Sydney chef Josh Niland has been paving the way for a sustainable nose-to-tail approach to seafood, both in restaurants and at-home cooking, for years. He and his wife Julie Niland own Saint Peter, Charcoal Fish, and Fish Butchery in Sydney, and he’s published books –
The Whole Fish Cookbook and Take One Fish: The New School of Scale-to-Tail Cooking and Eating – to help educate people on how to use as much as possible from the protein we take from the ocean.
Now Niland has been named on a global list of famous chefs for his pioneering pescatarian work, coming in at number 78 on a list of 100 in The Best Chef Awards 2022.
He’s the only Australian in the top 100, falling behind international giants such as Dabiz Muñoz (#1, Spain), René Redzepi (#2, Denmark), Joan Roca (#3, Spain), Massimo Bottura (#4, Italy) and Andoni Luis Aduriz (#5, Spain).
It’s an industry where the most famous are men, and the list is approximately 80 per cent male. The highest ranking female is Slovenian Ana Roš (#9), with France’s Anne-Sophie Pic (#20) and Dominique Crenn (#24) and the UK’s Clare Smyth (#35) behind.
In addition to representing Australia in the list, Niland was awarded the Best Chef Innovation Award for his commitment to seafood cooking and sustainability.
Of course, Niland is no stranger to international award ceremonies. In 2020, he became the first Australian to win Book of the Year at the prestigious James Beard Awards for The Whole Fish Cookbook.
The Best Chef was created in 2015 by Polish neuroscientist Joanna Slusarczyk and Italian gastronomist Cristian Gadau. Its awards, created in 2017, aim to inspire younger generations of chefs by celebrating the person, rather than the restaurant. The 2022 awards were held in Spain and the shortlist is voted on by a list of food journalists, critics, bloggers, photographers and other fine-dining experts.
