Dirty Linen - A Food Podcast with Dani Valent · A Deep in the Weeds Production

Jenna Abbruzzese (Lamb Farmer) -

·37 min·2 clips

Jenna says milking her goat is the highlight because the goat is a marker of how the whole herd is doing.

Dani frames the series as a way to keep returning to Jenna's story. She first met Jenna more than a decade ago, when Jenna was cooking at Rumi in Melbourne. Later, Jenna opened Kitchenette with her friend Megan, a cafe and food store built around food made from scratch, with love and sensitivity. Since then, Jenna's life has moved a long way from the kitchen. She and her partner Alex now run Addington Downs, a small farm north of Melbourne, where they raise lamb. Dani wants to understand why that shift happened. She is interested in the reckonings and realizations that come when an accomplished city chef goes all in on livestock. Jenna talks about needing work that could bring in money without keeping her tied to a kitchen. She also wanted work that would teach her skills she could use to fix up the property. The move took time. It depended on luck, hard work, and networking. She looked for people she could learn from and build a relationship with, not just someone to deal with once and move on. That sense of connection matters to her. Part of the appeal was finding a couple whose values lined up with hers and Alex's. Their way of working fits the plain, practical ethic Jenna names: hard work, shared values, and the wish to make something delicious and beautiful while still enjoying life. The conversation also circles back to lamb as something central to a deliberate meal, the kind people gather around on purpose. Dani stays curious throughout, giving Jenna room to connect restaurant life, farm life, and the care she wants to build into both.

As heard by us

A chef's move from Melbourne kitchens to lamb farming becomes a quiet story about work, connection, and values.

Jenna Abruzzese's story lands as a clear move from kitchen work to farm life: from Melbourne hospitality and Kitchenette with Megan to lamb farming at Addington Downs with Alex.

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Why you'd press play

Press play for Jenna Abruzzese, a chef who moved from Rumi and Kitchenette in Melbourne to lamb farming at Addington Downs north of Melbourne.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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