A lover of food and its power to nourish, with a deep understanding of the unifying magic of a shared meal. A destined feeder, who grew up in a Maltese family hearing cries of “eat, eat” from Nanna and Nannu.

Born and raised in Sydney and recently lured by the bright lights and vibrant food culture of Melbourne; Jacqui has been cooking professionally for over 18 years. From cafe beginnings to an apprenticeship with Merivale, honing her skills at Mad Cow and Felix before moving onto her first head chef role at Xanthi, under the guidance of David Tsirekas, who taught her the most valuable lesson that flavour always comes first.

In 2013 Jacqui joined the opening team of Nomad Sydney, progressing to head chef in 2014. It was there that she was able to lean into the flavours of the Mediterranean that she grew up eating and develop her own style of cooking, which at its heart would be best described as bold in flavour, humble and generous.

During her time at the helm, which developed into a Group Executive Chef role overseeing the opening of Nomad Melbourne, Beau and Reine & La Rue, the venues received multiple accolades over the years including Chef’s Hats in both the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age Good Food Guide Awards, as well as best new restaurant for Reine & La Rue in 2023.

Jacqui has appeared on Master Chef in 2023 and 2021, The Cook Up in 2024, 2022 and 2021 as well as The Good Food Kitchen in 2021. Her recipes have featured in national publications such as Gourmet Traveller, Delicious, Australian Financial Review, The Guardian , Good Food and Broadsheet.

Being able to give back to the community is incredibly close to her heart, over the years Jacqui has worked with OzHarvest, Bestest Foundation, Snowdome Foundation and The Starlight Foundation, as well as leading the charge with Cook For The Bush, an initiative that raised $149,000 for the 2020 bushfire appeal.

2025 has welcomed a fresh start and an exciting new phase of Jacqui’s career in the role of Group Development chef at Trader House.