Sam Sinclair has been striving to be right there alongside the boys in kitchens for decades, so to be the only female chef to make the finals in the Otago Hospitality Awards outstanding chef category is a nice surprise.
She is also the only cafe chef to make the finals, as the other finalists Pablo Tacchini, Logan Wilson and Hannes Bareiter are all head chefs at Cuisine Good Food Guide one hat restaurants.
Her success has not come without its challenges. She only took over Heritage Coffee 10 months ago and very quickly discovered the cafe’s recipes and menu needed an overhaul.
"I had to start from scratch."
With the Covid-induced hospitality staff shortages still biting, she was on her own until she could hire a team that could work together effectively.
"I’m slowly building up staff. The struggle is almost over, I’m finally almost there."
One of the key members of that team is Jasmine Lee, who takes over the kitchen at the weekend, ensuring it runs smoothly so Sinclair can put time into her side hustle — catering company Goodness Grazes.
After three months working together, the pair have found their groove and Sinclair is now able to leave the cafe without checking in all the time.
"It’s a huge weight off my shoulders."
Sinclair, who grew up in Timaru, has been working to find balance between work and life after decades in fine-dining kitchens. It is one of the reasons she gave up working in restaurants for her cafe roots.
She did her apprenticeship at Marbecks "back in the day" after working in kitchens in various roles since she was young.
"Born and raised to be a chef I reckon."
Then she headed overseas on her "OE" where her best job was two years working with top New Zealand chef Peter Gordon ONZM at his former restaurant The Providores and Tapa Room in London as the senior chef de partie.
"It was amazing. I’d go back in a heartbeat but unfortunately it’s closed."
After doing some travelling she came back to Dunedin where she got a job at No 7 Balmac — fellow chef finalist Wilson is head chef there — where she headed up the pastry section.
But for most of her career she avoided pastry. In the big kitchens she worked in, she found it was often the female chefs who were pushed into pastry whether they liked it or not.
"I stood my ground and forced my way into the meat and fish sections. I love baking but I’m a very impatient person and pastry takes patience."
After some time out of hospitality, Sinclair has returned — but she chose a cafe over a restaurant as a way to achieve some balance in her life and look after her health.
"It’s a lot less stressful. In restaurants you work extra long days, 10-to-10 hours, split shifts.
"You don’t look after yourself, eat well or look after your mental health."
It also gives her the opportunity to work on her own business creating grazing plates and long tables at nights and in weekends.
As head chef at Heritage she gets to let her creativity loose and create a menu reflecting the wonderful local produce available in the city.
"I’m super passionate about good food. To see someone having a bad day, have something good and feel much better is genuinely a highlight of the job."
Despite a kitchen best described as a "Harry Potter closet", she likes to make as much as she can from scratch, even mozzarella, and only buys in what the kitchen does not allow them to make, such as sourdough.
"At the end of the day a small kitchen means less cleanup and everything is within reach.
"I’ve worked in kitchens where you’ve had to walk the length of this cafe to get something and then walk back when you realised you’d forgotten the flour or whatever. Here everything is at your fingertips."
For Lee the opportunity to work weekends and indulge in her love of baking works perfectly for her.
She is studying for her masters in freshwater ecology so the weekend hours allow her to make the most of her weekdays studying.
After working as a dishy since she was a teenager, she moved on to grill chef at Best Cafe when she first moved to Dunedin to study.
After taking some time off to do volunteer work at a nature sanctuary back home on the Kapiti Coast, she came back to Dunedin and got the job with Sinclair.
"It’s the best job I’ve had. It works perfectly with my schedule."
She also loves baking, especially cakes and biscuits, but admits she is still a novice in bread making.
Sinclair says Lee is one of the best junior chef she has ever had.
"It feels good to be trusted to do it all by myself with Molly’s help," Lee says.
Both chefs are happy to have the recognition for their work the hospitality awards provide. Lee was nominated alongside Kezia Mowat of Moons and Michael Hanaran of Precinct Cafe.
Sinclair says there is often little opportunity for members of the hospitality industry to cheer on their peers and recognise each other’s talent.
Voting for the awards was only open for hospitality industry members except for People’s Choice which was open to all.
The winners of the hospitality awards will be revealed on Sunday, July 28.
Heritage’s gluten-free focaccia
Ingredients
5 cups gluten-free flour
3 cups warm water
4t yeast
2t sugar
2t flaky sea salt
¾ cup olive oil (plus some for the baking tray)
Method
Put the flour, salt and oil into the kitchen mixer bowl.
In another bowl add warm water, sugar and yeast, whisk together and let it bloom.
Once the yeast has had time to bloom, add it to the bowl of flour and mix on medium speed until fully combined, around 5 minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can do this by hand as well.
You can use a flat or shaped baking tray for whatever shape or size you’d like it to be.
Cover the tray in olive oil on the bottom and sides. Put the mixture into the tray and using well-oiled hands spread out, using your fingers to make dents all over the top.
Let the dough rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size. This can take around an hour.
Top with sea salt and whatever flavours you feel like putting on.
Bake at 200°C for 30mins. When you pull it out of the oven it may need a little more olive oil on top.
This will keep well for a couple of days, kept in a container or well wrapped.
