About the Author

Mike McEnearney is executive chef and owner of No. 1 Bent Street by Mike and Kitchen by Mike, both in Sydney. Mike began his career in 1990 at Sydney’s internationally renowned Rockpool, before moving to London, where he worked at the Michelin starred Pied à Terre, and ran the kitchens of Mezzo, Bluebird, The Pharmacy and Scott’s. He returned to Australia in 2006 to lead the kitchen at Rockpool. In 2011 he launched Mike’s Table, an acclaimed underground dining experience that gained cult status. Kitchen by Mike opened in 2012 and was swiftly awarded Best Cafe in the Time Out Sydney Food Awards.
In 2014 Mike pioneered the creation of Australia’s first urban physic garden, putting a new spin on the kitchen garden and underpinning his long-held belief that food is medicine. A natural evolution of Kitchen by Mike has been the 2016 launch of No. 1 Bent Street by Mike, in Sydney’s CBD, which offers a slightly more refined dining experience, while still maintaining Mike’s generous-spirited and approachable attitude to food and eating out. In 2015 Mike’s first book, Kitchen by Mike, was named ‘Best Cookbook written by a Chef ’ at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Mike Lives in Sydney with his wife and their three boys.

Reviews

'Mike McEnearney’s uncompromising approach to abiding by the seasons makes him utterly in tune with growing and cooking throughout the year. He also understands that our bodies work with a similar rhythm and that listening to what we want to eat can be a kind of preventative medicine. I admire his heartfelt approach to everything that he does, and I always know we are speaking the same language when we talk about real food!' Alice Waters, Chez Panisse 

"Real Food by Mike is a book for our times... I can see this book getting a lot of use; McEnearney and I are destined to be kitchen buddies, if nothing else." John Lethlean, The Australian 

"McEnearney demonstrates that cooking can be both indulgent and healthy." Broadsheet