THE TEAM

“Exploring what the world has to offer through food is the closest thing to travel without getting on a plane. Adventure, history and culture can all be found in a meal created by a good cook”

Reanne came from a multicultural family with a passion for food, and an adventurous cooking spirit. She fell in love with cooking as a child, standing on a foot-stool to help her mother bake, pound spices and practice ‘official taste testing’ in her family kitchen. Her heart has remained in the kitchen ever since.

She started her career working with restaurants, wineries and producers, marketing for WA’s south west, before moving to Perth and taking up a role as the Operations Manager of SPICE Magazine.

In 2009 Reanne began working with Matters of Taste cooking school and found she had a natural flair for teaching and sharing her passion for cooking with others. She continued to teach, while gaining experience cooking her way through local restaurants and completing her formal cookery training. In 2012 she decided to devote all of her time to teaching.

“To me, food breathes colour and flavour in to nearly every part of our lives. Food and the love that goes into cooking it, brings people together, provides a platform for anyone to express creativity, helps us to show we care, allows us to experience new things, and adds more enjoyment and adventure into the everyday.”

In recent years, Reanne has taken a larger interest in cooking seasonally and understanding where her ingredients come from, how ethically they were produced and what impact that has on the world around us.

Gardening and the sheer joy of growing your own food has also been a passion of Reanne’s, especially since 2018 when Salt & Co’s off-site kitchen garden was established; with a large part of the herbs and unique ingredients featured in classes being grown in said kitchen garden, carefully tended by Reanne. And let’s not forget about the joy of composting!

As a cooking teacher, Reanne finds beauty in all styles of cooking and believes that with a bit of guidance, anyone can produce their own unique style of delicious food.

“One of the things I love most about teaching, is that each class I’m a part of ends up being one of those increasingly rare situations these days where people from all walks of life who start out the day as strangers, come together and connect. Food seems to be the great leveler. It’s a beautiful thing to see people cook, learn, laugh, drink and eat together.

Sometimes it’s kind of surreal seeing people leave on a total high each time they come back for a new experience. It’s a joy to be a part of.”

With an obsession for all things food and a genuine zeal for life, Ryan has been a marvellous addition to our small family at Salt & Co.

“I think there is something almost primitive within us when it comes to the act of creating a soulful meal to share with loved ones. It’s connective, therapeutic and nourishing; it’s a big part of what makes us human”

Having tried his hands at several professions throughout his younger years, at the age of 28 Ryan came to an impasse, he knew he needed to find a career that he was truly passionate about, something inspirational.

Thankfully over coffee and lunch one day, Ryan’s wise Mum Glenda encouraged him to pursue his his childhood dream of becoming a chef. Shortly thereafter Ryan took his first steps into the world of food and cheffing.

Needless to say, starting an apprenticeship was a huge shock to the system for someone who was used to working the usual 9 to 5. During what could be described as a baptism of fire at Steve’s Fine Wine & Food in Nedlands, the pressure was almost too much. However, thanks to the careful guidance of a brilliant and passionate head chef, Ryan started to find a natural flare and energy in the kitchen, and went on to achieve the honour of winning Hospitality Group Trainings apprentice of the year.

After cutting his teeth in the world of fine dining, Ryan decided to expand his repertoire, and spent two years learning the ropes in the thousand mile a minute, think on your feet realm of high end catering. Since then, Ryan has spent the better part of the last 10 years cooking in a variety restaurants, bars and cafes all around Perth, gaining knowledge of many different cuisines and cooking styles.

His enthusiasm for gaining new knowledge naturally matured into a desire to pass on what he had learnt. Ryan started teaching at Salt & Co. in 2019 and has found tremendous joy in sharing his passion and knowledge of cooking with our clients.

“The fact that I get to spend my evenings with lovely people and share with them the joy of cooking delicious, nourishing food is very special; it’s something that I am constantly grateful for”

Silvia is an accomplished professional chef, with a wealth of experience and training in the kitchen. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of Rome in Italy, where she honed her skills and learned the techniques and science behind cooking. 

Rome holds a special place in Silvia’s heart as it is where she was born and raised. Growing up in the city known as “The Eternal City,” Silvia was surrounded by pasta from a young age. Her aunties and nonnas, who were accomplished cooks themselves, played an instrumental role in her culinary development. They taught her the importance of using simple, fresh, and organic ingredients, and how to prepare traditional Roman dishes that bring people together. These lessons from these special women in her life have had a profound impact on Silvia’s cooking style, shaping her approach to food and influencing her cooking philosophy.

After years of working in restaurant kitchens, Silvia decided to pursue her passion for teaching by starting her own pasta-making class in Rome. She finds immense joy in sharing her knowledge and love for food with others, and helping them to develop their own skills and passions in the kitchen. Silvia believes that ingredients can change based on the emotions and impressions one wants to evoke and encourages cooks to research and understand the ingredients they use. She believes that knowing the function and purpose of each ingredient allows for mastery in creating delicious and unique dishes.

If Silvia were to give one piece of cooking advice, it would be to think of ingredients as colours on an artist’s palette. Just as an artist must understand the properties and effects of each colour in order to create a beautiful painting, a cook must understand the properties and effects of each ingredient in order to create a delicious dish. By researching and understanding the ingredients you use, you can master the skill of combining them and creating special moments in the kitchen and at the dinner table.