Cooking up a storm.
“A poster boy” is how one ICV volunteer describes young Indigenous chef Daniel Walton, the NT Government Career Young Achiever for 2011.
Twenty seven year old Daniel, whose mother Georgie is a Traditional Owner of Kakadu, is running the Santa Fe Restaurant and kitchen attached to a tavern in suburban Darwin.
North Queensland volunteer Marcy worked with Daniel, putting together his portfolio for the presentation to the the Young Achiever award judges.
“Any young Indigenous person who has achieved as much as Daniel has in such a short time and has stuck to his goals and will achieve them deserves the award,” Marcy observed.
The two spent around six weeks working on the submission referencing some of the restaurants Daniel has worked in. This included eateries in Canada and France where “between the chef who spoke a little English and my little French, we got by,” said Daniel.
For Daniel, it is not surprising that he has gone into hospitality. His mother ran a cake business from home for 20 years catering for functions such as weddings.
“I find it easy, I love it and I find it natural. It is early days yet, but I want to build this place up. My ultimate goal is to get something on my own,” Daniel said.
When he does go out on his own Daniel plans to target the tourist market with an upmarket restaurant serving what he describes as food “genuine” to the Territory.
“There are tonnes of great produce up here but it is not seen. I try to use as much local food as possible. I want to expand local and Indigenous produce. I have researched a lot into Indigenous and bush tucker,” he said.
