About Gareth

Gareth Whitton was born in Bowral, NSW. His love of the kitchen started at a young age, with his first job as a kitchen hand at the small town’s local Chinese restaurant. Shortly after finishing high school, he started his cooking apprenticeship at Pier Restaurant, Sydney, and continued to build on his career working at some of the world’s most prestigious restaurants.

Gareth was the head pastry chef of Dinner By Heston Blumenthal when the restaurant closed its doors at the start of 2020. With his 18 years of pastry chef experience under his belt, and faced with uncertainty in the hospitality industry due to COVID-19 lockdowns, Gareth started baking restaurant quality tarts at home. His creations soon found a cult following in his local Melbourne community, so much so that he was able to open his dedicated pastry shop, Tarts Anon, in September 2021 with his partner, Catherine Way.

Shortly afterwards, Gareth appeared on MasterChef Australia as a guest judge, setting an elimination challenge for the contestants; to recreate his intricate Smoked Pecan and Butterscotch Tart. From there, he has had multiple TV and media appearances, including appearing as a contestant on Dessert Masters, guest appearance on Farm to Fork on Channel 10, and ‘The Chocolate Queen’ on Binge.

Gareth aims to create delicious yet approachable desserts, using his vast fine dining experience to inform and inspire his creations.