Josh Phillips displays the hallmarks of a culinary superstar. He’s intelligent, personable, telegenic and talented. In addition, Josh is more motivated than any young chef I’ve come across recently: he breathes kitchens and cooking. He’ll tell you, “Food is the centre of my life.”

Currently, Josh is part of the celebrated team at Auckland two-hat restaurant, Ahi. As head chef, he works alongside industry notables Ben Bayly, Chris Martin and Mike Shatura. His pathway to Ahi is impressive and peppered with elements of luck, circumstance and determination.

Josh, now 26, was still at high school when the opportunity came up to work in an Albert Roux kitchen, run by culinary influencer Toby Stuart. Within months he had determined that cooking would be his future so he moved to Scotland to work, where he rubbed shoulders with other industry heavyweights such as Andrew Farley.

Over the next 10 years Josh grabbed every opportunity presented to expand his food knowledge, picking up essential qualifications along the way. With his parents’ support, the 16-year-old moved to France to learn French and, as a result of a recommendation from Albert Roux, had a stint at Le Petit Nice Passedat, a three-star Michelin restaurant in Marseille. Later, he was to add a plethora of noteworthy venues to his curriculum vitae: Cromlix and Chez Roux in Scotland, and All Saints Hotel in Bury St Edmunds, England.

In 2019 Josh came to New Zealand and took up the role of sous chef at Auckland’s The Grove Restaurant working alongside chef Ryan Moore. “It was a valuable time for me. On the one hand I was working through the extremely unnatural and difficult time of COVID while having the unique opportunity to learn about and work with unfamiliar New Zealand food products.

“At The Grove I discovered that many New Zealand chefs are as advanced as those in the rest of the world, creating and maintaining an extremely high level of food in a tasting-style format heavily influenced by British culture.”

When the chance to join the Ahi team came up Josh jumped in boots and all. “My role as head chef is to join the others inspiring and training the restaurant team while constantly improving our offering. We have become great storytellers of New Zealand’s food provenance and I love the deep connection and friendship that I have grown with our suppliers. Along with Ben [Bayly], I enjoy passing this knowledge on to our team and guests.”

Josh says he is proud of the development of new dishes in the Ahi style that slot into the menu alongside those created by Ben and Mike. “I am truly grateful for the freedom they give me and the trust they show in me.”

Josh is fully engaged with the garden-to-plate ethos adopted by the restaurant. “It’s a real joy to work alongside our head gardener at the Ahi garden. The work involved cannot be underestimated.” The team works four to five months ahead – from seed purchasing to seedling growing, planting out, growing and harvesting. At the same time, they have to develop new dishes ready to go as the garden supply comes available. Josh is also responsible for managing green waste to be composted back at the garden to close the loop. “At Ahi I have learned that being a great chef is so much more than just getting ready for service and cooking nice food.”

When he’s not in the kitchen you can find Josh in the garden or experimenting with the fermentation of food and beverages. “I live in Te Atatu and enjoy making stuff and giving it away to neighbours and friends in the community.”

No surprise, then, that Josh’s life goals are deeply connected to his career. “I want to be a food disruptor. I want to please people with what I put on the plate, but I also want to entertain with quirky stuff.”

Josh believes Kiwi food is getting better by the minute. “I get a real kick out of eating out in New Zealand. I love the no-nonsense food style of places such as Lilian on Richmond Road and am blown away by the creativity of Ben, Mike and the others at Ahi.

“I want to be like all of them while, at the same time, stamping the Joshua John Phillips signature on every meal I deliver.” Follow Joshua @chef_josh_phillips