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Master Chef and Pioneer of the Industry Otto
Kamenzin, was distinguished as one of Melbourne's
greatest chefs of the 50's, 60's and 70's, Otto
served his apprenticeship in cooking in Bremen,
Germany and some time after completion he joined
the merchant navy and traveled the world as a cook
and chef. On his first encounter with Australia,
working on the Castell Felice, Otto he liked what
he saw and decided to stay. That was 1955, a year
before many more great and adventures chefs
arrived on our shores for the Melbourne Olympic
Games.
Otto spent a short time in Tasmania before
returning to Melbourne. Here he spent 11 years
leading the kitchen brigade at Antonios, a fine
dining restaurant in Toorak, the best that
Melbourne offered at the time.
He then opened the Lido Theatre Restaurant in the
city and two years later became the opening chef
at La Casa de Manana in St. Kilda Rd. Otto enjoyed
the challenge of furnishing and opening new
kitchens, and putting his thumbprint and direction
on them for other brigades after him.
Le Chateau in Queens Road, a place of grandeur,
was his next move and then In Camberwell at the
Black Knight where Otto created some memorable
dining experiences for his loyal customers who
followed him from place to place.
This led and it was time to venture out into his
own establishments. First there was La Bouffe in
the city, then Martins in Port Melbourne and
followed by Rabelais in Toorak Road. Then came the
need to a change of scenery and Otto and his
family moved to Western Australia, in Perth to
face more culinary challenges where another aspect
of the hospitality industry was experienced when
Otto operated a function centre for a number of
years.
The finishing touch of his career he chose and
loved was the running the kitchen in a private
hospital.
Every year Otto took a trip back to Germany to
celebrate his mother's birthday until she passed
away in her nineties. This was his annual holiday,
a true family man and son.
He was also a great believer in keeping fit and
enjoyed swimming and bike riding. One of his
achievements was the 19 km swim from Perth
Cottesloe Beach to Rottenest Island with each of
his children in different years, a great athletic
challenge for a man in his sixties.
Otto was passionate about his family, cooking and
life, noticeable to all around him.
He will be remembered as a great chef, good friend
to many who got on with everybody, a man with a
positive outlook to things around him.
Substantially extracted from an article written by
Bernd Uber in the Herald-Sun on August 5 2004
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