New Hire: Don’s New Head Chef Brings His Michelin-Star Experience to Prahran

Danny Costello always wanted to work in kitchens. After high school, he went to university to study food science but couldn’t shake his childhood dream and changed paths after graduating. “Swapping the pen for the knife was the best decision I ever made,” he tells Broadsheet.

He apprenticed at Tonka and Coda before moving to Spain in 2023, where he landed a job at Ugo Chan, a Michelin-starred Spanish and Japanese restaurant in Madrid led by chef Hugo Muñoz. Costello says he spent “every waking moment in that kitchen” until family circumstances brought him back to Melbourne in February.

He’s since taken up the head chef role at Don’s, the Cordelia team’s Prahran wine bar. We caught up with Costello to hear more about his career so far and what he has in store for Don’s.

How did you wind up at Ugo Chan?
I ended up at Ugo Chan after working at a literal kitchen out of hell: all the tropes of Kitchen Confidential with cocaine on the chopping boards and screaming during service. (The food was actually very good, though.) I had heard about Ugo Chan from friends, and so I just popped in during their prep morning and talked with them. Luckily for me, the head chef Hugo Rodriguez had worked in Australia and loved Australians. He gave me a trial, but warned me he was the only person in the company that spoke English. I held my own in the trial and started working there that week.

What did you learn there that you’ll bring to Don’s?
To use the best ingredients and make them the star. After working in restaurants in Melbourne with typically 10 ingredients on a plate, I was now working with maybe three or four – but of the absolute highest quality. The attention to detail was also insane. We would be in the restaurant until 3am cleaning and triple-checking every little thing before eventually everyone would head out for drinks. Spanish people just operate on less sleep.

What did you miss from Melbourne?
Ugo Chan’s hospitality was impeccable. But it made me realise it wasn’t the style I actually enjoy when eating out. Spain’s fine-dining scene is very much white gloves and “sirs” and “madams”. The waiter will come over and grate bottarga or truffle over your meal while talking about some half-endangered fish that has been caught that morning on your plate. It’s incredible for a one-off experience, but it actually left me yearning for Melbourne’s casual fine-dining experiences. I missed being able to joke around with my waiter and the playfulness of Melbourne’s food scene. Don’s perfectly encapsulates that feeling I was missing.

How would you describe your approach to food?
It’s very much inspired by my wife. In my spare time I’m cooking for her or talking about food with her. So, if it’s on the menu, it’s either because it’s something she has been asking me to cook her, or an idea we have been talking about – potentially inspired by an ingredient that’s coming into season. Overall, I like food to be of the season, familiar and fun but a little unconventional.

What’s changing at Don’s and what’s staying the same?
The chicken burger is a staple. It’s Alex’s baby and she is here to stay. Additionally, the pasta-on-a-spoon item is a fun weekly activity for the chefs to change around, so that won’t be going anywhere. Apart from that, though, we want to change the menu often to keep the regulars on their toes.

What new dishes are you most excited for people to try?
We have the new hibachi in the restaurant, so those dishes are pulling my attention at the moment. Over summer, I want to bring the humble tortilla back. It’s a dish I ate every day in Spain, and I feel Melbourne is currently sleeping on it.