i. Biography
Good Food Guide Chef of the Year in 2005 marks a Modern Australian fine-dining practice built on precision, local and native ingredients, and controlled intensity; Brent Savage is chef and co-owner of Bentley Restaurant Group in Sydney, Australia, and his work is best read through that discipline rather than through biography. The line runs from Blackheath kitchens to metropolitan dining rooms: composed food, deep flavour, restraint in construction, and a clear sense of place. “Everything we did at Vulcans was about intensity of flavour, sourcing ingredients such as foraged mushrooms, garden herbs and local produce.” Brent has said.
Coming Up
Blue Mountains cooking gave this practice an early register of seasonality, cool-climate produce and spare composition; Brent Savage developed that vocabulary as chef at Vulcans in Blackheath. The move into Melbourne restaurant work, as Head Chef at Mrs Jones, kept the emphasis on disciplined technique while broadening the context in which that Modern Australian language was being refined. Fine dining in the harbour city added polish and scale to the same approach; Brent Savage continued as chef at Cirrus before building the restaurant platform that would define the next stage of the work. The progression held three useful pressures in balance: the focus of Blackheath, the pace of Melbourne, and the sharper architecture of big-city service. Since 2006, the role of chef and co-founder of Bentley Restaurant & Bar has given that cooking a long-running base without changing its core interest in clarity, composition and ingredient-led flavour.
Current Practice
Modern Australian fine dining is the current frame for the work: Brent Savage is chef and co-owner of Bentley Restaurant Group and co-owner of The Bentley Group in the same city. His central restaurant role is chef/co-owner of Bentley Restaurant + Bar in the Sydney CBD, a position held from 2013 to the present after the restaurant’s Surry Hills years. In that room, the cooking is organised around tension and balance: clean structure, deep savour, acidity used with purpose, and ingredients handled without excess. The brasserie format carries the same fundamentals into a broader register; Brent Savage is also co-owner and Head Chef of Brasserie 1930. Across these current roles, the through-line remains Modern Australian fine-dining cooking, full use of ingredients, and the flavour intensity first associated with his Blue Mountains work. Whether in a composed tasting-menu mode or a brasserie setting, the method stays close to carefully sourced produce, respect for the whole ingredient, and combinations that are contemporary without losing grounding.
Signature
Signature dishes include Duck dish with parsley root.
Accolades
Recognition for this body of work includes Chef of the Year (2005).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Brent
What is Brent Savage's current position?
Brent Savage is chef at Bentley Restaurant & Bar — Australian Modern.
Where did Brent Savage work before?
Earlier in their career, Brent Savage worked at Vulcans, Mrs Jones, and Cirrus.
What recognition has Brent Savage received?
Chef of the Year (2005).
