jayden godwin
What inspired you to become a chef?
I originally got started in hospitality because I wasn’t enjoying school. I was working part-time washing dishes and was offered an apprenticeship. I took it as an opportunity to drop out of school and do something different. That’s where it really started for me.
At 14, as I was starting that journey, the creative part of me came alive. I started testing things, experimenting with food, and learning from those around me what food could really be—what you could do with ingredients.
Halfway through my apprenticeship, when I was about 16, my aunt took me to Aria in Brisbane for my birthday. She told them I was an apprentice chef, and I had their tasting menu. It was an incredible night—it was an experience, a journey that really altered how I thought about food.
At the end of the meal, the maître d’ asked the kitchen if they would show me around. They agreed, and I got to walk through the kitchen, see the setup, and watch how their brigade worked together so smoothly. Seeing that level of teamwork and precision—how they created an experience for their guests—I’ve never forgotten that.
What do you like about working at Extraction Artisan Coffee?
My favourite thing about working at Extraction is the commitment across the whole café—in every role—to giving people an experience when they come through our doors. Unfortunately, that’s not as common as we might expect in hospitality, but at Extraction, that’s the focus. We love the industry, and we love what we get to give people.
What’s your favourite dish on the menu right now and why?
It’s got to be the Mushroom Forest. It’s light, full of flavour, and really lets the ingredients be what they are. It’s quite beautiful.
How do you come up with new dishes or flavor combinations?
For me, creating something new often comes out of a feeling or an experience that I want to pass on to the guests. That’s the inspiration behind where flavours come from or the direction a dish takes. The season is important to me, but behind each dish, there’s usually a starting point—something I want to give to the person enjoying the meal or the experience.
What excites you most about Bite Club?
The intimacy of nighttime food and service. It’s a completely different atmosphere compared to breakfast and lunch in the café, and that’s exciting. It’s another opportunity to host, serve, and see people connect. I believe food brings people together, and at night, it’s dates, friendships, relationships forming, groups coming together. It’s exciting to have another way to help bring people closer, to make their day a little bit better than it would have been if they hadn’t come. I love that.
Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming Bite Club dishes you’re working on?
Right now, I’m working on a mushroom risotto concept in little bite form—like on a cracker. That’s what I’m playing with at the moment.
What’s a surprising fact about you that people might not expect?
I was a drug addict. I was in rehab twice by the time I was 22, and I recently celebrated nine years clean.
That’s another thing I love about Extraction—our commitment to reaching out to humanity. I get to be part of a kitchen where drugs and excessive drinking are not the norm. Apprentices coming into the industry don’t have to think that’s just the way it is. I get to be part of the change I want to see.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in the culinary world?
Learn how to handle the bad days well. This industry isn’t about us—it’s about the people we serve. And that gets hard some days. It’s not always going to be fun, creative, or enjoyable. It gets tough.
But if you can handle the hard days and remember it’s not about you, you can take each day as it comes. Respect the ingredient, respect the people you serve, stay a learner, and keep serving. And you’ll get to make that short moment you have in someone’s life a good one—just because you got the chance to cook for them.
