Italian-born Mattia Secchiero has joined Cavallino Restaurant in Terrey Hills as the new head chef. 

Cavallino is now back to its roots, with an Italian-ness you see and feel as soon as you walk through their glass doors in the leafy green heart of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. And Mattia’s pedigree is exceptional! Born in Costa di Rovigo (in Italy’s Veneto region), he attended the hotel school in Adria (in Rovigo, Italy), starting his work life armed with a diploma, and a desire to test himself, at the Hôtel Royal at Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Mattia has always been committed to the school of thought that the more cuisine variations you experience, the more your gastronomic knowledge will be complete.  So, he went from Banois di Milano Marittima, to the Hotel Madrigale in Garda, to the two Michelin star restaurant Andana Hotel in Grosseto with the famed Alain Ducasse. This culinary knowledge hunger also brought him to London, where he collaborated with the likes of Giuseppe Marangi, and Giuseppe Manco; he worked alongside them at Cipriani, London.  Mattia also worked alongside Pascal Swaller, at gastro pub The Clissold Arms, North London, then opening his own restaurant Cantina, receiving numerous awards.  Next: Club Hotel Dante, Cervia in 2014, where Mattia worked as a pastry chef, followed in 2015 by Antica Corte, Pallavicina, a Michelin star venue. He was a chef at the Osteria dei Bonfi in Rovigo, before heading to Australia. Landing at Gusto Italian Bistro, Ettalong Beach, he was there for 5 ½ years, and won the AGFG “reader’s choice award” – four years in a row. “I had the privilege to be an ambassador of Italian cuisine, with the Italian government awarding me the “Ospitalità Italiana” award,” says Mattia. Mattia’s innovative philosophy takes elements from Veneto and Parma’s traditions, with a French touch.

And that’s what awaits at Cavallino Restaurant, in Terrey Hills!