Chef David Dellai
Restaurant
Resides
Melbourne
Trained
 Melbourne
Who would you be nervous cooking for?Â
Heston Blumenthal
Favorite ingredients
Stinging Nettle, New and Seasonal Ingredients.
Dream Dinner Party Guest
My girlfriend!
What inspires you?
Working with young and eager Chefs.
Favorite Music
Bit of everything.
Hobbies
Going out to dinner, motorbike riding.
Last cookbook you bought
Pier
Philosophy
Keep it simple, add a twist
Charities Involved in
Australian Childhood Foundation.
Bio
Starting out helping his mum in the kitchen, Chef David Dellai has had a passion for cooking since the age of four. Back then, after experiencing how to roll pasta, home-make tomato sauce and salami, he knew that he wanted to be a chef when he grew up.
Born in Melbourne, this valuable experience as a youngster has garnered him a reputable head chef position 20 years later at highly successful restaurant Il Bacaro, Little Bourke St, a thriving and stylish section of Melbourne’s CBD.
Il Bacaro and Dellai’s reputation, and that childhood zest, remain consistently intact, which comes down to a simple respect of (the) cuisine, clientele and product. Often travelling to Italy to maintain a grasp on modern Italian cuisine, as well as participating in the culinary culture of places like Alba, Dellai annually hand picks the renowned white Alba truffle for his own menu.
Defining his style with simple, good quality ingredients and a creative flair, Dellai’s signature dish involves his favorite ingredient: stinging nettle. He would be nervous cooking for Heston Blumenthal and is inspired when working with young, eager chefs. He cites Jason Jujnovich, Riccardo Momesso and Maurice Esposito as mentors and his philosophy is this: keep it simple, add a twist.
