family-owned sheep and goat dairies, founded by Sandy and Julie Cameron in Meredith, Victoria. Sandy brought a veterinary and animal husbandry background to the farm, while Julie, a trained nurse, helped build the business from the ground up alongside him.
What began as a move to diversify from traditional farming has grown into a vertically integrated dairy business producing acclaimed goat and sheep milk cheeses and yoghurts.
Today, the next generation is stepping forward, with their son Angus Cameron increasingly involved in the business and helping shape Meredith Dairy’s future while staying true to its focus on quality, sustainability, innovation and strong Australian farming.
Learn more about Meredith Dairy: https://meredithdairy.com
About Straight To The Source
Straight To The Source brings you closer to the chefs, producers, growers and makers across the entire food chain, the people shaping where food is headed and why it matters. Hosted by food experts Tawnya Bahr and Lucy Allon.
Follow, rate and review Straight To The Source to help more people discover the stories shaping Australia's food and hospitality industry.
You can find us:
• Straight To The Source Podcast: https://lnk.to/jBCTBE
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/straight_to_the_source/
• Website: http://straighttothesource.com.au
Tawnya Bahr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tawnyabahr/
Instagram: @tawnyabahr
Email: tbahr@straighttothesource.com.au
Lucy Allon:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyallon/
Instagram: @lucy_allon
Email: lucy@straighttothesource.com.au
Meredith Dairy, Angus Cameron, Meredith Dairy, Meredith Dairy goat cheese, Australian goat cheese, marinated goat cheese, Australian dairy farming, goat farming Australia, Victorian dairy farm, Australian family business, sustainable dairy farming, farm sustainability Australia, Australian food producers, goat cheese Australia, male goats dairy industry, goat meat Australia, whole animal utilisation, sustainable agriculture Australia, Australian farmers, food provenance, farm to plate, Australian chefs, foodservice Australia, Lucy Allon, Seaway Logistics, Straight To The Source podcast, Tawnya Bahr
@straighttothesourcepodcast: https://www.youtube.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Robert “Macka” Mackenzie, fourth-generation cattle farmer behind Macka's Australian Black Angus Pastoral & Beef, it comes down to the one-percenters.
In this episode of Straight To The Source, Tawnya Bahr invites Macka into the studio to explore the small decisions that add up to better beef, from premium Angus genetics and soil health to pasture management, sustainability, traceability and resilience.
Macka shares his journey from leaving school at 14 and growing up on the family farm to building an operation spanning more than 20,000 acres across eight New South Wales properties, with the fifth generation now involved.
They unpack how drought, bushfires and floods reshaped the business, driving investment in water infrastructure, fire preparedness and farm resilience. Macka also explains why healthy soil is central to the future of Australian cattle farming, and how rotational grazing, soil science and increasing soil carbon can improve water-holding capacity.
The conversation moves beyond the farm gate into the realities of building a branded beef business. Macka shares why provenance, traceability, animal welfare and sustainability matter to today’s consumers, how Macka's diversified into eight export markets, and how having its brand copied overseas accelerated its investment in paddock-to-plate traceability.
They also explore nose-to-tail value adding, from sausages, meatballs and dumplings to award-winning beef pies, alongside Macka's significant investment in Angus genetics, marbling, fertility and feed efficiency.
It’s a straight-talking conversation about Australian beef, Angus genetics, regenerative farming, soil carbon, sustainability, traceability, export markets and the future of farming.
Because great beef isn’t created by one big decision. It’s built through hundreds of small ones.
Resources
Meat and Livestock Australia https://www.mla.com.au/
Royal Agricultural Society https://www.rasnsw.com.au/
This episode is proudly presented by Seaway Logistics, local experts in global trade.
Learn More & Connect with Seaway.
Website: https://www.seaway.com.au/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seawaygroup
About Robert Mackenzie
Robert “Macka” Mackenzie is a fourth-generation New South Wales cattle farmer and the driving force behind Macka's Australian Black Angus Pastoral & Beef.
With a strong focus on premium Angus genetics, soil health, sustainability, traceability and eating quality, Macka has helped grow the family operation to more than 20,000 acres across eight properties, with the fifth generation now involved in the business.
His philosophy is simple: focus on the one-percenters, produce with pride and leave the land and business in better shape for the next generation.
About Straight To The Source
Straight To The Source brings you closer to the chefs, producers, growers and makers across the entire food chain, the people shaping where food is headed and why it matters. Hosted by food experts Tawnya Bahr and Lucy Allon.
Follow, rate and review Straight To The Source to help more people discover the stories shaping Australia's food and hospitality industry.
You can find us:
• Straight To The Source Podcast: https://lnk.to/jBCTBE
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/straight_to_the_source/
• Website: http://straighttothesource.com.au
Tawnya Bahr
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tawnyabahr/
Instagram: @tawnyabahr
Email: tbahr@straighttothesource.com.au
Lucy Allon
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyallon/
Instagram: @lucy_allon
Email: lucy@straighttothesource.com.au
Robert Mackenzie, Robert Macka Mackenzie, Macka's Australian Black Angus Pastoral and Beef, Australian Angus beef, Australian beef farmers, premium Australian beef, Angus cattle Australia, sustainable beef farming, regenerative agriculture Australia, soil carbon farming, carbon neutral beef Australia, beef sustainability, cattle genetics Australia, Angus genetics, paddock to gate beef, Australian beef provenance, beef traceability, Australian beef export, Meat and Livestock Australia, MLA, Australian farmers, beef supply chain, grass fed grain finished beef, sustainable agriculture, soil health farming, cattle methane reduction, beef chefs Australia, Sydney Royal Fine Food competition, Seaway Logistics, Tawnya Bahr, Lucy Allon, Australian food podcast, agriculture podcast Australia, Straight To The Source podcast
@straighttothesourcepodcast: https://www.youtube.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.