Top young chef finds a home at Fleur's Place
GUY FREDERICK
Promising young chef Lyall Minhinnick was one of three finalists in Beef and Lamb’s young ambassador competition.
Young chef Lyall Minhinnick was determined to make his famous boss proud in the final round of Beef and Lamb’s young ambassador competition.
Minhinnick endured a difficult upbringing in Waiuku, just south of Auckland, but found a sense of purpose and family when he started working at renowned restaurant Fleur’s Place at Moeraki, run by chef Fleur Sullivan.
He was one of three finalists to be selected from 16 for the young ambassador’s final.
“I just really want to do this for Fleur,” the 26-year-old said ahead of the last stage of the competition.
“She’s 82, and unfortunately I’ve come into her life quite late, so I wish I had got to know her earlier.
“She’s just amazing and the way she has looked after me is pretty much like a family member.
“I didn’t find that a lot in restaurants up in the North Island, so I have a lot of love and respect for Fleur.”
GUY FREDERICK
Lyall Minhinnick and his mentor Fleur Sullivan.
Minhinnick lost out on the top prize, which went to Hawke’s Bay chef Sam Heaven.
Sullivan took Minhinnick under her wing in 2018, after they met when his family visited on their annual food tour of New Zealand.
“A lot of my flavours and a lot of my cooking comes from - well, we call it the South In Your Mouth tour. Me and my family used to tour New Zealand every year, from top to bottom, and go to the best places where we’d eat any type of food.
“It could be a three-hat restaurant from Cuisine… or food stop trucks on the side of the road.
“And just travelling and getting that experience really helped me to develop a lot of cooking flavours, ideas and techniques.”
Landing at Fleur’s Place in search of the best seafood, he returned again the following evening after a Six60 concert, and never left.
“I do consider him family, like all my staff. They are all family,” Sullivan said.
“He came from a disadvantaged background, but he’s not a disadvantaged person.
“Every day it’s a pleasure to work with him. He loves food and we all love his food. He’s enthusiastic, learns every day, and we learn from him, too.”
Minhinnick leans on his Māori and Pacific heritage for food ideas, foraging around Moeraki, and using the historical te reo names of herbs, plants and vegetables in his menus.
He credits Sullivan for helping him realise his dreams, and says working in her kitchen set him on the right path in life.
“I found a new family. When you walk into a kitchen you are a family,” he said.
“You have to listen and talk to each other, you have to communicate, so in the final presentation of your dish it’s all there on the plate.
“The chef life, working from 8am through to 9pm, definitely keeps you away from the big loophole of street life.
“That’s why I didn’t get stuck in that cycle, which is awesome because I’ve experienced and done so much.”
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