Night Moves: What 15 Top Chefs Cook at Home After Service

You’ve resisted the urge to splurge on fast food after a big night out. But now what? Those midnight hunger pangs ain’t going anywhere. So, because staying up late is one of the many occupational hazards of being a chef, we asked some of the best in the business for their late-night cooking recs.

As you’d expect, flavour and maximum efficiency are the names of the game after a certain hour, whether delivered between bread or via soups and stews. Booze on the side is optional, but encouraged by some. For others, it’s about setting yourself up for success the next day – or is it technically today?

“I always have farm eggs in the fridge to make something quick and delicious like a frittata or scrambled eggs. But more often than not, later in the evening, I’d make an omelette cooked with cultured butter and loaded with chopped herbs, chilli or a sprinkle of Aleppo pepper and a few blobs of marinated feta. Simple and satisfying.”
– Christine Manfield, cookbook author

“My go-to dish after service is instant noodles – but not like the instructions on the packet. I love taking soup-based instant noodles (like Maggi curry-flavoured noodles) and turning them into a dry, stir-fried version in the wok, which intensifies the flavour. I usually toss in onions, garlic, and chilli while cooking it for extra fragrance, along with whatever protein I have in the fridge, like chorizo or bacon. Topped with a sunny-side-up egg, it’s pure comfort food.”
– Junda Khoo, owner-chef, Ho Jiak

“Spinach and feta pan-fried tortilla. (I don’t know what to call it, I’ve just always made it.) Sauté some chopped spinach in olive oil, squeeze all the water out, then lay the spinach and some crumbled feta on one half of a tortilla and sprinkle with sumac. Fold it over, pan-fry both sides and squeeze lots of lemon over the top. I’ve been making this for as long as I can remember. It’s quick, fills me up and makes me feel like I’ve eaten my veggies.”
– Clare Falzon, owner-chef, Staguni

“One pot rice. It’s so satisfying, salty and spicy. And with a few staples in your fridge, it can be just amazing at 1am. I’ll slice up cured Chinese meats like lap yuk or lap cheong and steam with the rice to soften them. Once the rice is almost cooked, I throw in a few prawns from the freezer (another great addition to your late-night pantry) and mix in sesame oil, white pepper, mushroom, soy and let that sit for five minutes. Then it’s time to raid the fridge and pantry for flavour bombs from the Asian grocer: Lao Gan Ma chilli oil, crispy fried garlic, fried shallots, ginger. A crispy fried egg broken over the top is so satisfying.”
– Ross Lusted, co-owner and chef, Woodcut, Marmelo and Mr Mills

“Always pasta! It’s hearty, easy and comforting. My go-to is spaghetti with loads of garlic, chilli, anchovies, fresh tomato, parsley, lemon and pecorino. A little tub of gelato in the freezer never goes astray either – especially after a particularly brutal service.”
– Jacqui Challinor, chef, Trader House

“In the movie Spanglish, Adam Sandler plays a chef and makes the sickest steak sandwich with a fried egg on top. I remember seeing that and thinking, “Wow, that’s a proper, post-service dinner.” To this day, it’s still my go-to. I’ll take a steak or some offcuts home from the restaurant and whip up what I call a one-pan sandwich. Everything goes in – I’ll toast the bread, cook the onion, braise the meat. Once everything’s done, I’ll drizzle the remaining oil onto the bread. Nothing gets left behind.”
– Orazio D’Elia, owner-chef, Da Orazio

“After service, I’ll usually eat breakfast-type foods – goat’s yogurt with blueberries and sunflower seeds is a regular, or some sort of egg dish. But my ultimate comfort dish would be the German strammer max, which is an open-faced sandwich with a fried egg. Heat butter in a pan. Once it starts bubbling, add bread (preferably rye) and sage leaves, then fry till crispy and brown. Place the bread on a plate followed by some cheese and sage, then ham. Fry the egg in the same pan, once cooked to your liking, slide onto the sandwich and season with lots of pepper and a pinch of salt. Serve immediately with two gherkins on the side.”
– Janina Allende, chef, Osteria Mucca

“I have a secret love of American mustard – the weird yellow one. The vehicle for this is a good rye sourdough, paired with prosciutto cotto and pickles. Toasted of course. With a good scotch on ice, but that might not count.”
– Alessandro Pavoni, co-owner and chef, A’Mare, Cibiaria, Ormeggio and Postino

“After service, I always crave something comforting, so I usually like to make a noodle soup. I lived in China for seven months and have a thing for the cuisine, so I always have some homemade stock on hand. That makes it easy to get something ready with lots of aromatics, poached chicken and noodles. It’s a nice little slow moment in the early morning.”
– Victoria Lennard, pastry chef, Restaurant Botanic

“Eggs have always been my go-to for an after-work snack. Maybe it’s because I rarely eat breakfast before work, or maybe it’s the craving for protein. Or maybe it’s just because eggs are probably the most versatile ingredient on the planet and offer the highest results-to-effort ratio – and the more flavour you get out of the least amount of effort should always be the goal late at night. Noodles with a fried egg, nasi goreng, croque madame, baked beans and eggs on toast. The options are endless.”
– Jason Saxby, chef, Raes

“My after-shift snack is what we call a “chickle”. It's a sandwich with fresh soft bread (luckily we make fresh bread daily, so it's usually at my disposal), a thick layer of not-cold, not-melted butter, pickles and crisps of choice. My go-to combination is Samboy salt and vinegar, pickled onions and qukes. The only thing better than the initial squish of the sanga is the crunchy-soft first bite. It could fix me after the worst service.”
– Sofika Boulton, chef, Sonny’s

“I’m currently training for a marathon, so my late-night meals after service are all about smart recovery to keep me fuelled for early morning training. After a long shift, (50-plus hours a week on my feet), one of my go-to meals is a bowl of brown rice or quinoa with grilled chicken, sautéed greens, and a miso-tahini dressing. It’s packed with protein, healthy fats, and micronutrients to help with muscle recovery and keep me on track with my 55-kilometre weekly runs and gym sessions.”
– Jake Kellie, chef-owner, Arkhe

“I love the scene in Goodfellas where they’re cooking in prison. In particular, I love the tomato sauce flavoured with a variety of meats. So, if I’m having a group of people round in the autumn or winter, I’ll have one ticking over on the stove. Later on, once we’re well through the wine, it’s always a crowd pleaser. I also love spicy snag and sauerkraut sangas, with sausages from G McBean Family Butcher in Prahran Market and a good quality sauerkraut.”
– Stephen Nairn, chef, Omnia and Yugen

“If you’d asked me this in my twenties, I would’ve confessed to living off the convenience of two-minute noodles after a long day of service. While they still make the occasional appearance, these days there’s a bit more variety when time allows. A top-tier late-night snack is crumpets loaded with bubbling aged cheddar and drowned in Worcestershire sauce.”
– Will Francis, Bar Julius

“After a long shift, it’s always two packets of Indomie Mi Goreng topped with a fried egg, fried Chinese sausage and extra crispy stuff – whatever I have in the pantry, honestly. It could be chilli garlic crisp, potato chips, crispy fried shallots, prawn crackers. I actually have a bougie version of this midnight snack on the Askal menu. It ticks all the boxes, and you pass out on the couch afterwards.”
– John Rivera, co-owner and chef, Askal