A chef, restaurateur, television host, author, consultant, and industry speaker, the Aussie Sri Lankan Peter Kuruvita is everything one could imagine of an acclaimed Chef to be. Peter is known for his rich and culturally inspired cooking, highly influenced by his Sri Lankan father and an Austrian mother.
Peter Kuruvita began his culinary journey in the traditional kitchen of his ancestral home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, cooking along with his grandmother. He started cooking professionally at the tender age of 15 at a small suburban restaurant in Sydney, Australia.
His teenage years in Australia led to a career as a chef that has taken him from Sydney to prestigious restaurants including Michelin Starred ones in London, the USA, Fiji, Lord Howe, and Hayman Islands, Bali and back to Sydney where he became a head chef at the young age of 24 and attained 1 Hat status, Australia’s version of the Michelin star.
Culinary Odyssey
After establishing himself as a well-known chef in Australia and cooking around the globe, Peter opened Sydney’s award-winning Flying Fish Restaurant & Bar in 2004 and successfully led the kitchen team as Executive Chef for 8 years. Today his legacy still lives on through its creative modern dishes with a strong seafood focus and great reputation. By now, he owns and runs Noosa Beach House in Noosa, Australia, and Flying Fish Tokoriki & Flying Fish Samoa in Fiji Islands.
Born in England, growing up in Sri Lanka, later moving on to Australia and having worked at hotels and resorts all over the world, Peter has abiding memories of his culinary journey and he is a firm believer in food memories as bearers of happiness and peace. His whole life is filled with stories like those shared by the soldiers and fishermen, making him an avid storyteller which made him write several books about his exciting travel and cooking life, including the highly recommended, Serendip: My Sri Lankan Kitchen, a cookbook that takes you on a journey through Sri Lanka’s traditional foods, its family-orientated culture and its colourful approach to life.
“I dedicate all my power to each job, so I never really think about the next till the current is completed. It is fun and exhilarating!”
His Journey
Peter has worked with Dilmah Tea in an ambassadorial role for many years, developing the concept of tea gastronomy. This involves hosting the annual worldwide “Real High Tea Challenge”, recipe development and developing Dilmah t-Lounges across the globe.
Peter is the Sri Lankan Brand Ambassador for the upcoming Expo Dubai and also hosts culinary tours of Sri Lanka & Mexico for World Expeditions, showing participants the country’s hidden delights and demonstrating local recipes along the way.
He’s able to juggle all of this by focusing on that old adage, ‘do one thing at a time to do it well’…
