Ed Halmagyi ‘Fast Ed’

Fast Food Presenter

Ed is one of Australia’s best-loved TV chefs and food authors. For the last seven years he has shared his unique take on achievable, time-conscious cookery with millions of Australians on BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS. Transforming elegant restaurant cuisine into recipes that anyone can prepare at home, Ed’s motto is simple, “when you do less, the ingredients can do more!”.

Ed started cooking at the age of 15 where he had a weekend job as a kitchen hand in a local bistro, when the chef walked out during Sunday lunch.

“The owner told me to start cooking which I did, probably not very well but somehow we got through. After that, I was cooking in the afternoons, weekends and holidays which gave me a taste for it.”

While Ed was at Sydney University studying for an Arts/Law degree he continued cooking in various bistros and trattorias. He suspended his studies in 1995 and went overseas for six months to work on a community development project in the Solomon Islands, building water catchment facilities, schools and helping medical and dental teams trek their equipment to some of the more remote regions. It was during this time that Ed realised cooking was his passion and returned to Australia to pursue his ambition.

Ed joined the team at the Bennelong Restaurant at the Sydney Opera House in the pastry section where he remained until 1997. He then worked for a number of Sydney’s leading restaurants including Rockpool.

In 2000, Ed and his wife Leah moved to Vancouver Island where he was the Executive Sous Chef at The Wickannish Inn, a Relais et Chateau property catering to the uberchic and super-rich. Conde Nast rates the place as one of the greatest places in the world to stay and eat.

They returned to Australia in 2002 where he took on the role of Head Chef at Nove Cucina restaurant in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. He went on to work as Head Chef at Cruise in Sydney’s Rocks district, and then at Beach Road restaurant in Palm Beach.

Ed won the Ladle for the ‘Best Television Food and/or Drink Show (Short Form) category at the 2005 World Food Media Awards.

His first cookbook ‘Nove Cucina’ sold out of print and his new book ‘Dinner in 10’, released in July 2009, made it on to the national bestseller lists. Ed has also published his own magazines under the Better Homes and Gardens banner. ‘MORE: the best of Food in a Flash’ was released in 2008, and ‘Fast Ed’s Better Basics’ is in stores now.

Radio listeners in Sydney are familiar with Ed as a regular guest on ABC local radio 702, and as the host of Better Homes and Gardens Radio throughout Australia on the Australian Radio Network.

Ed undertakes significant charity work with Anglicare and Community Greening Australia. He is a keen gardener, fisherman and long distance runner who is the proud father of two beautiful kids, Finn and Luca. He lives on Sydney’s Collaroy Plateau and has a passion for growing heirloom vegetables in his beachside backyard.