Chef Jake Kellie heads to Burnt Ends in Singapore

Scallops from Norway. Sardines from Brittany. Live razor clams. Chef Jake Kellie's feet have barely touched the ground since he landed the job as head chef at Singapore's Burnt Ends, which entered the World's 50 Best Restaurants list at number 70 last year.

Previously founding chef at Pakenham's Lakeside Mill, Kellie (pictured), now has top-quality ingredients from all over the planet at his disposal at Perth-born chef Dave Pynt's "modern Australian barbecue" restaurant. But chopping wood and building the fire in the open kitchen's four-tonne wood oven will keep Kellie, 26, grounded.

The job offer came a week after meeting Pynt in Singapore while enjoying his travel prize from the 2015 Appetite for Excellence Young Chef of the Year award. "When he told me it was the head chef job, I was like, 'Whoa, are you serious?' I couldn't believe the opportunity."

The ambitious young chef's CV is peppered with big names, including Gordon Ramsay's Maze, Peter Gilmore's Aria, and Scott Pickett's Estelle Bistro. He was also runner up in The Age Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year 2015.

While absorbing as much as he can working under Pynt in Singapore, Kellie will also learn from a series of high-profile guest chefs jetting in for monthly dinners, most of which have already sold out. The line-up includes American pastry chef Will Goldfarb (KU DE TA, Bali on March 6), Aaron Turner (Igni, Geelong, April 17) and Clayton Wells (Automata, Sydney, May 22).