Sydney scores a Melbourne chef to head up Chin Chin

Chalk one up Sydney, the head chef at Spice Temple in Melbourne is headed home. Graeme Hunt, Neil Perry's talented young head chef is swapping Spice Temple Melbourne for the head chef gig at Chin Chin in Sydney, which opens in Surry Hills later this year.

"Moving back to Sydney is the bonus at the end of it," Hunt tells Good Food. "They approached me, the idea of opening a restaurant and a new brief with more south-east Asian was really appealing."

The Sydney-raised chef has worked for Perry for 13 years, including time at XO and the Rockpool mothership. Five years ago he shifted to Melbourne, working first in the kitchen at Rosetta then Spice Temple.

"Despite some rumours, it's not (chef) Martin Benn at Chin Chin," Chin Chin owner Chris Lucas told Good Food. "Graeme is a seriously talented guy. His cooking is innovative; he just needs the freedom to express himself to really shine."

Hunt will remain at Spice Temple for the next two months before joining the ambitious Chin Chin Sydney start-up, which is sliding into the historic Griffiths Teas building. With Melbourne set to nab the Sepia crew and a constant dribble of Sydney chefs heading south in recent years, it's nice to see some return traffic.