Al - che -my n. 1. Conjuring magic and enchantment it seeks to transform base material into gold and to discover a life - prolonging elixir.
Having accomplished more in life than most, husband and wife team Brad and Angelica Jolly - not to be confused with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - have a a lot to smile about: everything they touch seems to turn into gold.
Brad's dream of owning his own restaurant started 20 years ago when he started out as a kitchen hand, while Angelica studied hospitality at George Brown College.
By the age of 29, the dream became a reality when Brad and Angelica opened their first restaurant, Lat.27 - the latitude of Brisbane (27 degrees south, 153 degrees east).
On Ninemsn's Yourrestaurants.com.au, a former customer named Kylie had commendable words for the now closed Lat.27:
"This restaurant was outstanding, the service was impeccable and the piano player and singer outstanding. We had a table of 6 people, our waiters were amazing in the way that they looked after us. The owners were fantastic as well. A very professional restaurant and very classy," she said.
Despite its popularity and rave reviews, Lat.27 closed after a few years due to a dispute with the landlord; however, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining.
Buoyed by the success of Lat.27, Brad and Angelica decided to open up a new venue: Alchemy Restaurant and Bar - and they didn't even have to apply for a business loan.
"We are proud to say we put this business together, from top to bottom, all with our own money," Brad said.
Despite being the head chef and owner of the restaurant, Brad still has one person to answer to: his wife.
Angelica lets her husband do the cooking while she focuses on the business side of things. One of her inventions is a little show which features on their website, called Three Raw Chefs.
"We had been doing a lot of paddock to plate functions in the restaurant and Angelica decided that it would be great to get the boys out filming the next paddock to plate, or sea to bowl. So, we organised with one of our crab suppliers for a day to go out on his boat to see where the crab meat that we were using in the restaurant came from," Brad explained.
The show, which Brad did with two of his chefs, Josh Wilby and Peter Kelly, has been well received due to the different personalities each possess: Peter is the clever one, Josh is the funny one and Brad is the serious one.
Angelica also came up with the concept of incorporating Brad's recipes on the website, to encourage people to cook nice meals at home.
Brad has worked with a number of well-known chefs, including Jamie Oliver ("Jamie is just like anyone else. He is easy going, down to earth sort of guy. I was very lucky to have the opportunity of doing a show with him back in London," he said), but he remains humble about his past.
In fact, he didn't even mention that he once worked at the King Edward restaurant under Chef John Higgins - personal chef to the Queen Mother, cooking for many high profile patrons including the Queen.
He also failed to mention that he had won four first-place titles at the prestigious La Chaine de Rotisseurs in Paris (The International Gastronomic Society).
With such great success, Brad and Angelica are thinking of opening a new restaurant in Brisbane' however, they'd once again have to deal with the stress of what goes on behind the scenes, something that most of us consumers never see.
"Everyone thinks opening or owning a restaurant is all about food. It is not. You have to deal with councils to get approvals and then you have to deal with tax and so on. It's a lot of work. And then you have to cook. I am so glad my wife is there to help me with it," Brad said.
However, despite the stress of it all, Brad said he wouldn't change a thing.
"I drop our son off at day care, get to work in the morning for a meeting with Peter, Josh and my wife over a cup of coffee then I head to the kitchen to prepare.
"I love what I do. I think loving what you do makes your job special. I get to cook and see my friends in the restaurant all the time and I enjoy seeing customers eating a meal I have prepared.
"Our job is about one of the only industries that has instant results," Brad said.