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A restaurant immersed in the Bundjalung territory, a cookbook that preserves ancient traditions and a clear vision: using food as a bridge between cultures. This is the philosophy of Mindy Woods, an Australian chef and activist, who was awarded the Champions of Change Award 2025 by The World's 50 Best Restaurants.
Established in 2021, the award celebrates every year personalities who promote real change in the world of gastronomy. And it's no surprise that Mindy Woods won the jury with her decisive approach: transforming food into a tool to unite, defend biodiversity and bring back the ancestral knowledge of indigenous peoples to the centre. Guiding it is the desire to create shared spaces, where indigenous and non-indigenous people can meet around a table and share (in addition to food) art, words and stories.
“Food is a powerful tool for connecting people to culture, land and history,” said Woods. “My goal is to continue to create spaces in which to meet, enhance local ingredients and preserve sustainable practices handed down for generations.”
Her restaurant, Karkalla On Country, was born from this principle. It's not just haute cuisine, but an immersive cultural experience that invites guests to enter into a relationship with the territory, its ingredients, its seasons, and its traditions. A natural extension of Karkalla, the first restaurant opened by Woods in Byron Bay, which quickly became a reference point for those looking for authentic Australian cuisine based on native ingredients.
“I truly believe that native food will be a fundamental part of our nation's reconciliation process,” she explained. “Most people don't even realise how many native foods exist. If you looked into the pantry of an average Australian, you'd hardly find native ingredients. Maybe a few macadamia nuts or lemon myrtle, but we have 6,500 unique ingredients in this wonderful country that we call Australia.”
The First Queer Indigenous Woman To Participate In Masterchef Australia, Mindy Woods Has Been Able To Transform Her Visibility Into a Space Of Representation
Her presence on the program opened a national conversation about identity, traditional culinary techniques and the way in which contemporary gastronomy can (and must) become more inclusive. Today, alongside the kitchen, Woods carries out an intense educational activity. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Black Duck Foods, a Landcare ambassador, and intervenes in schools and works every day so that Australians rediscover the richness of native ingredients. Not only to rewrite one's relationship with food, but also with the earth and with those who have always lived there.
“The work that Mindy is doing to preserve and promote indigenous culture through food is truly admirable,” said William Drew, Director of Content at 50 Best. “We are thrilled to support the growth of her extraordinary contribution.”
The Champions of Change Award is one of the prizes that precede the official ceremony of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, scheduled for June 19 in Turin. Among the events on the calendar: the #50BestTalks gastronomy forum, the 50 Best Signature Sessions (four-handed dinners between international chefs and local talents), the traditional Chefs' Feast, and the highly anticipated countdown of the best restaurants in the world.
The common thread behind this edition is the desire to tell stories of change, inclusion and new visions for the future of food. And that of Mindy Woods: between land, table and identity, is a story that today, more than ever, deserves to be heard.
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Read the original article in ELLE ITALY.