Luke Powell is the Chef/Owner of LP’s Quality Meats and Bella Brutta Pizza in Sydney.
Luke began his career washing dishes in his native New Zealand in 1996. He moved to Sydney in 2004 and began to work with Martin Boetz at his modern Thai restaurant Longrain. He then went on to work with Martin Benn at The Boathouse on Black Wattle Bay and went with Martin upon his return to Tetsuyas. Luke continued to work there for four years before leaving for Spain to Stage at San Sebastians Mugaritz and returning to Tetsuya in 2010 to take the Head Chef Position until 2012.
He then completed a stage at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in upstate New York, it was here that sparked Lukes enthusiasm for charcuterie and hand made products and was the underpinning inspiration for his first restaurant LP’s Quality Meats
Luke opened LP’s Quality Meats in 2014 and was awarded ‘Best Casual Dining’ by Time Out Sydneys Food Awards and has since held One Chefs Hat by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Luke opened Bella Brutta Pizza in 2018 with a focus on utilising LP’s smoked smallgoods such as Mortadella and Pepperoni etc. which in turn led to a rebranding and new focus for LP’s. 2020 saw a shut down and renovation of the existing restaurant space to accommodate a small goods processing facility while still maintaining space for a 50 seater restaurant. The smokers influence on the restaurant menu is still present, however, the smoker is now used full time during the week to pump out small goods that are distributed nationwide. LP’s wholesale brand sees an opportunity to be the leading artisan smoked small goods supplier in Australia, utilising only the best quality, free range products and we hope to see the brand develop into a household name synonymous with only the highest quality.
