Daniel Puskas

Modern Australian and Contemporary Australian tasting menus at Sixpenny in Stanmore, Australia, are built around place, season and producer relationships. Since 2012, Daniel Puskas has worked there as co-founder, chef and owner, within a three-hatted Sydney fine dining address where luxury is expressed through concentration, reduction and tight editing rather than ornament. Producer-led menu development at Sixpenny depends on local suppliers, growers and producers.

Daniel Puskas and Tony Schifilliti work with small-scale farmers, fishermen and producers to build a narrative around Australia, with the tasting menu moving with the seasons rather than a fixed script. Fermentation functions as part of the Sixpenny pantry rather than as a garnish. Koji is central to fermented pastes and sauces used for savoury, umami depth, while Daniel Puskas also pickles, smokes and ferments ingredients, including some he grows himself.

The technique supports acidity, smoke and savouriness without crowding the plate. Minimal plating at Sixpenny is tied to maximum extraction of flavour from each ingredient. That method can be seen in a gougere filled with gouda and sweet chutney, a snack noted on the minimal, flavour-focused Sixpenny menu; in a confit pumpkin doughnut bomb finished with pumpkin seed salt, remembered for disappearing on the tongue in seconds with lasting flavour; and in venison tartare with boudin noir, baked beetroot and hazelnut, one of the ingredient-led dishes from the restaurant’s tasting menus. The through-line is precision: richness, sweetness, earthiness and texture held in service of the ingredient.

Signature dishes include Venison tartare with boudin noir.

Daniel Puskas has received Good Food Guide: Citi Chef of the Year (2018). Recognition for Daniel Puskas includes 3 hats (2026), Chef of the Year (2022), and Josephine Pignolet Young Chef award.