Outside the Box: Alex Bel-Saunders - Chef

Alex Bel-Saunders’ path to the culinary world wasn’t conventional – and The Wiggles and a bag of prunes nearly put him out of commission at a young age – but his commitment to learning and improving is second to none.

Join us for a glimpse into the workings and work-life of Alex and how a commie chef taught him a valuable lesson.

What was the first memory of making food that sparked an interest in you? 

That’s not really how it worked for me, I wasn’t the kid baking brownies on the weekend or helping prepare the carrot and cheese salad. I fell into the industry just like a lot of people because I needed a job.

I was always interested in food but never really saw it as a career choice. At 16 years old, in my head, I was going to be a carpenter or an electrician because they earn good money and I wanted to buy that Holden Commodore as soon as possible.

I did a bit of work experience here and there but something about the kitchen drew me in. Maybe it was the lifestyle. Maybe it was all the different people from all over the world that you get to meet. Maybe it was because cleaning the freezer was so fun, who knows?

Are there any meals from home and your upbringing (or from various travels) which hold core memories?

I never really had one of those life-changing moments when eating some amazing dish, but when I was five years old, my mum gave me some prunes to eat while I was watching The Wiggles.

She specifically said, “Don’t eat the pips”, but I didn’t listen and when the song came on with all the cheeky monkeys jumping on the bed, I got up and started jumping along with them, as you would, and one of the pips got stuck in my throat.

When my mum came back in, I was lying down, not moving and had turned purple because I was choking on a pip. They tried everything to get it out, smacking me on the back, trying to get me to vomit.

They even called the ambulance, but luckily, the pip finally came out and I was fine. Mum still tells me she thought I was a goner for sure that day. When the ambulance arrived, they found me sitting in the bathtub, in shock and pale as snow. That was definitely a memorable experience.

Fast forward 10 years, where do you see your career going? What would you like to achieve and what impact on the hospitality industry do you hope to have?

At the moment, I’m just trying to keep my head down and be like a sponge to new information: to learn faster and better ways of doing things so that in 10 years I have the knowledge I will need to pursue what I want then.

I want to work and travel, like a lot of people in the industry. I haven’t worked outside Australia yet, so that’s definitely high on my list of to do’s. The experience of working in a different environment with new cultures, new languages and being outside of my comfort zone excites me.

What was the best advice you were ever given and by whom? How do you now apply it?

The best advice I’ve ever been given was by a chef recently, actually. I asked him if he got that promotion he’d been working towards and he said to me that none of that matters because he will be a commie chef for life: the rank, the pay – none of that matters. He said he will be forever learning, forever making mistakes and forever CLEANING.

 In that moment, it completely changed my perspective. What matters is being a part of a team, getting better every day, hustling and pushing for improvement the same way you did when you first started, for as long as you’re doing it.

Outside of cooking, what else do you feel passionate about, what makes you you?

I’ve always been into music my whole life, especially after getting my first Apple iPod and learning how to download music off LimeWire – that was a big turning point for me. Being able to listen to music that wasn’t on the radio or on a CD; being able to find different sounds and listen to them, loud, by myself when I wanted to.

 One of my first finds was Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” I listened to it over and over, like a thousand times. Even now, discovering new music, it’s the best feeling when you find a song that you just can’t stop listening to. I’m constantly chasing that feeling.

Get a taste of Alex’s skills in action by visiting us.