BECOMING unbusy

Local cooking enthusiast Chantelle Quinn has said goodbye to the stressful life of long hours and overcommitment for a far slower pace and appreciation of the little things that truly matter. Spirit Magazine talks exclusively to the former MasterChef contestant about the last few years, and what’s on her plate that excites her.

Chantelle became a household name after her stint as a finalist on reality cooking show MasterChef but screws up her face when I mention the word ‘celebrity’.

“My brother likes to call me ‘the cowgirl in the kitchen,” she laughs, “so I think celebrity is stretching it a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t be where I am today, doing what I’m doing had I not done MasterChef. Would I recommend it to others? No! Can I say that 10 years later? Of course I can! I was very lucky in my time on the show; not necessarily what I learned to do, but what I learned not to do. And it confirmed that I was really good at cooking and that I really liked it. I’m glad I did it.”

MasterChef gave Chantelle the courage to open her first restaurant; she’s written recipes for ANZCO that ended up in Waitrose – one of the swankiest supermarket chains - in London. “I really should have charged more for them,” she laughs. Following her MasterChef success, she “fell into” catering for weddings and events. “I don’t think I’ll ever do a la carte again. I like defined projects –something that has a beginning a middle and an end. You can plan it and see it through. In a restaurant you have bookings, but you don’t know how many pork bellies will be ordered, or how many desserts. It was a good experience though and was all part of the journey.”

“When I first came out of MasterChef, I didn’t know what I wanted, and I think the success blurred things for me for a while. There were so many opportunities out there. It’s easy to get caught up in, but I lost sight of who I was and what really mattered. For a while my head was so far up my own arse, I couldn’t see daylight.”

“It took a while, but I eventually realised I wasn’t happy. Working 70 hours a week, running up and down the country trying to be THAT person, is shit, but it’s hard to say no, especially when people have such high expectations of you. I ended up in a pretty tough place, mentally, and had to ask for professional help to find myself again. It wasn’t easy, but I’d tell anyone else that’s struggling, to just do it. I’m now the happiest I’ve ever been.”

She credits her dad, Snow, with sparking her interest in cooking. “He was adventurous in the kitchen, and I’ve picked up a lot of his traits. He never measured anything, and I don’t either. I had to learn to measure and write it down when I’m designing recipes and doing cooking demonstrations.”

Classic Kiwi, French and Italian foods are her favourites. “There’s a family joke that we might be Italian.” She grins. “We have a black and white photo of my Grandad looking very Godfather/Mafia-ish, and my family are all Italian obsessed. Bolognese is a favourite dish at home. We mince the meat, make egg pasta and 8-hour pasta sauce. Half a bottle of wine goes into the sauce and eight hours later the other half is gone while the sauce has been simmering. Heaven!

Chatting over coffee, she comes across as down to earth, unpretentious, just like her food. Keeping it simple, using the best quality ingredients you can find, and letting the food speak for itself is her approach to food.

Unsurprisingly, 80% of the cooking at home falls on Chantelle’s shoulders although she says husband Damien makes a mean breakfast for dinner. “We eat simple food at home, some traditional Irish meals, lots of potatoes, sausages, I do a mean steak, and a lot of salads where I just empty the fridge and throw it all in a bowl, add lemon and oil, then eat.” She also grows some of their food. “It tastes so much better! I have four different types of tomatoes this year from plants that were given to me. The texture and flavour are just out of this world!” She also grows her own herbs and garnishes like fresh parsley, thyme, sage, oregano, chives, edible flowers and nasturtium leaves. “I don’t believe in putting anything on the plate that can’t be eaten.”

Daughter Bella, now 15, is also a foodie, but Chantelle’s not encouraging her towards it, as a career. “It’s hard work and unsociable hours. She works with me at Twentyfour

Catering, working private dinings and weddings. She’s on pans and she’s developed great skills, but I have to remind her that when we get home, we have to do the dishes –there’s a real world after you step out of the spotlight.”

She shares a story about a recent private booking, “It was a pretty swanky location. We served the meals in the cellar, carrying the food through a hidden door in a bookshelf, down the stairs, through the cinema to the cellar. They were lovely, salt of the earth people, and my menu was quite rustic: oysters in a classic Mignonette sauce; a prawn entrée, followed by steak and dessert. At the end, a gentlemen came up to me and said, “You took the best quality food, and you didn’t f*** around with it, yet somehow you made it better.” I laughed and said I’ll take that as a compliment! He very happily confirmed that it was meant as one.”

Early this year, after 13 years in the country, the family moved to Tinwald. “During Covid we realised we really liked each other, spending time together. I regained my passion for food and I’m back in the kitchen enjoying itjust not the big numbers of events. Damien has started his own business and we have this amazing balance, working smarter, not harder. It’s a great move for Bella, too.”

The move, the cutting back on commitments, is all part of a focus on being happy, keeping it simple. “It’s our dream to build a five-bay shed. Damien will get two bays for an equipment shed, one bay for my kitchen, then two bays for a house. Dreams are important.”

Home is Chantelle’s favourite place these days; barefoot, in her pj’s with a coffee or a wine in hand, music on, cooking for whoever might arrive. “Happiness is such an important thing. We live in this fast-paced world of busy, busy, busy, and it’s a cliché, but we should all take time to understand what’s really important in life. I learned the hard way that it’s the simple things that matter; sharing good food and good times with friends and family and laughing until I cry.”

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Recipes courtesy of Chantelle Quinn from