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Better Conversations: Matt Moran’s Happy Place

Editor Megan Osborne speaks to celebrated Aussie chef, Matt Moran.
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With his renowned reputation in the hospitality world, chef and restaurateur Matt Moran AM (Member of the Order of Australia), is synonymous with food. But what many people don’t associate with him is his rich farming history, and down-to-earth passion for gardening. BHG Editor Megan Osborne interviews him to find out more, in our first episode of Better Conversations.

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I hit the road to meet Matt, heading three hours west of Sydney to a little town past Bathurst called Rockley. Matt owns the local Rockley pub and spends a few days every second week living and working on his nearby farm.

Something happens to Matt when he makes the trek out here. “I will always be a chef, love food and own restaurants. But I’ve been drawn back here,” he tells me. “A lot of people say when I come through the gates, I’m a different person. And I kind of feel it. I would like to say it’s my happy place.”

Green lush farm with herd of sheep
(Photography: Jonathan Cami)

Matt explains it’s both his fourth-generation farming heritage and the connection he feels to the land that helps drive that emotion. It’s also the journey itself that he enjoys.

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“I love the drive up here, I find it really therapeutic. I listen to a podcast or a book. Probably the first two hours are on the phone, and in the last hour I pretend I don’t have reception. I’ve probably bloody let the cat out of the bag now, haven’t I?”

I ask if he comes here to disconnect.

“It’s a switch-off place, no question,” Matt tells me. “When you’re out in the paddocks or whatever, you’re so involved and so gobbled up by what’s happening around you, you don’t think about the other things in life – you’re thinking about this.

“For me, my brain needs to turn off every now and then because it’s always going. And that’s what I love about the farm. To switch off from all those other stressors in life or work, in general. In many ways it is a mental health break.”

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Mat Moran holding a brown chicken
(Photography: Jonathan Cami)

Matt spends part of his time with the sheep, cows, pigs and chickens, but he also gets hands-on with his fruit and vegetable garden, which he built himself. “Vegetables, gardening and fruit is something that I’m getting more and more into. I’m learning as much as I possibly can,” says Matt.

“I suppose it’s my personality. I like to learn. So, each season, [I’m] planting different things.” This summer, Matt will be growing berries, tomatoes, capsicum, chillies, eggplants and lettuces. “I’ve got a pumpkin and a potato patch. Last year I had so many pumpkins, I didn’t know what to do with them, so I was giving them away. This year, we’ve got 70 varieties of potatoes, and three different varieties of pumpkins.”

Similar to the kitchen garden at Chiswick (one of Matt’s Sydney restaurants), it attracts comments about how much money must be saved growing the produce. Matt says that part isn’t always true, but he finds a deeper connection with the process. “There’s something about something that you grow, you nurture, and then you eat it. It just tastes better than anything else. Maybe that’s the romance of it. To me, I just love it.”

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farm owner standing in grass field with fire wood and bbq
(Photography: Jonathan Cami)

Matt takes me to meet his various livestock. Together we collect eggs. We plant new greens while harvesting lettuce heads for dinner. It’s clear from his interaction with the animals and garden the level of connection he has with this place. “I’m a lot more emotional these days than I used to be,” he says.

I ask what makes him emotional?

“Getting older. Kids, animals, you know, life. I’m very lucky. My kids are grown up, but they’re both incredibly good humans. Part of the reason why I want to nurture this farm and do what I’m doing: it’s for them.”

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While both his kids live interstate, studying in Melbourne, they come to the farm when visiting Sydney. “So you’ll get them in the garden?” I ask Matt.

“I will definitely get them in the garden!” he says with a laugh.

farm with a large wheel and sign reading 'green'
(Photography: Jonathan Cami)

Find out more about Matt Moran, his restaurants, and family farm at his website.

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