Due North: An expedition through Australia from Tasmania to the Gulf

Description

This is award-winning chef James Viles' photographic journal of his road trip from Tassie to the Top End, from Flinders Island in the Tasman Sea to the Gulf of Carpentaria. His focus is real food, where it comes from, how it's grown, tended and harvested and how it sometimes flourishes in the most hostile and breathtakingly beautiful parts of Australia. James describes the people he meets along the road and the conversations he has with foragers, food producers, fishermen, tribal elders, local farmers, all of whom are knowledgeable and passionate about Australia and Australian ingredients. James also discovers that sleeping in a swag under the stars reminds him about what matters and reconnects him to his creative self. With exquisite imagery from Adam Gibson, this is an extraordinary portrait of a country.

James Viles is one of Australia's most respected chefs. Winning a coveted chef's hat in its first year, Biota Dining is one of the most awarded regional restaurants in NSW. Honoured in the Australian Financial Review Top 100 Restaurants 2015, James won The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Regional Restaurant of the Year 2015 and 2016, second hat in 2017. James' first book, Biota: Grow, gather, cook, was published by Murdoch Books in 2015. Chef and co-founder of two-hatted Biota Dining in Bowral NSW, James has become one Australia's most respected chefs & restaurateurs, recognised in particular for his commitment to sustainability and his creative affiliation with nature. His menus are deeply connected to the land, and he gathers inspiration from his travels through Australia. Biota Dining has become one of the most awarded regional restaurants in NSW and has retained its two hats with the Good Food Guide since its second year of opening in 2011. James' extra-curricular roles outside of the restaurant include regular travel through Australia documenting ingredients; in 2017 he was officially made 'a friend to Australia' through Tourism Australia and is an active ambassador with Jaguar Land Rover Australia and Electrolux. James first book BIOTA: grow, gather, cook was published by Murdoch Books in 2015.

'James kindles the primal spirit of the hunter gatherer and elevates those things collected in the field to a refined palate and culinary masterpiece. There aren't many experiences that authentic left in the world.' Oliver White, Outdoorsman instagram @oliverwhitefishing