Damien Pignolet & Jason Roberts: Mentorship, Sydney Dining and 33 Years of Friendship

Damien Pignolet, an icon of Australian dining, and acclaimed chef Jason Roberts sit down to reflect on a relationship spanning more than 30 years, one shaped by food, mentorship, trust and friendship.

What makes someone back a young chef before everyone else can see what they’re capable of?

From Claude’s and Bistro Moncur to the Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year Award, this conversation explores mentorship, trust, kitchen pressure, and the evolution of Sydney dining.

Damien recalls recognising something in a young Jason that mattered more than hierarchy: guts, determination and creativity. When Bistro Moncur suddenly lost its head chef and several brigade members, Damien put Jason in charge at just 23. His approach was simple: spot talent, support it and give it room to grow.

For Jason, that mentorship became something far bigger. After a difficult childhood and growing up without a consistent father figure, food became a place of safety, and Damien became one of the people who helped shape not only the chef he would become, but the man.

Together they reflect on four decades of Australian hospitality: restaurant reviews, Michelin-starred memories, uncompromising standards, staff culture, impossible services and the enormous pressure of keeping a hospitality business alive. Damien also shares the reality of navigating the Global Financial Crisis, when his businesses were losing around $100,000 a week, while protecting food quality and looking after staff remained non-negotiable.

But this isn’t a nostalgia piece.

Damien and Jason also look at what hospitality needs now: genuine mentorship, stronger support for young chefs, better kitchen cultures and the confidence to put your hand up and ask for help.

There are some cracking stories along the way too, from Jason sleeping overnight at the restaurant to monitor terrines to wedding-day confessions, café de Paris butter, foie gras and the debate over whether cooking or cycling is better therapy.

And beneath it all sits a bigger question: if time is our most valuable currency, who and what deserves it?

For Damien and Jason, the answer comes back to people.

In this episode