Kobi captures the true spirit of Italian hospitality Kobi Watson was once the youngest restaurateur in the nation. When he was just 17 he opened the door to his own Italian restaurant in McCrae. Scratching his head for a name, he reached for the moniker his dad has for him. “Dad calls me Kobi Jack,” the young chef says. “That’s my first two names: Kobi Jack Watson.” Kobi left school at the end of Year 10 when he was 16. In his last three weeks of high school he was already the owner of the restaurant business on Point Nepean Rd. As a minor he had to run the business through a family trust so he could do the basics of running a restaurant – such as ordering alcohol. “I have always had a passion for food and worked hard at The Epicurean in Red Hill.” Kobi had saved enough to buy the business and do the fit-out and had turned 17 when he opened in 2017. “I had spent my last cent and I needed to borrow $20 from my grandmother so I could fill the salt shakers on the table.” ( 78
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