For more than 15 years, renowned chef Imogen ‘Mo’ Czulowski explored the culinary world and led award-winning restaurants across Australia and Europe. Now Mo is taking a journey, not by plane, but by road and palate, with her new adventure with Off Piste 4WD Tours.
Finding her way back to Adelaide in 2017, Mo was appointed Head Chef of South African-Australian good times restaurant, Africola.
After years working alongside Africola brainchild Duncan Welgemoed and directing a young team of aspiring chefs, the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020 sparked the beginning of Mo’s next adventure.
Mo shared that after “a lot of change in the hospitality industry during that time”, she took a trip to the Kimberley with her partner, Ben Neville, and discussed how she could get involved with his tourism business, Off Piste 4WD Tours.
“…we spoke about the business and where we could see it going,” said Mo. “Jumping on board seemed to make sense!”
Off Piste teams up with farmers, providores, and winemakers along the Fleurieu Peninsula to create an “inspiring luxury experience visiting locations and territory where other tours do not venture.”
Off Piste is now taking things to the next level with Mo creating exclusive outdoor lunches, attracting foodies from across SA and interstate to the region.
“There have been quite few interstaters who purely came [to the tours] because Mo was cooking,” says operator and Fleurieu local, Ben Neville.
“That was super cool. We had some interesting visitors come on board. Real foodies! A market we’d never really seen before. We thought ‘wow, this is the reason why we came together’.”
The two travel bugs have now made their way home to the Fleurieu to explore producers and food in their own back yard.
“The great thing that I really love about doing this job is that I can cook what I can get on the day – it’s not a set menu,” says Mo.
“It takes me back to what the essence of cooking really is. Most chefs would love this style because they can cook what they want to cook. It’s really perfect. That’s what I love about it.”
Mo added that the menu at Off Piste reflects “shared, family-style meals that are connected to the region”, influenced by Mediterranean and middle eastern flavours.
“It’s definitely a new challenge but why wouldn’t you jump on board?” Mo continued.
“We’ve got our own kitchen garden located on Ben’s sister’s property down the road. We’re lucky to grow our vegetables ourselves and we like supporting the local businesses, like the Willunga butchers. We also go to the Willunga Markets every Saturday.
“I’ve been brought up in this area. It all just aligned and made sense.”
After relative success with interstate visitors, it was the Great State Vouchers that actually exposed Off Piste to a more localised audience.
“This was really cool,” says Ben. “For the first time, we got many local-locals through the doors.”
“It was an absolute hit! [The Great State Vouchers] gave us the full understanding that we can confidently deliver a luxury tourism experience for locals with finesse. That great state voucher was the perfect opportunity to do that.”
“We provide the unique offering of outback exploration during the day, coupled with an intimate, private food experience with local wines. I used to do some of the cooking, but Mo is a lot better,” says Ben.
“After a few trial shifts and meeting great clientele from all around the world, Mo really enjoyed the opportunity to add to the story and allow visitors to emotionally connect to the region.”
To learn more about Ben and Mo’s story, or book your next 4WD off-road experience, visit the Off Piste website.
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