Mogens Bay Esbensen

Mogens Bay Esbensen (born 1930) is a Danish-born chef and author who is widely credited with introducing Thai cuisine and ingredients to Australia, and is considered a pioneer of Modern Australian cuisine. He operated La Causerie, Pavilion on the Park, Butler's and The Old Bank restaurants in Sydney and Nautilus in Cairns. He left Australia in 1992 and was profiled in 2001 as living on the island of Læsø, halfway between Sweden and Denmark.

Esbensen began by cooking French cuisine, He purchased Butler's in 1979 where he introduced an international menu, although the restaurant was predominantly known as a French Restaurant. on 7 acres of rainforest near Cardwell in Far North Queensland. However, by 1990, a combination of financial issues associated with Butler and a chronic illness which prevented him from working caused his financial collapse. Successful surgery came too late to prevent the loss of both the restaurant and his house, and he left Australia in 1992.

Curious about Esbensen's fate, the Australian food critic Stephen Downes set out to find him in 2001. Downes tracked Esbensen down to the remote island of Læsø where he conducted a series of interviews which were later included in a book titled Advanced Australian Fare published by Allen & Unwin in 2002.