About Michel

Michel Bonnet was born in Seurre, a little village on the Saone river near Beaune in Burgundy, France. He was practically born in the kitchen! His parents ran the "L'hotel du cygne" in the middle of the village. He still recalls how he used to sneak behind the bar in the middle of the night to drink lemonade and to eat cake from the kitchen. Being the second born of 5 children and the only one interested in cooking, he learnt to handle a knife and a bottle from an early age.

After successfully completing his apprenticeship in Dijon as a top student, he voluntarily engaged in the army for an early National Service so as to choose where to go. He consequently served 18 months in Dakar, Senegal in
the airforce. "When you work in the kitchen, you have a lot of friends" - something Michel discovered from these early years. He describes his time in Senegal as the best years of his life up to that point.

On his return to France, Michel worked at the "Toque Blanche", a 1 star restaurant in Megeve in the French Alps and then went on to a restaurant on the French riviera. By this stage he had the travel bug and was intent on Australia.

He arrived in Sydney in 1968 and his first job was at the "Grotta Capri" in Kensington. After a few months when he could speak a little English (enough to woo the girls with his French accent - but that's another story..), he worked for the opening of the "Summit" restaurant in Australia
Square. He felt like he had really made it. Here he was, at a revolving restaurant on top of a 40 storey building. What would his friends and family from the little village of Seurre think of him now!

However, this feeling of "having made it" didn't last long. He wanted to be the "chef"; he wanted to be in charge! He went on to work at a number of top restaurants in Sydney, but that wasn't enough. Life was too good and too boring! In Michel's mind, life wasn't meant to be this easy. Then he
got the calling from the north. He had heard a lot of exciting stories about Queensland and arrogantly thought that they must be desperate for "good food".

He arrived in Surfers Paradise sometime in 1972 and had secured a job at a restaurant called "The painted lobster" even before he had unpacked his car! This concept was a cultural shock. "How do you get a painted lobster? Put colour in the sauce of course! Why hadn't he thought of that!" He soon tired of painting lobsters and finally opened his first restaurant at Broadbeach in the "Hi-Ho Motel". It was an instant success! The children of his customers then are today's leading Australians in their particular fields. According to Michel, they were the good old days. Then you could make a good living for an honest day's work. Once again, life was too good and too easy. This time he headed for Townsville and opened "L'escargotiere" and again it was an instant success. Next he headed for the small country town of Toowoomba, then Ipswich followed by Kenmore seducing his customers with his culinary delights all the way.

Maybe he was a city boy after all? So followed his next success story in the form of "Chevaliers" in Milton, Brisbane. But for Michel it was too crowded and too much work. The Gold Coast was the focus for his next restaurant. (Do you get the idea? Michel opens restaurants like most people open their mail!) This time he decided to create a really special restaurant; something to keep for the rest of his life that would match the best restaurant in France. And so "Le Grand Cafe" was born, complete with high ceilings, coalport dinnerware, christofle cutlery, zwiesel glasses, marble tiles and of course, a baby grand piano. Over the next 2 years,"Le Grand Cafe" featured in many magazines and won lots of awards. Inevitably though for Michel, the passion and the excitement gradually disappeared and it was time to discover the world!

Michel's long standing love affair with motorcycles (another story in itself!), led him to purchase a BMW RS 100 in Paris and so began his adventures throughout Europe and the USA. Finally on his return to Australia for the first time and long overdue, he opened a restaurant with his own namesake. "Michel Bonnet" in Caxton St, Brisbane was born in 1987. Three years later and after changing the name to "Moulin Rouge" to enable it to be sold, Michel spent the next 2 years overseas. Arguably as the best self-imposed ambassador for Australia, for one year he travelled to various fairs in France selling Aussie pies, wines and beers. To Michel it was the best lifestyle, being on the road everyday.

Time to return home yet again and this time to find a nice restaurant somewhere where he could spend the rest of his days doing what he loved most cooking and riding motorbikes. Marina Mirage on the Gold Coast was ideal.

Following the success of his restaurant in Caxton st, "Michel Bonnet" was the obvious name. After a successful two years, the French nuclear testing took its toll on the buisness but Michel
was ready to move on anyway!

As fate would have it, the best block of land came on the market right next door to the original L'escargotiere in South Townsville - a truly unique corner position surrounded by the Ross River. A crazy idea but a beautiful dream. One million dollars later "One Palmer" was created. This time,it took Michel only one year to perfect the concept and the menu to enable someone else to take over! With his inexhaustible energy over the years Michel has created restaurants from corner stores, old homes and even vacant blocks of land. Regardless of their diverse beginnings, they are all still standing (albeit with different names) and they are all successful restaurants.

On his return to Brisbane, Michel took over "Tables of Toowong", a beautiful, elegantly quaint restaurant established 20 years ago in an old Queenslander. "Tables" has enjoyed a fabulous reputation over that time and has experienced some of the best chefs in Australia.

After selling "Tables" to the chef and his wife, Michel moved to Central Queensland to learn more about Australian outback cooking.  He then spent his time doing some consultancy work and creating new recipes for his web page.  Michel always believed that “real Australian cooking” was found in the bush. He believes that what he and other chefs serve in restaurants or what people eat at home in the cities is more like a new Australian cuisine, with influences from our neighbours and the diversity of our people.

“Two years of bush cooking is enough for anyone who loves Foie Gras, Oysters and Salmon so it was time to open a restaurant. The closest place was Mackay.”

At this beautiful tropical town near the sea between Townsville and Rockhampton. Michel found this gorgeous old church in Palmer Street, North Mackay. “The Church On Palmer” was born.  From the beginning “the Church” became very popular.  It was such a unique place with a combination of good food, good service, and the help of some very good staff from Mackay. “The Church” quickly became an institution.

Unfortunately Michel had to go back to France for family reasons and reluctantly passed over the restaurant to the chef and his wife.

The stay in France was not lost though, Michel spent hours with old friends in kitchens talking about food, wines and business.  With so many new ideas it was time to go back to Australia and start a new venture. What he didn’t know….

A local school approached Michel about doing a cookbook to raise money for resurfacing the old basketball court.  What a good idea - a cookbook about “The Real Australian Cuisine” . At last we can tell the world Australian Cuisine really is!!!!!!

To be continued...