Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Chef, judge on MasterChef: The Professionals, and restaurateur who has risen to the top in a male-dominated profession.
On the island
Eight records
Three Little BirdsFavourite
Three Little Words by Bob Marley and The Whalers. Couldn't be more true to how we are at the moment. And also for me, just memories of family getting together, Christmas mornings in the summer in New Zealand. And it's just a feel-good tune.
Samoa Matalasi (My Beautiful Samoa)
Next is a tune that really means so much to me. It's called Sam War Matalasi, My Beautiful Sam War by the Five Stars. ... another one of my first memories I I remember was sitting on a veranda watching my mum on in a dance group practising and just how graceful she was.
Oh, this is a good one. This is um You Oughta Be in Love by Dave Dobbin. So this is from an animation that ran in New Zealand and was huge. ... Foot Rock Flats. ... for me, it's sort of, you know, we've taken on another country, another culture, and adapted and then grew to love New Zealand. And it's just, again, something that evokes a lot of great memories from New Zealand.
Hotel California by the the Eagles. Oh my word, I absolutely love this song. I was in in school and I think I must have been like fourteen or fifteen and and I remember this guy Aaron getting up during the school assembly and playing this and singing to it. ... I used to hide every time I used to enter the music room.
Disc number five is La Vien Rose by this version is Louis Armstrong's. There's been many versions of it but for me this is one of my particular favourites. I remember this one sort of you know in my 20s, the excitement of about to leave New Zealand to travel and of course you know where it's taken me to to now.
This is My Girl by The Temptations. And, you know, this was actually, it still is, a song that I used to sing and play for my daughter since she was born. And I remember, I think, when she was about five, and we were dancing around a lot in the kitchen, and it came on, and she was like, oh, it's my song. Of course nowadays when I play it for her she just rolls her eyes at me.
Next has got to be, you know, one of my favourite, favourite, favourite songs, and any of my daughter attests this. It's Purple Reigned by Prince.
Disc number eight is a feeling good Nina Simone. It's my go-to tune when we're about to go out, for example, doing something exciting, or waking up on a Sunday morning knowing that it's going to be the three of us. It speaks for itself.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:55How are you managing on a day to day basis with the restaurant closed due to coronavirus?
You know, the last closure, it was the third time, was really tough. Everyone was coming up to Christmas season, so you had pre-ordered everything from your suppliers, and we were given 24-hour notice, you know, and there was just so much money. I won't say wasted, you know. I gave a lot away to my team to make sure everyone had a doggy bag to take home and they were okay for a few days with it all. But to the business, it's just a complete write-off.
Presenter asks
3:25Is it true that you once cut the top of your finger off during a cookery demo and just kept going?
I did. Oh my gosh, that was horrible. You know, bless. And I had a little girl on on stage with me helping. And this poor little girl, I hope I haven't put her off for a cookie. She says, Are you gonna be all right? And I was like, Yeah, yeah, don't worry. She goes, Okay,'cause you've got you're bleeding everywhere. ... Yes, I just wiped everything off the bench into the bin because I had a little girl with me and I didn't want her to freak out or to panic. You know, so I just quickly wiped everything that was on there, including the top of my thumb. Yeah, so.
Presenter asks
5:05Tell me a little bit about the place [Upolu in Samoa]. What's it like?
The keepsakes
The book
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
I'll probably have to be on that desert island to actually finish it.
It's just, you know, beautiful, clear blue waters, some of the most friendliest of people you you will come across. And our culture is, you know, very much about music, dance, family, food. It is very special to me.
Presenter asks
6:15Your biological father wasn't part of your life, but your mother was a huge influence. How would you describe her?
very strong. She became the the head of our family. The the Samon uh way of life is, you know, sort of run by the head of the family who's sort of the title of a chief. And my family is sort of quite prestigious in in the title that they come with. And so mum was head of the family for a while until she passed.
Presenter asks
10:30They were sending money back to you for your upkeep, but a few years later it stopped coming. What happened?
All of a sudden I stopped going to school and then I I remember we didn't have food for a long period of time, for for a few months, and um one of the aunts big family uh another one of the aunts was sort of uh tapping into the money that mum was sending before my aunts that were raising us could get to it. ... Um, I I recall being very hungry, um, having to eat rice for like breakfast, lunch and dinner. And to this day, I can't really eat rice because of that. ... My sister and I were on a plane to New Zealand. ... um it was it was really sad because, you know, you just didn't realize that, you know, you were seeing your aunts for the last time and all of a sudden you were on a plane, you know, and that was the the the goodbye to to Samo for me.
Presenter asks
21:11Even today, restaurant kitchens do tend to be male-dominated. Why do you think that's still the case?
Well, I think nowadays you're seeing much more women in the kitchen, definitely in my own kitchen, so to speak. I employ a lot of women and there's more of us out there than when I started. I remember there were months when I'd be the only woman in that kitchen. But I think over the years the mentality has changed. It's okay to ask for help, you know, to lift heavy things instead of trying to be as strong as the guys, you know. ... And I know in my kitchen, the best way to get the best out of my team is not to shout at them. Yeah, you're going to lose your temper if something goes wrong and you shout at the situation. But, you know, if my team are happy and you gear them up for a service, you know, it's like, come on, guys, are we ready? We're going to smash this. And everyone's like, yes, Chef, I love that. You know, that excitement firing them up as opposed to just constantly belittling someone, telling someone they're no good. And why are you doing that to someone if you're wanting them to be at their best?
“I recall being very hungry, um, having to eat rice for like breakfast, lunch and dinner. And to this day, I can't really eat rice because of that.”
“Once I'd walked into that kitchen, I had never been more focused on anything. I knew exactly where I was meant to be and this was my calling and I would do nothing else.”
“I trashed Michelle's office. Yeah, I think absolutely destroyed Michelle's office.”
“I just stopped watching the show. ... it used to give me a panic attack knowing it was happening.”