Luke William Mangan is an Australian chef and restaurateur. Mangan owns and operates restaurants in Sydney Australia, at sea on P&O cruise ships and is the consulting chef for Virgin AustraliaBusiness Class. Mangan has his own line of gourmet products and is the co-founder of The Inspired Series and Australia’s Appetite for Excellence, a hospitality awards program for young chefs, waiters and restaurateurs in Australia.
Early career
Mangan grew up in a family of seven boys in Melbourne. His culinary career began under the guide of Hermann Schneider at his Melbourne-based Two Faces restaurant. Following his training, Mangan persuaded Michel Roux at the 3 Michelin StarWaterside Inn London to take him on. Mangan moved to Sydney in 1994 to open John Hemmes’ CBD restaurant in CBD hotel, at age 24.
Restaurants
Mangan opened Salt with former business partner Lucy Allon in 1999, aged 29. In 2005, Mangan sold 50% of the Salt brand to Port Japan Partners and opened Salt in Tokyo in 2005. The enterprise has grown to include Salt grill & Sky bar and Salt tapas & bar, Singapore; Salt, the adjoining World Wine Bar and Salt grill & tapas bar, Tokyo. In August 2018, Mangan sold his remaining shares in the Asia Salt brand. The restaurants continue to operate without Mangan's involvement. Having launched the fast food brand in 2017, as well as in Sydney’s Waterloo early 2018, the chef now plans to focus on rolling out a range of spin-off ventures under his first name, such as Luke’s Burger Bar, Luke’s Cafe, Luke’s Fish House, Luke’s Steak House and Luke’s Wine Bar, as well as maintaining his land, sea and air consultancies. Remaining under the brand is Salt grill, Luke's and A Taste of Salt on board five P&O cruise ships ;, Virgin Australia Business Class, the organic chicken burger restaurant at Chifley Plaza in Sydney CBD and Sydney International Airport, Coast Café + Bar and Bridge Bar, Sydney International Airport, Luke's Kitchen and at . Mangan's most recent venture includes the transformation of his wine and tapas bar MOJO on Danks Street in Waterloo into the neighbourhood eatery launched in February 2018, Mangan also owns and operates Sydney CBD-based , which underwent a $6 million makeover in 2005 with New York architect Tony Chi heading interiors. In February 2018, glass underwent a $1.6 million kitchen refurbishment.
Mangan took a consultancy role for Virgin Atlantic, and went on to become the Virgin Australia Business Class consulting chef, providing guests with meals during their international and domestic Virgin Australia flights.
