Five minutes with Nat Taylor, Milk Haus at Milton

Who are you?

Nat Taylor, I’m a passionate foodie who spent 25 years in a corporate profession and then followed my dream to become a restaurant owner and chef at Milk Haus.

Tell me about Milk Haus.

We are a garden-to-plate eatery coming up to our 10th year in 2025. We curate a seasonal menu that showcases as much of what we can grow ourselves and other local produce. We cook from the heart.

How did you make the leap from corporate to kitchen?

I was a sales director for a print marketing company, but my heart was always cooking at home. I love the connectivity when you cook for your loved ones and friends: breaking bread, sharing a beautiful bottle of wine and having great connections. When COVID hit, my partner Kitty and I wanted to exit the corporate life.

Milk Haus was just the right time, right place and right business for us. We wanted to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and that was hospitality.

What is your food philosophy?

Local, seasonal, and showcasing other local providores. We get cured meats from Martin’s Ridge and Martin’s Orchard peaches right through to Tim Cooper (a local grower), who has acres of farmland, and we get a lot of what we can’t grow ourselves from him.

What is your favourite or must-use ingredient when cooking?

I love fennel seeds: I think it’s an underrated little spice to put into dishes. We had a mustard vinaigrette with braised leek on our last menu and the fennel seeds just added these pops of flavour to the vinaigrette.

At the moment, we have pistachio, fennel seed and chilli in our hot honey, which goes on toasted sourdough with ricotta and gorgeous anchovies.

What’s an underrated South Coast venue that you love?

Merry Street Restaurant at Kioloa has just opened up this season. The husband and wife duo has only 25 or 30 seats, but they’re doing great things down there.

Who do you admire in the South Coast food scene?

Sean McCarthy from Season and Savour, ex-chef from Small Town. Just the nicest guy: super casual, friendly and a really great cook. As a catering business, he doesn’t get the accolades, but he’s one to watch out for!

Where’s the best place for a drink?

Small Town Provisions: cute little wine bar in Milton. About 10 or 15 seats, great snacks and a changing wine menu each week.

Who is your dream dinner party guest, and what would you make them?

There are lots of chefs that I admire, but I would choose Jo Barrett. I really admire what she did with the sustainable home showcase in Federation Square, then in Lorne at Picket Fence, and now the game Meat Journey and Wildpie. She’s an all-rounder.

I’d pull something together with whatever’s good from the garden and have it with local seafood: maybe some local cray off Mollymook Beach cooked on the barbecue with a salsa verde, salt, lemon. Easy, charred, yum.

What is your current food obsession?

We have so much parsley right now so it would have to be tabbouleh! I just pick fresh tomatoes off the vine, parsley, lemon zest, all the summer herbs, with a little bit of quinoa. I have it every day for lunch with a little bit of lemon yoghurt.

What’s the best thing you ate this week?

We went out to the Milton Hotel and had the pork fillet with a gorgeous smokey flavour and parsley oil and fresh herbs. Cooked to perfection. They have fantastic food, and we’re big fans of the Milton Hotel.

What’s a food that reminds you of your childhood?

It’d have to be seafood, especially flathead. My Grandparents lived in Narrawallee so we spent every Christmas there and we would go fishing for flathead. As a young tacker, it was my job to fillet it.

What’s a normal breakfast for you?

Poached eggs and some wilted greens from the garden. No toast, just the greens and fresh farm eggs.

When you can’t be bothered to cook for yourself, where do you go and what do you eat?

We have so many options in Milton. There’s a Middle Eastern restaurant called Noma, Bar Yuki, or Gwylo for Asian Fusion. We go out a couple of nights a week to support local venues and we have an abundance to choose from.

Where are you travelling next?

I am off to Japan very soon to go snowboarding. We used to go every February but I haven’t taken a holiday in five years so I’ve really missed it. I can’t wait to eat the ramen!

Tell me something you love about living in Milton
The community. The people down here are just extraordinary. We didn’t quite expect how lovely and supportive everyone would be and the friendships we would create in five years. There’s a real sense of community, especially in the hospitality industry.

What TV show are you enjoying right now?

We’ve just finished Yellowstone. We’ve gone down a rabbit hole of watching all of producer Taylor Sheridan’s shows.

An easy one to finish – what’s your go-to coffee order?

Double shot soy flat white.

Milk Haus is located at 170 Woodstock Rd, Woodstock. They’re open Thursday to Monday. Breakfast is from 8:30 am to 11 am, and lunch is from 12 pm to 2 pm. They also have Farm Haus accommodation. Follow Milk Haus on Instagram.