Born in Melbourne and raised on Australia's Gold Coast, Evan's passion for cooking was inspired by his love for the great outdoors. He worked as a chef so that he could surf or fish all day. After opening his first restaurant, The Pantry, in Melbourne's bay side suburb of Brighton in 1993 at the age of 19, Pete moved to Sydney in 1996 with his brother Dave and established Hugos in Bondi, followed by Hugos Lounge in Kings Cross in 2000, Hugos Bar Pizza in 2004 and his most recent venture Hugos Manly in 2008. Pete's restaurants have won numerous awards including the SMH coveted "chef's hat" for seven years in a row; "Best Pizza in the World" in New York; and "Best Bar in Australia" in 2005; "best nightclub in Australia" 2007, 2008, and 2009; and "best pizza restaurant in Australia" in 2008 and 2009. Pete has been in front of the camera for the last 9 years as a TV presenter. February 2010 saw the premiere of "My Kitchen Rules" in which Pete and his good mate Manu Feildel head up the judging panel in this plate against plate team competition. Pete's other work includes over 400 episodes as the host of Australia's top cooking show "FRESH" on Channel 9; 60 episodes of "Home," a lifestyle program; a one-hour behind-the scenes documentary, "Cooking For Our Princess Mary"; and the series "FISH," which saw Pete and his fishing mad brother in-law 'Udo' travel around Australia catching and cooking the freshest catch. Pete is currently filming a new project that has him cooking for the world's best parties. He appears annually at some of Australia's most acclaimed food events such as "Tasting Australia", "The Good Food Show," and "The Great Barrier Feast." He travelled to New York and Los Angeles for the G'day USA promotion in 2009 and 2010 where he cooked at "The Waldorf Astoria" and was featured on "The Martha Stewart Show,""The Rachael Ray Show," and the "CBS Early Show".