Shannon Kellam’s life as a chef began at Raphael’s in Shorncliffe, UK, under the tutelage of his mentor, Rick Stephen AM. Rick instilled in Shannon a love for the culinary arts and an inimitable work ethic. As Shannon worked his way up, he also competed extensively, believing that competition cooking tests and drives chefs to excel and create.

​Shannon then set out to achieve his goal of returning to Raphael’s as chef/owner. After four successful years and restoring the restaurant to its former glory, Shannon sold it to enable him to focus on salon culinaires, particularly the Culinary Olympics. This competition is the world’s oldest and largest culinary event, starting in 1892 and held in Germany every four years.

​In his first Olympics in 2008, Shannon was awarded two Gold Medals with the Australian team. Thus began a very successful international career that saw Shannon amass over 80 medals, including two Gold Medals at the 2012 Olympics and winning the first Dubai world cup held at the world trade centre.

​Whilst Executive Chef at The Brisbane Club, Shannon was selected for the 2013 World Final in the Bocuse d’Or and relocated to Carcassonne to train with Franck Putelat (M.O.F.) at his 2-star restaurant, Le Parc. In 2014, Shannon was selected as one of seven chefs to compete in the Global Chef World Final in Norway, and he spent the year travelling as commitments saw him cook in China, Norway, Korea, Thailand, Italy, Holland and Dubai before settling in Chaudes-Aigues to prepare for the 2015 Bocuse d’Or at the 2-star restaurant, Serge Vieira, with former winner Serge.
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Shannon returned home to Brisbane, having retired from competing. With his wife Clare, Shannon purchased Montrachet in early 2015, and moved it to Bowen Hills in 2017. In 2018, Shannon was named Queensland’s Chef of the Year, with the first review of the “new Montrachet”, scoring a perfect ten/ten in their first review.