Annie Smithers

Annie Smithers is one of Australia’s most highly regarded chefs and one of the first chefs to truly epitomise the paddock-to-plate ethos. With a career spanning well over 30 years, Annie has spent the last quarter of a century in the wonderful Macedon Ranges and Hepburn Spa region of Victoria.

Her restaurant du Fermier in the small village of Trentham, is a tiny establishment. Annie does all the cooking, starting with baking her own baguettes each morning and offers a menu du jour that features vegetables picked that day from her kitchen garden and meats and poultry from the surrounding area. She carefully sources all products to ensure their environmental and animal husbandry credentials.

 Annie lives on a small farm in Lyonville - Babbington Park - only ten minutes from Trentham, where her kitchen garden and orchard are planted and producing a bounty of produce for the restaurant.

Her masterclasses are held in the restaurant and are demonstration in style. Her honest, inclusive and no-fuss style of teaching means her annual season of masterclasses are booked out within weeks of their release.

Annie has written four books - two cookbooks and two books about her life and learnings. She also writes for The Saturday Paper monthly and Country Style seasonally. She appears regularly on ABC Radio National Blueprint for Living. In her latest book, Kitchen Sentimental, released in September 2024, Annie takes us on a journey through every significant kitchen in her life, both domestic and professional, sharing with engaging honesty her personal development, her surprisingly complex relationship with food, and the lessons she has learned along the way to find her culinary niche at the famed du Fermier restaurant in country Victoria.