His success in this role cultivated a media profile, with regular tv appearances and a radio show. 
It was now 1990 and Australia was riding high in the global food scene. With an abundance of fresh local produce, Pan-Asian influences and the emergence of talented chefs, it was the coming of age of Australia.  Sydney was an exciting place to be.
 

Michael thrives on leadership and motivation, and saw this as his next move when he accepted the challenging role of Executive Chef of the Hotel Nikko Darling Harbour.  At the time, this was the largest 5 Star Hotel to be built in Australia and at just 26 years old, Michael was the youngest hotel Executive Chef.  The Corn Exchange Brasserie in the hotel was highly regarded and featured in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.

Four and half years later, during a trip to the UK to get married, Michael was introduced to Sir Terence Conran, design visionary and founder of one of Britain’s most dynamic and successful restaurant groups.  As a result, he found he was itching for another challenge.

Sir Terence instantly recognized the passion and dynamism in Michael and offered him the job of Executive Chef on one of his largest projects to date, The Bluebird “Gastrodome’ in London’s Chelsea.  Michael and his wife Angela jumped at this opportunity and they headed back to London.

With responsibility for a restaurant, private club, food store, production kitchen and café and a team of 120 chefs, Michael faced his biggest challenge to date. He was involved in the ground up design and build of the kitchens and dining space through to operation of this $30m project.  In the course of a year, pre-opening, Michael travelled around the UK and Europe, selecting his team as well as testing and tasting the entire range of Bluebird’s 25,000 products for The Food Store.

Bluebird’s high profile attracted the who’s who of London’s elite and its critical success resulted in Michael’s emergence as one of London’s top chefs. This also resulted in radio and television appearances, master classes and cooking workshops around the country including the BBC Good Food Show.  Terence valued Michael’s unique skills not only as a chef but as a leader and operator and engaged him in other restaurant projects such as The Great Eastern Hotel, and Sartoria. 

Despite career opportunities and a bright future for Michael in London, his love affair with Australia never really ended. Both he and Angela wanted to raise a family in a country that offered a high quality of life and so decided to relocate back to Sydney. 

In 1998 Michael was appointed consulting Director of Food at the Sydney Opera House.  His brief was to change the direction, culture and philosophy of the food in this landmark building, giving particular attention to its flagship restaurant, Bennelong. Thus enabling it more accessible to the people of Sydney and its visitors, particularly for the upcoming 2000 Olympics.

By 1999, Michael had spent 15 years working for other people and so that year decided it was time to go into private enterprise. He gathered his life’s savings and bought Pruniers, a landmark restaurant that once had been part of Sydney’s society scene for over 25 years but at the time was a struggling Italian restaurant. After a complete refurbishment, Pruniers was literally an overnight success and was awarded a chef’s hat by the Sydney Morning Herald food reviewer, Terry Durack, “

Soon after, Michael bought Bonne Femme in Darlinghurst, a 30 seat east city restaurant, popular amongst Sydney foodies.  Like Pruniers, it received a chef’s hat from the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.  
In 2002, Michael sold out of Pruniers and closed Bonne Femme to concentrate on his thriving food consultancy business.  He consults to a range of clients such as: Qantas Airlines, Singapore Airlines and British Airways; Accor Group, Sofitel Hotels and Resorts; Sanitarium, Vetta Pasta and Sumo Salads; Innovations/Homecare and Domayne Homewares; Meat and Livestock Australia and Macquarie University.