Or so he thought.

One year later, after intense soul-searching and a determination to turn a negative into a positive, Edwards took steps to establish a commercial training facility to help vision-impaired people pursue culinary careers. Known as The Blind Chef, it involved opening a cafe, corporate catering and making and selling products.

His quest received a major financial boost in 2018 when he received the Special Scholarship Award from the Trevor Drayton Committee.

Edwards was born in Dungog and moved to Newcastle in 1985 where he took a job as a kitchenhand at The Alcron restaurant on Church Street. Six weeks later he was offered a chef's apprenticeship. He went on to work at The Ambassador Restaurant, Noah's on the Beach, the South Steyne floating restaurant, Café Continental and Ducks Crossing.

In 2015 a detached retina in one eye led to complications in both eyes and Edwards became blind.

Read more: Chef Ian Edwards lost his sight but not his passion for cooking

Today, Edwards operates two The Blind Chef restaurants - one at Boolaroo Sports Club and the other at Gallipoli Legion Club - and recently starred in an episode of The Living Room about the old-school "bowlo" in Australia.

"The Blind Chef at Boolaroo is absolutely out of control - we're getting 90 to 100 every sitting," he said.

"People are travelling from all over. In one week we had people from Kempsey, two lots from Penrith and one lot from Shellharbour.

"They had all watched me on The Living Room and decided to come and have lunch. It had been going really well anyway, but since the show it's been going really well."

Edwards says he has had "half a dozen or so" vision-impaired people work for him at The Blind Chef so far. He closed his restaurant for a few months during the COVID-19 crisis however kept busy providing takeaway meals for an over-55s residential facility.

"I now have two vision-impaired people back on now, another one starts this week," Edwards said.

"We have some training guidelines we use that have worked well. The problem is most kitchens are so small - you can only have one person with you at the time.

"The main thing is to walk them through each step slowly. We start them on cold larder, salads and that, where there is no danger, and as they progress and get to know the kitchen and where everything is, I move them up with me and I show them how to cook hot meals.

"One guy wanted to be a chef but he didn't know how to cook steaks. He flew over from Perth for 10 days and it went really well.

"After two days he was flipping crepes with me.

"I think he has an apprenticeship now and also plays blind cricket for WA."

The Blind Chef gave Edwards the chance to return to the kitchen. Now he is committed to giving vision-impaired people the confidence to have a go and, in some cases, a foot in the door, career-wise.

His other aim, as The Blind Chef, has been to provide good food at a price affordable to all.

"Some places charge you $30 for a chicken schnitzel. Since day one I've wanted my menu to be affordable to all types of people," Edwards explained.

"At Boolaroo some of my elderly customers come in three times a week for a hot meal. That's important to me.

"The Gal has a different clientele. We have the same menu at the Gal that we have at Boolaroo but at the Gal they also want more snacks to eat while they watch bands, so we accommodate that."

Getting The Blind Chef up and running - and keeping it running - has been a lot of hard work for Edwards and his team. He jokes that he wishes he had gone blind "30 years ago when I had more energy".

"That year I took off after the diagnosis, I sunk so low into depression it was unbelievable," Edwards said.

"But I got over that and started searching for the positives.

"The hard work can wear you down but you just keep going because it's what you want to do, and you're making a difference.

"You've got to know your parameters and work within them."

MEET restaurant on Newcastle's Darby Street is hosting a twilight dinner in the Hunter Valley's oldest vineyard next month.

MEET you under the stars at Dalwood Estate on November 14, 6pm to 10pm, will combine churrasco, jazz and the night sky.

Tickets to this three-course boutique event are $95 and include a seated wine tasting accompanied by Stella Maris Oysters (Port Stephens), Brazilian cheese bread and grilled haloumi, and a churrasco feast. Vegetarian options are available. As for dessert, think passionfruit mousse, lime meringue tart, brigadeiro truffles, chocolate mousse or crumbed banana and caramel dip.

Tickets cost $95 and are on sale now. A courtesy bus ($20) is leaving Newcastle at 4.45pm and departing Dalwood Estate at 10.15pm.

Read more: Barbecue king turns up the heat in new location

Huntlee Tavern opens it doors to the public at 5pm this Friday, October 30. The project has been five years in the making for owner/director Jason Gavin, who describes it as a "new hub for the community".

The tavern's bistro will serve classic pub dishes "with a restaurant-quality finish" and will be open for lunch and dinner, seven days a week. The cafe is the place to go for coffee or a casual meal, and will be open from 7am daily.

Also on the premises is a drive-through bottle shop, a car park, an indoor playground, a children's theatre, an outdoor terrace, a VIP outdoor lounge, TAB and KENO. Live entertainment will feature every Friday and Saturday night.

The tavern was designed by Bergstrom Architects, who said the key design objective from the outset was to create a destination for this rapidly developing area.

"This is achieved using focal face brick facades which address the main street frontages, combined with contemporary interior spaces finished with high quality materials," director and principal architect Tom Bergstrom said.

"Classic material combinations, such as brick and timber, and open-plan interiors with great lighting and furniture will ensure this tavern becomes the next best stop for both visitors and locals."

Huntlee Tavern is located at 3 Empire Street, Branxton. Huntlee will eventually boast a 200-hectare town centre and become home to 20,000 residents in 7500 dwellings.

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