Produce from more than 30 local suppliers is used in the Kooroomba Vineyard and Lavender Farm kitchen and Head Chef, Daniel Groneberg said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Daniel said he always wanted to work with food.  

  “When I was nine years old, I made my first Black Forest Cake for my brother's christening.

“And I think because of the instant gratification I got out of that, [I knew] it was a track that I wanted to go down.”

As he had plans to pursue a career in the food industry, his parents took him to Europe a few times to enable him to experience the culture. When he was 15, however, he was presented with an opportunity of a lifetime. 

“I had a job interview at a hotel in the Black Forest in Germany and they agreed to take me on as an apprentice when I finished school,” Daniel said.

He completed his final years of high school, and returned to Germany to take up the offer to undertake a three-and-a-half-year apprenticeship.

“I had to learn German and all of the basics of cooking,” he said. 

Looking back on his time there, Daniel admits that the apprenticeship made him the chef he is today. 

“It gave me a really good foundation to go from and progress.”

After working in German restaurants and European castles which Daniel described as “pretty wild,” he moved back to Brisbane when he was 24 and landed a job in the fine dining restaurant at the Brisbane Hilton. 

“That was massive,” he said.

“It was almost like doing a whole other apprenticeship again.”

According to Daniel, the contrast between Australia and Germany was in a world of its own.

“The food in Australia is very multicultural, whereas in Germany the restaurants have a very traditional approach.

“Coming back here was tough to start with.

“You just had to be a sponge.”

Working under such highly regarded chefs as Nancy Oakes and David Thompson, Daniel said he soon felt at home in the Brisbane kitchen.

“I was there for five and a half years, which was really cool, because we had the same team in the restaurant for that period of time.

“And I think that's when I noticed that consistency and staffing is really important in a restaurant. 

“If you got consistency in your staff, then you’ve got consistency in your food.”

In need of a break, he searched for the right place to settle down. 

“Six years ago, I was looking for a place to live, settle down and buy a house and I had some friends out here. 

“I really liked the Boonah area.

“I wasn't going to go back to cooking, I'd given it up completely because I'd been at it for over 20 years.

“I needed a break.” 

Desperate to “get out and travel,” Daniel bought a home in Kalbar as a base.

And so, the expeditions begun. 

Up to Cape York, across the Simpson Desert, down to Tasmania and over to Greece.

And it was in Greece where he reignited the flame. 

The cooking flame that is.

“I did find my passion for cooking again. Greece was a huge experience for me.

“Being able to walk through the ancient, Roman ruins, pick-up local ingredients and then go home at night to cook with the produce, was amazing. 

“It became really sort of my ‘thing’.”

Each night, Daniel would research how the Greek culture used the ingredients and what he needed to do with it.

And he fell in love with local produce. 

“Having the ability to do that in a foreign country, was just really cool.

“I think I needed the trip, in order to refine what my passion was.”

After his eye-opening experience in Greece, Daniel returned to Kalbar only to hear on the grapevine that the Head Chef position at the Kooroomba Vineyard and Lavender Farm was up for grabs.  

“I put my resume in and about six weeks later, after living out here for almost a year, they offered me the job.”

And now, Daniel said he has “the dream job.”

“In a small kitchen like this one, we only have three staff, so it's a hands-on position. 

“I do a lot of the cooking for lunch service.

“Every plate goes through my hands. 

“And if you don't cook, taste, sweat with the staff, wash dishes every now and again, then you won’t ever build a cohesive team. 

“If they see you do it then, that makes them want to strive too as well. 

“For me, that is what being a chef is about.”

That, and working with local producers. 

“We work with Carolyn from ‘Towri Sheep Cheeses’, Dave and Kay from ‘Tommerups Dairy’, Tom gives us his ‘Tommy’s Pastured Eggs’, and then there’s Deb from Running Creek Beef …

“She just dropped off 20kg of brisket,” he laughed. 

“Kay Tommerup will produce butter once every three weeks, and drop us off three or four kilos.

“You know, all of these producers have my mobile number.

“Working with local producers is the business model we built.”

• Daniel Groneberg and his team were awarded a Chef’s Hat in the 2021 Australian Good Food Guide awards.