From Richard Branson’s Caribbean island to Byron Bay: New chef joins the Elements team

HAMISH Pink has joined the team at Elements of Byron Resort as sous chef, reuniting with his former boss, the resort’s executive chef Craig Robertson.

The pair previously worked together on Hayman Island in the Whitsundays during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pink grew up in a farming and fishing family near Mt Gambier in South Australia. He began his culinary career as a kitchenhand when he was 14 before completing his apprenticeship at The Barn Steakhouse, where the beef served was raised on the property. Since then, he has worked everywhere from the Yorke Peninsula to Cape York, and from the Barossa to Broome.

He was transferred from the Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley to Hayman Island, where Robertson had been tasked by InterContinental Hotel Group with recruiting a team to reopen the resort after Cyclone Debbie, followed by COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020.

Robertson, who was born and raised in northern NSW, went on to open The Langham Gold Coast and worked at InterContinental Fiji and Daydream Island Resort before joining Elements of Byron earlier this year.

Before making the move to Byron, Pink had worked at Silky Oaks Lodge in the Daintree and even completed a stint at Richard Branson’s Mosquito Island in the British Virgin Islands.

He said Byron had long been on the radar for him and his partner, drawn by the region’s thriving food scene, fresh local produce and strong sustainability ethos.

“I’m 31 now so we’re looking at settling down,” he said.

“We have a lot of native ingredients like lemon myrtle, Davidson plums and riberries growing on the property here and a chef garden behind the kitchen, so it works into what I like to do.”

Pink and Robertson are thrilled to be working together again at the resort’s restaurant Azure Bar and Grill, where the menu features dishes such as Ballina prawns with macadamia tahini, Currumbin Valley sorrel and lemon ash; seafood ceviche with coriander, chilli, taro and cassava; and smoked duck with torched parsnip, goat’s cheese, congo fondant and granola.

“It’s good to have that rapport,” Robertson said. “We know we have got each other’s back, which is hard to find. The executive sous position is quite important because they’re running the operation. He understands the vision. He knows my way; I know his way.”