Born in Adelaide in 1983, Zac was immediately thrown into the life of hospitality after his parents just opened their restaurant, the French Chef in Burnside. As a primary school kid, Zac spent his afternoons at the restaurant sneaking crème caramel from the fridge or sitting up on the bench watching his father at the coffee machine and his mother in the kitchen.

On weekends, his family was the one that hosted all the parties, cooked all the feasts, and entertained all the extended relatives. So, it made sense that Zac would get into hospitality as he grew older.

After some international travel and time living in Sweden while his girlfriend, now wife, Kelly, studied. On returning to Australia, Zac decided to follow his passion for cooking and wanting to work in the best restaurant in Melbourne, he decided Taxi Dining Room was for him. It had won Restaurant of the Year in the Melbourne Good Food Guide and, undaunted, Zac walked in and told the Executive Chef, Michael Lambie, that he wanted to work there. Under the tutelage of Tony Twitchett and Perry Schagen, Zac’s career had a flying start. And he hasn’t looked back.

From there, Zac worked as Chef de Partie, then Sous Chef at Port Phillip Estate. And after a year at the winery, he was approached by Michael Lambie to open his next venue, The Smith, as the Co-Head Chef with Brad Simpson. This was the springboard to being offered partnership at Lucy Liu which opened in 2014. Together with George Sykiotis, Michael Lambie and Scott Borg.

From day one, Zac says it was big and it was busy, and he had to learn on his feet. But it has been an incredible journey to where he is today - Executive Chef and Co-owner of Lucy Liu.