MAT LINDSAY grew up on the central coast of New South Wales and had never been to a fancy restaurant until he walked into Rockpool, the fanciest restaurant in Sydney in its day, looking for a job to pay the bills while he was studying graphic design. Working for Neil Perry and then Kylie Kwong, two of Australia’s most celebrated chefs, at Wokpool, Rockpool and at Billy Kwong, he learnt about produce and technique, about how to taste and how to build and balance flavour, and how to work beyond the idea of Western and Eastern cuisines. Ester, the restaurant he opened in Sydney’s Chippendale in 2013, has become a standard-bearer for contemporary Australian dining, and Poly, the wine bar he opened in 2018, and A.P Bakery, which he opened in 2021, continue that tradition.