Australian chef whips up gourmet meals for his dogs

Australian chef Daniel Tomas has become a viral sensation after he started sharing some of the gourmet dishes he creates for his dogs on social media. The 29-year-old whips up dishes comprising of raw meats, ramen noodles, ‘ice cream’, and quail eggs - and costs him an estimated R72,000 a year to maintain.

Daniel admits that his canine-culinary journey began after Joey, his rescue Kelpie, developed an autoimmune disease that was threatening to take away his nose. He explained that after many trips to a traditional vet, nothing seemed to help, so he decided to visit an holistic vet to see if he could get any insight there. After taking a look at Joey, the vet explained the benefits that raw, fresh food can have on a dog’s health.

With a decade of food preparation experience already under his belt, Daniel started producing Michelin-style dishes for his dogs and started documenting the process on his Instagram account, @chefsanddogs.

“Previously I have been a chef and personal trainer for almost 10 years helping people reach their health and nutrition goals,” Daniel, who now owns a raw dog food business, says. “It’s been great to talk to and learn from other professionals in the dog nutrition industry while I make meals at Chefs & Dogs. I love making little snacks for my dogs, so they get to try all different ingredients and combinations.”

Alongside Joey, Daniel owns two other dogs, Alkali and Caelan, who he also feeds the raw food to. But, the decision to feed his dogs a raw diet doesn’t come cheap, as Daniel explains that he spends up to R450 per dog per week. “I prep dishes one day a week, which takes around one hour and then just a few minutes to plate up and serve with any other goodies I can find,” says Daniel.

Raking in thousands of fans on social media, users are amazed at the culinary delights Daniel manages to create for his pooches.

Image courtesy: @chefsanddogs