Adam Wolfers’ flavoursome food has been variously described as Eastern European, Hungarian Jewish and new-school Jewish. Yet when asked to explain its diverse appeal, the chef points instead to his biggest culinary inspiration: his grandmother.

“She was from Vienna and her father was a chef who owned a kosher restaurant serving Ashkenazi Jewish food in the early 1900s,” he says. Her enduring recipes, bequeathed over generations, form the basis of Wolfers’ approach.

Working with chefs the stature of Peter Doyle, Mark Best and Brent Savage has helped him to refine them even further. “Using all these influences, techniques and memories, I’ve developed an exciting way of cooking with a focus on my heritage,” he says.

His parsnip schnitzel recipe is a delightful twist on the meat dish, while roasted flathead with ‘kosher XO’ nods cleverly to Chinese cuisine. But don’t even think about modifying matzo ball soup.

“My grandmother always said it has to be just the soup and the matzo ball, that’s it. Do not fancy it up with anything else. The matzo ball has to be light and fluffy, and the soup has to be full of flavour and clear.”

Unsurprisingly given his singular style, Wolfers is an in-demand chef, with a string of pop-up restaurants under the Ètelek banner in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

“Expect to see exciting things on the horizon,” he says.