Kylie McAllester

Kylie McAllester

Age: 27

State: VIC

When Kylie was undertaking her apprenticeship in Lorne, she met George Biron, who introduced her to obscure sorbets, foraging and a local approach to food. She did the second year of her apprenticeship at One Fitzroy Street before moving to the Sunshine Coast where she worked for Hailey Robinson (one of Jamie Oliver’s food stylists), who became one of her greatest influences in her career to date. 

Kylie was soon running her own restaurant on the Sunshine Coast with her fiancé Ben when she was just 25 years old. They have since sold the restaurant and both moved back to Melbourne, where Kylie is working for a catering company and studying nutrition, and Ben is a chef at Vue de Monde.

At the age of 21, Kylie had to overcome her greatest life challenge, when her then-boyfriend was killed in a car accident on his way to work.

“I lost my best friend…Ben, an apprentice chef, had led my way into kitchens. We shared a common goal and it was hard to continue on without him. I had to stop and re-evaluate my life in a kitchen. I lost sight of why food made me happy.”

It was Ben who inspired Kylie to cook, and she still uses his knives to this day. It was also through Ben that she met her current partner and now fiancé, Ben Bound, who is a chef de parte at Vue de Monde.

Kylie’s greatest ambition is to pass on her love of food and nutrition to others. Every part of her life is about food and her dream is to open an integrated venue where garden, food and nutrition come together. 

“I love to create, I love to see people smile. If I had my way, every person on earth would be nourished. I would grow and then throw an individual garden party for every foodie’s soul.”

She is currently developing her wholesale foods business, working to combine all her food experience with real food, real cooking and non-calorie counting nutrition.

“Holistic eating that is accessible to all.”

When not in the kitchen or pursuing her love of food, Kylie can be found in the garden, walking her dalmatian Jackson along the beach, or surfing with her sister in Lorne.