26 Jun 2025
NEW CHEF-IN-RESIDENCE TAKES THE REINS AT ‘CANVAS’ AT MCA AUSTRALIA
CANVAS, the elegant Level 4 restaurant at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia) in The Rocks, Sydney, welcomes a new Chef-in-Residence this month, James Scott. Pioneered by Australia’s leading hospitality group, The Big Group, CANVAS is a dynamic dining concept built around a rotating Chef-in-Residence.
With its spectacular views of Sydney Harbour, refined, minimalist interiors and immersive programming with ever-evolving menus, CANVAS has quickly earned a following amongst both Sydney’s art-loving crowd and the city’s foodies since it opened in October 2024. Its new chef, James Scott, is one of the country’s quiet culinary heroes.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, James trained under celebrated British chef Michael Caines at two-Michelin-star country hotel Gidleigh Park before moving to Australia in 2013. In Sydney, he began working with legendary chef Martin Benn at the three-hatted Sepia restaurant.
Then, in 2016, he joined Federico Zanellato’s team at cult two-hat LuMi Dining on the waterfront in Pyrmont, where he rose to the role of Head Chef. In recent years, James has led a series of acclaimed pop-up restaurants across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, collaborating with culinary icons such as Clinton McIver of Amaru.
Steeped in the seasonal, the sustainable and the local, James’ cooking is both inventive and personal. His new menu at CANVAS is a tapestry of bold flavours and refined technique, layered with native Australian ingredients and nods to his Scottish heritage.
At the heart of the menu is a standout main, the “Lambington”, a play on the classic Wellington featuring lamb loin wrapped in puff pastry with spinach crêpe and haggis, the latter an ode to his Scottish heritage.
It’s a rich, nostalgic dish reimagined with flair. Other highlights include his Crab cappelletti with finger lime, lemon myrtle and basil, a fusion of Italian precision with native botanicals, and the Wagyu tartare with pickled shallots, fried saltbush and a confit egg yolk, served with a Sydney Opera House-shaped Jerusalem artichoke crisp in honour of CANVAS’s gun-barrel views.
James is deeply committed to nose-to-tail and root-to-leaf cooking, reducing waste and extracting beauty and flavour from every part of his ingredients. His motives, he explains with a smile, are partly sustainable, partly his Scottish frugality.
Dishes such as his Wagyu Tartare and Lambington reflect his thoughtful, no-waste ethos. Desserts balance tradition and innovation.
Guests can expect familiar favourites like Bakewell Tart and Lemon Posset, alongside modern creations such as James’ Desert lime parfait, meringue, coconut sorbet, and his reimagined Tarte Tatin, featuring Granny Smith apples, native thyme, and vanilla, a variety that, as James explains, originated in Sydney.
With elegant Huon pine and glass interiors by Steffanie D'Alberto and Anthony Gill, CANVAS is a beautiful neutral palette for James’s vibrant dishes.
From August 2025, they will showcase a new feature, as the MCA presents a new work by Australian sculptor Ricky Swallow for the Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission. Having represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 2005, Swallow has gone on to build an international career and is renowned for his bronze sculptures that combine everyday objects and contemporary imagery with references to art history.
Says James Scott, “I’m incredibly excited to take the reins at CANVAS. The space, the views, the philosophy, everything about this restaurant invites creativity and storytelling. My new menu reflects where I’ve come from, where I am now, and the inspiration provided by this extraordinary location.”
Says The Big Group’s Founder Bruce Keebaugh, “With CANVAS, we’ve created something unique; a price-accessible destination dining experience by day and a flexible, high-impact venue by night.
The opportunity to work with talented chefs of the calibre of our opening chef, Josh Raine, and our new chef for 2025, James Scott, is exciting and underscores The Big Group’s commitment to bringing our brand of creativity and hospitality to Sydney.”
CANVAS is open to museum-goers and the public from Wednesday to Sunday from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm, with a two-course menu for $95 pp and a three-course option at $120. It is also available for private hire for evening events from Sunday to Sunday.
For further information on CANVAS, please visit: https://www.mca.com.au/visitor-information/eat-and-drink/