Chef Paddy Zhang’s story
Chef Paddy Zhang, born in the late 70s in China began his cooking career at the age of 16 working as an apprentice at the local restaurant. It was during this time; Paddy gained a true understanding of the concept and artistry involved in cooking and obtained basic techniques to continue his career with. After completing his traineeship, Paddy attended a technical college to further expand his skills, theories, and knowledge for culinary art.
Paddy then worked in several restaurants and Hotels to advance his experiences. From there, he spent multiple years working as the role of head chef for Honda Hotel, where large functions and conferences were held. This aided him to gained important management and organisation skills for large groups.
In 2001, Paddy travelled to Beijing to further his career, he was fortunate to be a disciple of Master Chef Jiao Mingyao; Chairman of the Chinese Herbal Cuisine Association where he learnt more about high standard delicacies, luxury ingredients and banquet for royal family and Mansions. With this extended knowledge, he successfully obtained reputation across the industry, achieving numerous awards from competitions, TV programs, newspapers, and magazines.
Upon his arrival to Brisbane in 2006, Paddy was approached by Imperial Cuisine Yu Shan Fang and was invited to work as the Executive Chef. While in the company, he designed menus and enforced rules and regulations. To explore Western cuisine and further enhance his knowledge of culinary, Paddy moved to Jimmy’s on the Mall where he combined Asian and Western cuisines into a fusion.
Paddy was nominated by the Brisbane City Council to host Asian cuisine, cooking demonstrations in local libraries and malls which expanded Asian culture to the Western community. While demonstrating one day, a journalist from SBS approached Paddy and offered him a cooking program for SBS radio ‘Kitchen Conversation’, ‘Kangaroo Recipe’ and ‘Culture of Chopsticks’.
To pass his skills and knowledges of food art for Modern Asian Fusion Cuisine, Paddy completed the TAE Course to qualify as an assessor and trainer for Asian cookery in several RTO.
When Marriott Group established W Hotel in Brisbane, Paddy was invited as the Asian cuisine specialty. While working, Paddy was approached by Fiji Airway to consult, create menus, and train chefs to cook Asian fusion cuisine.
Recently, due to COVID-19, hospitality and tourism has been affected heavily. Paddy grasped this opportunity to establish a new company CHEF 365, to build a commercial mobile kitchen. Through this, Paddy Zhang Chef 365 is able to bring restaurant orientated dishes into customer's home.
