Derwent Valley
Writers’ Festival

May 27—29 2022
The Barracks, New Norfolk

Rodney Dunn

Rodney Dunn worked under Tetsuya Wakuda at the Sydney restaurant Tetsuya’s before moving into food media, working as a food researcher for the Better Homes and
Gardens television program and as food editor of Gourmet Traveller magazine from 2004-2007.

In order to indulge his passion for growing fruit and vegetables, raising pigs, milking goats and keeping honey bees, Rodney, with his wife Séverine Demanet, moved to Tasmania to open The Agrarian Kitchen Cooking School in Lachlan in Tasmania’s beautiful Derwent Valley in 2008. In 2010, it was voted as Australia’s “Greatest Gourmet Food Experience” by Australian Traveller Magazine.

In June 2017, Rodney and Séverine opened their restaurant, The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery in the Bronte building of nearby New Norfolk’s Willow Court precinct. In October 2017, just four months after opening, The Eatery was awarded two hats and voted "Best Regional Restaurant in Australia" by Fairfax in the National Good Food Guide.

After 13 years of operating the cooking school in Lachlan, The Agrarian Kitchen will combine its operations under one roof with part of the Bronte building being renovated to house the cooking school kitchen and the Carlton Exercise yard being developed as The Agrarian Kitchen garden. This is scheduled to open in October 2022.

Rodney has authored two books with Penguin Random House Australia under its Lantern imprint, entitled The Agrarian Kitchen and The Truffle Cookbook.