Where Chefs Eat: Gaea’s Mo Zhou Says This Salted Honey Croissant Is “Unreal”

Mo Zhou grew up in Zhengzhou, a large city in northern China. His family moved to Melbourne when he was a teenager, and he finished high school here. Then came that age-old conundrum: what to do in life? He didn’t have the marks to enrol in medicine or law, so he chose something safe and reliable: business.

Everything changed a couple of years into his degree, when Zhou took a six-month spin through the UK, France, Germany and Italy and discovered a nascent passion for food. “As a new immigrant, I didn’t actually know much about [Melbourne],” he told us in 2023. “We still ate mostly Chinese at home … Going to Europe really opened my mind, and when I came back, I just never went back to uni. I thought, ‘Maybe I can try cooking.’”

Zhou switched his qualification to cooking at hospitality training school William Angliss Institute, went on to stage (intern), then work, at Attica, followed by jobs at Vue de Monde and The Press Club. After two more stages – at renowned Copenhagen restaurants Amass and Kadeau – he felt ready to go out on his own and opened Gaea, a 16-seat restaurant on Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, in 2019. Ever since, he’s been crafting some of the city’s most thrilling degustations, with a penchant for minimalist, mysterious descriptions of each course. Here’s where he eats when he’s off-duty.

What’s your favourite bakery?
Monforte Viennoiserie in Carlton North. The leatherwood honey and sea salt croissant is unreal. [Read where Monforte Viennoiserie’s Giorgia McAllister Forte eats.]

Which fine diner would you like to go to again?
Amaru is one of my favourite fine-dining places. I’ve been there a few times in the past few years and it’s never disappointed. [Read where Amaru’s Clinton McIver eats.]

Where do you take visitors when they’re in town?
Embla. Tasty food and an amazing wine list. It’s the Aussie-style wine bar at its finest.

What’s the best place for a drink and a snack?
Bijou is the perfect spot for one or two glasses with a few snacks. I love this place so much, I reckon I’d go there every day if I lived in the CBD.

What’s your favourite ice-cream or gelato spot? What do you order?
Hareruya Pantry. I always go for the strong genmaicha with mochi wrap.

Where do you go for special occasions?
Brae. The whole experience is like no other. The dinner, the accommodation and the breakfast make it the perfect spot to celebrate something special.

What’s your favourite dessert in Melbourne?
Sebastian Kakigori serves the best kakigori I’ve had in Australia.

What’s the best place to eat with a big group?
Ling Nan can never go wrong. It’s fast, delicious and affordable.

What’s the best place for a late-night feed?
Ling Nan again. This place has been best known for late supper for chefs since I first got into the industry, and still is.

What’s the best place to eat solo?
A tiny place in Chinatown called Heyday Cafe, serving retro Hong Kong-style cafe food. It’s nothing fancy but it’s my personal favourite spot and it’s been there for 20 years.

What’s your bucket-list restaurant?
Sixpenny and Lumi in Sydney are on top of my list.