The Barossa Mag Summer 2018-19 | Page 23

with Barossa’s best dining experiences, capturing the imagination of celebrity chefs, Hollywood stars and royalty. Owen admits he is living the dream but becomes emotional when he tells of the difficult road that led him to this picture perfect location. He describes growing up in a poor family, the only son of Errol and Marg Andrews who moved to Greenock in search for the best possible life for their four young children. The family lived in nearly every Barossa town, renovating old houses then upgrading to a slightly better one and doing the same again. “It was what they had to do to keep making things better. I guess that shaped me a little bit. You keep working with that same mind-set to keep improving and evolving.” dishes. He didn’t want to leave me on the weekends, he wanted to spend them with me so he said he would only go if I could come too. But a day of discovery would change his life. “I walked into a kitchen when I was 13 and instantly fell in love with the romance of a busy kitchen. I remember they were cooking a crab bisque, the windows were all fogged and as I opened the door, the smell of food flavours that I never experienced before hit me. It was so inviting. All my senses went ting, ting, ting! From that moment I was addicted. “My sister was working in a kitchen at The Lanzerac at Tanunda and dad was asked to help do some “I worked really hard, I wanted a job. Eventually my dad’s phone stopped ringing as often and I got Born with dyslexia, Owen struggled at school and remembers hearing people say “What will become of Errol’s boy?” the job. Every day after school I would catch the Tanunda school bus from Nuri. I would do all the afternoon dishes from the kitchen, work into the evening and scoot home to get ready for school the next day.” Owen had finally found an environment where hard work and creativity would compensate for his struggles with dyslexia. “Just because things were a struggle in the classroom, didn’t mean I didn’t have a lot to offer in life. I just came at it in a different way.” The unyielding determination instilled by his parents kicked Mon - FRI: 6am - 3pm // SAT: 6am - NOON SUN: 6am - noon // CLOSED PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 8563 3973 Shop 3/56 Murray Street, Tanunda