Born in 1993, Charlie Carrington is an earnest young chef with a fascination for food from all over the world.
Carrington was introduced to the culinary world by his great aunt, an exceptional home cook with an affinity for delicious dessert creations.
Determined to start early, Charlie left high school in Melbourne at 16 and ventured to London for a three-week stage at the three Michelin starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
Following his training at Ramsay’s eponymous restaurant, Charlie returned to Melbourne to join the team at Vue De Monde on Matt Abe’s recommendation. He soon moved to Sydney, where he finished his apprenticeship at Marque, working under Mark Best.
With the ambitious idea to open his own restaurant inspired by travel, Carrington embarked on an eight-month research trip spanning 15 countries across South America, North America, Europe and Asia. He gained experience working in kitchens in Antwerp, San Francisco, Bangkok, Singapore, La Paz, Mexico City and Sao Paulo. During this time, Carrington dined at several restaurants on his bucket list and now counts Relae in Copenhagen and Le Chateaubriand in Paris as his top two dining experiences.
Upon his return to Australia, Charlie found work at Lennox Hastie’s Firedoor and began the search for a location of his own in Sydney. After months of searching, he was unable to find a site that fits his needs for the restaurant in mind, so he decided to move to leave return to his hometown, Melbourne. Within days of the move, Carrington found the perfect location for his dream restaurant in the heart of South Yarra. The lease was signed on April 4th of 2016, and the doors opened at Atlas Dining for their first-ever menu: Atlas Vietnam.
The Atlas Dining menu transforms every three months to showcase Charlie’s interpretation of different cuisines based on his travels.
Just one year after opening, the restaurant and Charlie received numerous accolades from within the industry. Dining was named ‘Best New Restaurant’ by Time Out and received its first hat from the Good Food Guide, making Charlie the youngest chef to achieve this, while he was also nominated for ‘Best New Talent’ by Gourmet Traveller.
In March 2020, just as the restaurant started the new menu for Atlas India, the hospitality industry was turned on its head by Covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns. Charlie knew that a fine dining restaurant would not translate into a traditional takeaway model once their doors were forced to close. Thus, Atlas Weekly (formally Atlas Masterclass) was born: a food delivery service providing ingredients and recipes from a different country every week. A recipe box that travels the world.
During a particularly long lockdown in Melbourne, people were drawn to the idea of being able to travel at home, using food as their vehicle. The endeavour allowed Charlie to keep his Atlas Staff employed while also creating new jobs in hospitality during such a challenging period for the industry.
Charlie continues to work as Director of Atlas Dining, and Atlas Weekly as the two facets of the brand continue to grow and evolve.
