The Paddock’s Executive Chef, Simon Furley, started working in restaurants around his home town of Bath in the UK when he was 16. He started washing up and doing what he could to help around the kitchens of restaurants around UK and Europe, and gradually worked his way up the ranks.

His passion for cooking saw him working as a private chef for high-net-worth clients on their private yachts and at their villas in ski resorts for four years as he travelled and broadened his professional experience. Simon’s move to Australia was meant to be for two years, but he fell in love with the Gold Coast hinterland and decided to stay.
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He started his Australian journey as a Sous Chef at the hatted Queensland restaurant, Homage at Spicers Hidden Vale. It is here where he was introduced to local, sustainable and ethical cooking. His passion was ignited and then recognised with his promotion to Head Chef.
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When offered the opportunity to run his own restaurant on the privately-owned property, Beechmont Estate, he jumped at the chance to realise his dream. Developing and implementing sustainable and environmental practices is an ongoing dedication for him at The Paddock restaurant. He uses creative methods to reduce food waste like smoking, curing and fermentation so no produce is discarded and, instead, is introduced back into dishes in different interpretations He says he loves both ancient and modern ways of cooking, but most of all, he loves challenging himself to do things out of the ordinary without constraints or ideas of what should be. He particularly enjoys cooking over an open fire, which he says is “like nothing else.”

“When the wood burns, the smoky aromas transfer to that ingredient, and it embeds the food with the depth and history of that tree.”