Food Wine Sleep

Paul Hegeman’s fascination with food began at a very young age as he watched and helped his mother prepare traditional Dutch family meals in their newly adopted home of Canada. The young boy was fascinated by the differences in the food he ate at home and the foods he would see on the dinner tables of his friend’s homes.

This interest in the diversity of different food cultures ultimately led Paul into a career in hospitality. A career that has been continually rewarding, educational and challenging but always exciting.

His career in professional kitchens has spanned over 23 years and has taken him from the grill in the fast food industry, to quaint family owned restaurants, to running kitchens in world famous fine dining establishments, to managing large brigades of chefs in 5 star hotel kitchens, right through to his current role of the past 7 years as a Personal Chef to private clients in Sydney’s east.

His recipes emphasize natural, uncomplicated flavours that highlight the natural beauty of the ingredients. His motto in the kitchen: “Combinations not Complications".

In 2004 after noticing an absence of quality, reputable and inspiring recipes online, Paul started Chef’s Pencil, The Online Cookbook For Entertaining and Gourmet Recipes. His aim was to create a website that was comparable to a favourite cookbook, rather than a simple database of uninspiring text only recipes. Chef’s Pencil now boasts hundreds of beautiful recipes all featured in glorious full colour photographs or video. The site also provides entertaining advice and numerous professional cooking tips & techniques. The recipes are all written by a team of 17 professional Chefs from all around the globe and are enjoyed by a network of over 13,000 members. Membership is free and includes a monthly seasonally based newsletter.

In 2009 Chef’s Pencil & Food Wine Sleep joined forces to bring Australians access to great food, whether dining out or eating at home.