Born in Sardinia, Giovanni Pilu arrived in Australia in 1992, full of enthusiasm and passion for the unique flavours of his homeland. He believes cooking should involve simple ingredients, prepared with minimum fuss, allowing the full flavour of the ingredients to speak for themselves.

Vocational training started in high school in Sardinia – and from the age of 14, Giovanni studied to be a draftsman. But his summer job at his uncle’s bar in Olbia awakened him to his true calling. “I loved the bar,” he said. “Sometimes I worked three months straight without a day off. We’d go to the beach with my aunties for a swim between shifts – then straight back to the bar.

“My Uncle was very tough – there’s no one tougher – so, many times I got on the bus and quit. I was heading home, but now I’m thankful to him for toughening me up.”
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When he was 18, Giovanni decided he wanted to work full-time in hospitality, and his aunty helped him get a job in a big hotel in Canniggione on the Costa Smeralda. After a couple of years, he met an Australian girl, Marilyn, and they took a summer job together in a restaurant in San Teodoro. After the season finished, she headed back to Australia – and not long after that, Giovanni followed. He started an apprenticeship at Il Piemonte, run by an Italian, Piero Bignasca. He took him on in the kitchen and at 22, learnt cooking and English side by side.

At his first restaurant, Cala Luna in Mosman, which he opened in 1997, Giovanni presented a broad Italian menu, slowly introducing Sydney diners to Sardinian specialties, such as oven-roasted suckling pig and bottarga. Since opening Pilu at Freshwater in 2004 with his wife, Marilyn Annecchini, he’s expanded his Sardinian repertoire, cooking more of the food that’s in his blood and close to his heart. Giovanni makes the most of his coastal location, serving fresh seafood with classic Sardinian flavours.