The closest thing to a set menu at Table by Canberra Gourmet, is a constant flow of new ideas written in marker on the kitchen bench. The brainchild of Chef Thomas Heinrich, Table is a place for young, talented chefs to be as creative as possible.

Among them, 20-year-old Noah Cairnduff, a third-year apprentice at CIT, will go on to compete in nationals for the 2022 Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat Award in September, after winning the ACT heat – twice.

The wunderkind chef told Canberra Daily that throwing his hat in the ring a second time was an easy decision.

“As good as last year’s virtual finals were, I wanted to get the real experience of meeting all the other chefs and going into a full competition environment.

“I was pretty confident, possibly too confident,” he smiled. “The regionals this year were another good learning experience for me. It brought me back to where I needed to be, so that I’m ready for the finals. I know what I need to work on.”

“Being a little less cocky,” he laughed. “And I want to get in as many opportunities as I can to practise, I saw a lot of great ideas [at regionals] that I would love to adapt into my own dishes.”

Born and raised in Canberra, cooking has always been at the heart of Noah’s family. “I’ve always been in the kitchen, learning off my mother and my grandmothers.”

Noah was cooking dinner for his family by the age of 12. “What I love most about food is feeding people,” he smiled.

“My Croatian grandmother, who was called by just about everyone ‘Bubba’, would never let you walk into the house without being fed – and overfed.

“My mum would always put on these massive banquets just for dinner, anytime someone comes around. I’ve always fallen in love with that side of cooking; where you get all these people around to your house and serve this beautiful food, and it gets everyone into a better mood.

“Food is something everyone needs and to be able to elevate it from just sustenance to something that you enjoy, it’s a beautiful thing,” he said.

Noah was 17, working as a kitchen hand at a leading Canberra restaurant when he met Chef Thomas, “just finishing up year 11 and looking to see what comes afterwards.”

In a “flip of a coin moment” between pursuing music or cooking, Noah chose the latter. According to him, his mentor fanned the flames “moving it from a job that I could see myself doing, to a life I want to build for myself.”

If you ask Chef Thomas, however, he’ll tell you that he was intrigued by Noah’s passion, after he outright told him not to pursue a chef’s career path.

“It’s a hard life. I told him, ‘Are you sure want to do this?’ And he kept saying to me, ‘Yes!’ I said, ‘You sure? You won’t have a social life. Valentine’s Day, New Year’s, Mother’s Day, Christmas, you won’t see your friends, you won’t see your family. You’ll be working where everybody else is celebrating.”

“He insisted, ‘This is what I want to do.’”

“Chef Thomas took me under his wing and got me an apprenticeship, and here I am with him now, three years later,” smiled Noah.

After Chef Thomas left the restaurant in 2019, he asked Noah to join him six months later.

‘Table’ was inspired by chef’s tables that Chef Thomas had run in hotels around the world. A chef’s table is set up inside the restaurant’s kitchen, where either the head chef or executive chef will personally serve high class guests.

Table started out as an eight-seat restaurant, slotting into the Covid restrictions at the time, with eight delectable courses that have since grown to 18. The table itself has expanded into an elegant communal dining space inside a rustic barn.

“We don’t do the whole front house, or matching wines; we just don’t have that sort of expertise. What we do have is Chef Thomas, and a large expertise in food,” said Noah.

“I don’t know where else in Canberra I would have gotten the chance to experience this large an array of dishes, to work in a restaurant where imagination basically runs free.”

The first dish that Noah put on the menu was a deconstructed chocolate cake.

“Chocolate pot crème, with a vanilla cream, red cherry gel as well as some almond flakes and marshmallows. I served it in a bowl with a very small whisk.

“Growing up, my mum was an awesome baker. The inspiration behind the dish was sitting in the kitchen, licking the whisk when she was done. I’ve had a few repeat customers asking if that’s coming back on the menu,” he smiled.

Best said by Chef Thomas himself, “Lots of good restaurants in Canberra have plenty of good food, but this is just something completely different. The array of dishes isn’t just French, there’s Japanese, Filipino, some Mexican and South American influences. It’s wherever we want to go.”

As for his protégé, the next big challenge on Noah’s horizon is figuring out which cuisine he would like to specialise in.

“When I first started with Chef Thomas, he made me write down my life goals for my career; From when I first started, to my first restaurant. Ten years from now, when I’m 30, I would like to be opening my own restaurant in my home, Canberra.

“At the finals in September, I would love to showcase to Australia the broad depths in culinary experiences that we have here in Canberra,” Noah said.

“I think sometimes the food aspect of Canberra gets overlooked, especially when you have such amazing restaurants up in Sydney and Melbourne.

“The Canberra Chef community is very tight knit. There’s only ever two or three degrees of separation. We’ve still got a fair amount of old school stuff, those classical restaurants that always seem to be a hit, but we are steaming towards being on the more progressive side every day.”

Canberra Daily would love to hear from you about a story idea in the Canberra and surrounding region. Click here to submit a news tip.