Peter Kuruvita was born in London in 1963, to his Sri Lankan father and Austrian mother. Four short years later, the family took off on an epic overland journey to re-settle in Peter’s father’s homeland of Sri Lanka. It was there in the Colombo family home that Peter first experienced his passion for food. Peter now considers this vibrant time of his early childhood as his most influential, remembering the ritual of ancestral recipes taught by his grandmother in her wood-fired kitchen.

Listen to SBS's podcast, in which Peter talks about his grandmother.

Sri Lankan social unrest in the 1970s saw Peter’s family relocate once more, this time to the Southern suburbs of Sydney. In this new and unfamiliar setting, cooking became a craft and career goal for Peter through his teenage years. Encouraged by his father, Peter pursued a chef’s apprenticeship and job with a local seafood restaurant at age 16. After two years, Peter began working at Rogues Restaurant, working alongside acclaimed chef Greg Doyle.

During his early professional career, Peter headed back to England to work at Michelin-rated restaurants such as Rue St Jacques and The Waterside Inn. A return to Sydney saw him cooking with chef Neil Perry, before moving on to earn Sydney Morning Herald Chef Hat ratings as head and executive chef for Barrenjoey House and Bilson’s.

The late '90s saw Peter run his own restaurant in Bondi with his wife, before consulting at Kupu Kupu Barong Resort in Bali. From Bali, Peter and his family moved to Hayman Island where Peter successfully redeveloped the menu and image of the luxury Hayman Island Resort. By 2002, Peter had received numerous awards in this role, including the title of Tourism + Leisure (US) Magazine’s Best Restaurant, Australia and South Pacific.

Peter focused his extensive experience and dedication to sustainable seafood in 2003 by opening his current award-winning restaurant Flying Fish in Sydney. The restaurant has since expanded to Fiji.

Peter travelled extensively in Sri Lanka to collect recipes for his book, Serendip, and, in 2008, led a group of distinguished Australian chefs and restaurateurs through the country to film The Chef and the Tea Maker for Dilmah Tea’s 21st anniversary.