A CHAT WITH PLATINUM AMBASSADOR, KATE FAY
Story by Foodwriters Scholarship recipient, Georgia van Prehn
Renowned chef Kate Fay has had a long career in the kitchen and she’s not done yet. While many chefs choose to become more hands off over time, and to segue to more administrative executive chef roles, Kate cooked on the line till the last day of her 23-year stint at Cibo. At that stage, she chuckles, “the mind was willing but the body was not” but at 65 years young, she didn’t stick to her original plan of retiring – rather, she went on to discover there was still plenty of life after the restaurant.
Kate’s longtime friend Jacqui Dixon, co-owner of Sabato, asked Kate if she would like to step into a role as production head chef, helping to develop new products. At the time, Kate didn’t think this would become her next career, it was more a case of “I think I’d get bored, I think you’ve still got to do something”, she says – but fast forward three and a half years and she’s still in the role and loving it.
Kate’s coeliac disease diagnosis in 2011 has come to be an asset in her current role. She thanks her lucky stars that “at least I remember what ‘real’ bread tastes like”, but she has put her palate to good work creating a gluten-free flour blend for Sabato that has been hugely popular. “It’s a really light flour blend” she says, “but it’s still got the right texture, and it caramelises nicely in baked goods”. Kate oversees everything in the production kitchen, from frozen heat and eat meals to preserves, sauces, and developing their gluten free product range using the blend she made. The meatballs are top-sellers, but they’re anything but plain – Kate has come at them with a creative chef lens; chicken meatballs have a sage stuffing mixed in to give a ‘roast chook’ flavour, and pork and prawn meatballs come in a ‘nduja sauce. Kate’s looking into adding a range of confit meat products including lamb rump, to ensure a perfectly cooked piece of meat every time.
Also keeping her busy is Kate’s role as a Beef + Lamb Platinum Ambassador Chef, a lifetime title she has held for many years and is incredibly passionate about. She especially loves “the interaction with young chefs coming through, seeing what they’ve created. I think it’s a great stepping stone for chefs coming up through the industry, it has helped me with marketing and given me lots of opportunities to be involved in”.
In her role as an Ambassador Chef, she wears many hats. She advises on applications for new Ambassador Chef roles, and the recipes they contribute which remain anonymous to ensure there is no conflict of interest. Kate has also cooked for events Beef + Lamb New Zealand holds around the country and has led cooking demonstrations and videos on how to prepare different cuts of beef and lamb like a chef.
After many years in the industry working long, hard and unsociable hours, Kate finally has some work life balance. She’s enjoying travelling, most recently in America where she ate her way around, enjoying being on the other side of the pass. With a trip to the UK planned in December, she’s looking forward to what she hopes will be her first white Christmas, and to eating at a totally gluten-free bakery she’s had her eye on for some time.
Kate admits she definitely misses service at times but insists “you can’t work in the restaurant world forever; having my Ambassador Chef role and job at Sabato keeps me interested in food and cooking. It’s a privilege to be working with such quality products and you don’t have a bad service at Sabato; if you don’t finish your prep by the end of the day you can always finish it tomorrow”. It sounds like the kind of work/life balance all chefs might aspire to.
There’s a real likeability about Kate, as well as qualities many fellow chefs possess: a good sense of humour, and genuine honesty. I imagine she has made a very good impression on, and helped along the careers of many young chefs who have been lucky enough to work under her over the years.