Your Hosts
Julie and Tony met Serena and Rob in an inner city neighbourhood hall at prenatal classes in 1990. Our children are now in tertiary education, and over the years we have shared many laughs, a few tears and wonderful holidays in Europe and South East Asia. Our passions are food, wine and travel; and above all fun.
Surrounded by nappies and baby food, we joked that, we would take the “babies” to Tuscany when they were teenagers. And we did…. and to Bali and to France.
Tony and Serena love to immerse themselves in the local food markets often returning with amazing produce and food stuffs to cook. Serena is also our language resource. Julie is the planner and researcher having organised vacations for large groups in all continents. If she doesn’t have an answer to your travel questions, she’ll get it. Robert is our rock. He grounds us and inspires us with his philosophy.
Tony Carter (aka Chef Antonio)
The youngest in a family with a strong hospitality tradition, Tony did his cooking apprenticeship in Melbourne, under the tutelage of renowned Italian chef, Claudio Magris. Claudio instilled in Tony a love of all things Italian, including its cuisine and wine. rich and varied career, Tony honed his skills in Toronto, Canada, where he met Julie, France and back in Australia, expanding his culinary experiences in countries such as Italy, Spain, Vietnam, Morocco and South Africa. Meanwhile he moved up the corporate ladder to become Executive Director of Food and Beverage for Australia and New Zealand with Australia’s largest hotel company.
While he derives his greatest professional satisfaction from identifying and developing fine young chefs, Tony gets his greatest enjoyment from cooking with friends followed by long lazy Sunday lunches. Tony believes that learning about cooking and food should involve much more than recipes and techniques.
Julie Carter
Julie moved from Australia to Canada in her early teens. Her love affair with Italy began when she made her first visit at 17. This love affair was reinforced by her first job waitering in an Italian restaurant in Windsor, Ontario.
After extensive travel throughout Italy, France, Spain, Africa and North America, Julie and Tony moved back to Sydney, Australia. While her career trajectory took her into finance and funds management, the travel bug was never far away. Her continued travel has given Julie a depth of knowledge and an appreciation for the rich traditions around cultures. For the last five years, Julie has run her own consultancy with a global clientele.
Serena Vecchiet
Serena migrated to Australia as a child from the region of Venezia Giulia in Italy. Her fondest childhood memories involve friends and family gatherings on weekends to celebrate the important things of life– friendship, good food and good wine. Tables groaned under the weight of food always prepared with love, often with homegrown ingredients, or the best that the pocket could afford.
Her love of cooking, eating and gatherings around a shared table continues to this day. Having followed the fads and fashions of cooking as a young adult and travelling extensively through the regions of Italy, she has come to really appreciate and rely more and more on the traditional recipes and methods of her childhood. After all there is nothing better than fresh local produce, cooked simply and well and shared with those we love.
Serena dreamed of one day running a restaurant. A career in education was always too exciting to abandon.
Robert Clarke
Robert is Italian by marriage. Having grown up in rural NSW he was fascinated and charmed by the language, customs and traditions of his new extended family and their friends and felt that he was reaping all the benefits of travel to Italy without having to leave Australia.
But of course he did. He has travelled extensively in Italy and his love of literature, music, history and theatre has enabled him to explore another dimension of what Italy has to offer.
He is a confident Italian speaker, a fact which amuses his children greatly as they observe him communicating with a local who more often not shrugs his shoulders looking bewildered.
Robert has enjoyed 20 years as an educational leader and manager. He is a great communicator, energetic and derives great satisfaction from ensuring that his guests are comfortable, well looked after, and that that things run smoothly.
