Victorian restaurant Brae has welcomed back alumni chef Damien Neylon to the fold.
The chef is now the head of creativity and development, which is a newly created role at the award-winning Birregurra restaurant helmed by Dan Hunter.
“Brae means a lot to me personally, and stepping into this new role, with the opportunity to focus on sustainability processes, creativity, and the technical refinement of dishes, is really exciting,” says Neylon.
Hunter and Neylon first met back in 2008 when Neylon was an apprentice at the Royal Mail Hotel. He then joined the Brae launch team as sous chef before being promoted to head chef, spending a total of nine years at the restaurant.
During this period, he was named the winner of the Hostplus Hospitality Scholarship in 2015, which granted him culinary experiences across the world with chefs including Massimo Bottura, Rene Redzepi, and Andoni Luis Aduriz.
Neylon departed Brae in 2022 to take on an executive chef role of The Windsor Group and head chef of now-closed restaurants Parcs, which was revered for its low-waste approach.
After the restaurant shuttered last year, Neylon took on various gigs from guest cheffing at Samesyn Restaurant in Torquay to working as part of the front of house team at Etta.
The chef says he’s spent the last two years ironing out his career goals, which align with his new start at Brae.
“I’ve really honed in on what I want professionally, and an important part of that is to live and work in an environment that values excellence, integrity, growth, and development,” he says. “It’s also a passion of mine to be able to focus on sustainable business practices and circularity from farm to plate, so I feel fortunate that the opportunity to return in this capacity has arisen.”
Neylon is now working alongside Hunter and Brae’s Head Chef Jason White to propel the restaurant into its next chapter – one that is anchored by creativity, sustainability, consistency, and excellence.
