Josh Niland

Chef Josh Niland has transformed the way we cook, transport, age and store

fish. His ethical, sustainable and revolutionary approach has received global

recognition. Fellow chefs, marine experts, seafood companies and fishmongers

have applauded and embraced his new philosophy. He is a multi-award-

winning chef, restaurateur and author.

Josh’s first foray into cooking was as early as eight years old. He spent a lot of

time at home due to a childhood illness, where his young mind was inspired by

daytime TV cooking shows and cookbooks. This interest continued through

school, and at age sixteen, he enjoyed his first dining experience at an award-

winning Sydney restaurant. With this, the young cooking enthusiast was

hooked.

Once qualified, Josh’s professional career began in the kitchens of some of

Sydney’s greatest restaurants. While working in the fish section, his respect for

the magnificent Australian seafood was matched by his frustration at the

volume of waste. He began to create alternative ways to use all of the fish and

was encouraged by his mentors to explore his curiosity. The result was an

individual and all-consuming approach to cooking fish that didn’t quite fit with

any menu at that time.

In 2016, at twenty-seven years old, Josh and wife Julie opened Saint Peter, a

small fish restaurant in a Sydney suburb, Paddington. Introducing whole fish

cookery, Saint Peter, an Australian Fish Eatery was a highly risky venture. But

together on a small budget, the couple managed to create a bustling

neighbourhood favourite. Within its first year, the restaurant achieved

significant global interest.

Two years later in 2018, the couple opened Fish Butchery, a retail offering

located only a few doors away from the restaurant. The one-of-a-kind retail

outlet is a temperature-controlled ice-free zone where line-caught, sustainable

species of fish are dry handled and cut to order. Josh has pioneered the dry

ageing of fish, and his ground-breaking approach to utilising the whole fish has

gathered international recognition. Fish Butchery at Home was introduced in

2020 and mrniland.com followed as an online portal for retail and additional

opportunities.

Josh’s debut book ‘The Whole Fish Cookbook’ was published by Hardie Grant

in September 2019 and received worldwide acclaim.