Dinner at 4.30pm: Why a top chef’s fuel for long nights gets a dietitian’s tick

September 6, 2026 — 5:00amJosh Niland is an award-winning chef and cookbook author. The 37-year-old shares his day on a plate. Photo: Artwork by Eliza Iredale6.30am I start my day with some water and black filter coffee before getting the kids to school. Then it’s a five-kilometre run followed by 30 minutes of light weights. I drink water throughout the day.9.30am One slice of sourdough toast, half an avocado, three boiled eggs. 9.45am Another black filter coffee. Work in the morning comprises fish and vegetable processing, development of menus and meetings with members of our team.Noon I eat small spoonfuls of the dishes we’re serving throughout the day and during evening service while I plate.4.30pm “Family” meal at work. We have charcoal grilled chicken, steamed rice, grilled broccoli and garlic, chickpea dhal, cucumber yoghurt, raw onions, and coriander and mango chutney.10.45pm I have a bowl of yoghurt, some untoasted muesli and a banana when I get home. I finish the day with a glass of coconut water and am in bed by midnight.Dr Joanna McMillan says:Top marks for… That 4.30pm meal with its mix of meat, several vegetables, salad and potato gives you protein, iron, potassium, fibre and a decent spread of phytonutrients and is a smart move before evening service. Your late bowl of yoghurt, muesli and banana is a good post-work combination of protein, carbohydrate and fibre to help refuel your body so you don’t start off with a half-empty tank the next day.If you keep eating like this you’ll… Potentially be running on fumes through the middle of the day. Your breakfast delivers around 20 to 25 grams of protein, but after a five-kilometre run and weight training, I’d aim a little higher. The small tasting bites are too unpredictable to replace a proper meal across such a long working day.Why don’t you try… Adding Greek yoghurt, cheese or some smoked fish to breakfast, then stashing some berries, kiwifruit or citrus at work to broaden your fruit, fibre and polyphenol intake. And while you spend your life around fish, make sure some of those tasting mouthfuls add up to the recommended serves of oily fish as they’re our best source of the long-chain omega-3 fats EPA and DHA, both essential for the brain.Josh Niland’s book Saint Peter: Chapter & Verse (Hardie Grant Books), marking 10 years of his Sydney restaurant, is out now.Get the best of Sunday Life magazine delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning. Sign up for our newsletter.Nicole Economos is a Social Media Producer/Journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners