For the past 19 years acclaimed chef Emma McCaskill has forged a hugely successful international career at restaurants including Narisawa (Tokyo), Sat Bains (Nottingham), Tetsuya’s (Sydney), Ezard (Melbourne), Penfolds Magill Estate (Adelaide), The Pot by Emma McCaskill (Adelaide) and Sparkke at the Whitmore (Adelaide).
Born and raised in South Australia, McCaskill moved to Melbourne in 2005 to commence and complete her apprenticeship under renowned chef Teage Ezard at the two-hatted Ezard Restaurant.
In 2009 she relocated to Sydney to commence a role as chef de partie at Tetsuya’s restaurant. During this time it was awarded three chef’s hats and ranked number nine on the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
In 2011 McCaskill took on the role of development chef for the Michelin two-starred Sat Bains, working closely with Sat on highly innovative and constantly changing menus.
McCaskill then travelled to Japan and worked alongside Yoshihiro Narisawa in the kitchen at Narisawa, where she was the first non-Japanese female chef ever appointed. Narisawa is a highly regarded Michelin two-starred restaurant that ranked number 1 on San Pellegrino’s Best Restaurant in Asia and ranked number 20 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list (2013).
In July 2014 McCaskill became co-executive chef at Penfold’s Magill Estate. During her tenure she was named Gourmet Traveller’s Best New Talent (2014) and joint Advertiser Chef of the Year (2016). The restaurant was also awarded Restaurant of the Year at the National Restaurant and Catering Awards (2016) and featured on Gourmet Traveller’s Top 20 Restaurant list (2014, 2015 and 2016) and The Australian’s Hottest 50 Restaurants (2014, 2015 and 2016).
In 2017 she launched The Pot by Emma McCaskill, her first solo venture, which was recognised and awarded one star in Gourmet Traveller and one hat in The Advertiser, The Australian and The Australian Good Food Guide. In 2019, McCaskill joined Sparkke at the Whitmore and in the same year was awarded Best New Restaurant in the delicious. 100.
In 2020 McCaskill was recognised in InDaily’s annual 40 Under 40 Awards, which honour leading entrepreneurs, innovators and future business leaders in South Australia under the age of 40. This same year she commenced a career in education, fulfilling A passion for sharing her knowledge of cookery with the next generation and driving state initiatives to address industry skills shortages.
In 2021 she completed a two-year tenure as Tasting Australia’s food curator which included the 2022 and 2023 Tasting Australia festivals.
McCaskill is currently working as an industry engagement consultant with the South Australia’s Department for Education in the VET sector, developing strategies that support the tourism and hospitality industries and improving outcomes for students within government secondary schools.
