In 1995 Annette joined Spirit House as their first Restaurant Head Chef where she created a Thai inspired food style that set the standard for all the Spirit House chefs who followed in her footsteps. Her gift for creating recipes which reflect her deep understanding of Asian flavours put the Spirit House on the Queensland culinary map. She now works full time teaching in the cooking school
Originally from Sydney, Annette moved to the Sunshine Coast in the 1980’s where she was chef at various Noosa restaurants such as Bistro C and Lindoni's.
Widely traveled in S.E.Asia for over twenty years, Annette delights in imparting her knowledge and love of Asian food to her students. She firmly believes that cooking should be fun and brings that spirit to her cooking classes. Not hidebound by recipes, Annette encourages students to experiment with flavours and ingredients, to interpret and adapt recipes to their own tastes and that of their family. As with all senior Spirit House chefs, Annette travels annually to Asia, each time expanding her knowledge of ingredients and repertoire of recipes.
Annette’s garden is her love, growing nearly all the fresh Asian ingredients that she uses every day as well as dozens of varieties of ginger, both edible and decorative. All are grown on a suburban block, using her ‘neglect technique’ – “a lot of love, but not always enough attention, the same way I raise my son.”
