Marcello grew up on one of the small islands of Sardinia, and cooking and the ocean have always played important roles in his life. He loves the water and surfing; whimsically, he would have liked to have been a fisherman or professional surfer. However, his love of cooking prevailed. Having grown up in a family where everything was made from scratch, even their daily bread, Marcello was exposed to cooking when he was very young. He said that the family used to butcher the animals they ate and made their own olive oil, cheese and wine. Over 40 of his extended family and friends would get together every weekend, and everyone participated in the cooking.

“We would cook lamb, suckling pig and seafood over the charcoal grill,” he said, “and my mother and grandmother would hand-make bread and pasta. I learned from my family and always knew that I wanted to be a chef.”

Marcello studied hospitality and graduated when he was 18. From there, he moved to the UK to start his career and spent 18 months working in the French restaurant Quaglinos, before moving to the French Caribbean. After two years working in a fine-dining Italian restaurant there, he decided to move to Australia.

That was eleven years ago, and since then, he has worked in many different restaurants in Sydney before taking on a Sous Chef role at The Apollo. He has been Head Chef for the past two years.

He said, “In each kitchen I work in, as much as I possibly can, I keep my Italian traditions alive and share my knowledge of the craft - both professionally with other chefs and as dishes for people to enjoy in a restaurant setting. I would describe my style as simple and classic. I like to accentuate the main ingredients of a dish and not overcomplicate things. By combining my passion for cooking over charcoal with new techniques, such as sous vide, I am able to emphasise quality ingredients. Simple and tasty!”