Damien Pignolet

Damien Pignolet (c. 1948 - ) is an Australian chef based in Sydney. Pignolet was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He is a fourth-generation Australian of French descent. He studied at the William Angliss College of Catering from 1966. Pignolet has overcome adversity in his life. Going into hospital at the age of 5, he came out when he was eight, spending almost four years lying flat in a full-body cast because of a rare hip disease. Pignolet says the experience made him inward-looking and shy and couldn't play sport for years. "I was always the odd person out," he remembers. "I lived in a complete fantasy world." Pignolet found comfort in cooking and started out utilising Women's Weekly cookbooks but soon went to the local library and...