Ben Cooper, head chef at one of Melbourne's hottest restaurants, Chin Chin, will be taking the group through the ins and outs of modern Thai food, looking at the special combination of flavours and garden-fresh ingredients that makes this cuisine so popular. This will be a fun and engaging workshop full of hands-on skills and experiences that you can take straight back to your students.

Ben has a long history or working in the food industry, in Australia and overseas. He has worked with Neil Perry and alongside Kylie Kwong, and began work  in the UK with fellow Aussie John Torode, Head Chef at Terrance Conran’s iconic Bluebird in Chelsea. He later graduated to Junior Sous Chef in John Torode’s Smith’s of Smithfield. For two years Ben was the Junior Sous to Executive Chef Mark Edwards at London’s famous Nobu, and then Chef at Nahm in The Halkin Hotel – the first Michelin-starred Thai restaurant in Europe.

After moving back to Australia Ben was appointed Head Chef at Melbourne’s Ezard, before moving on to head up Longrain in Melbourne. Ben is currently Head Chef at the extremely and deservedly popular Chin Chin.