At 14, Lyall Minhinnick looked like he was on the fast-track to trouble. At 28, he’s one of Aotearoa’s rising culinary stars.
It’s a long way from being “kicked out of school for being an idiot” as a teenager in the small southwest Auckland town of Waiuku, to working as a chef at award-winning Arrowtown restaurant Amisfield, but Minhinnick has made it thanks to hard work and whanau support.
“I have always loved cooking. Even though there were some not-so-great things about my extended family growing up - drugs and alcohol - I had some great role models too,” he says.
“I moved in with my Nan at 13, because Mum wanted me away from bad influences, and we used to make things like fry bread and steamed pudding together. I loved cooking with her so much. I also had uncles who taught me to fish and hunt. One of them had a bach in Waikato and I have great memories of fresh smoked mullet and whitebait fritters."
After ‘more-or-less’ being asked to leave school when he was 14, he went to pump gas with his mum Nena Minhinnick, then on to culinary training at Manukau Insitute of Technology.
In 2021, Minhinnick was one of three semi-finalists in Beef + Lamb New Zealand's first Young Ambassador Chef contest. Photo: Beef + Lamb New Zealand
Despite challenges at home - his dad was in jail and “my stepfather was not the best - not true to his word, violent, drunk at 3pm when he was supposed to take me to training” - Minhinnick was inspired by Nena’s strong work ethic.
“My mum is definitely one of the stars of my life - she worked three jobs to look after us, and I’ve learned so much about hard work from her. At 14 I thought I was the man, and living in a small town it was so easy to get into trouble, but once I started working with her I understood the value of working to earn money.”
After completing his Level 3 Cookery and Restaurant Cafe operations course, Minhinnick (Ngāti Te Ata) scored a job at Waiuku restaurant Castaways where he stayed for three years.
“A friend said they were looking for a chef and I was always top of the class in practical stuff, so she thought I’d be perfect - if I could just show up and be reliable.
“I think when I found out what was out there, I decided to jump out of this stereotype as a small-town Māori doing all the hoodlum stuff. I realised doing stupid shit when instead you can make diners happy wasn’t very clever. At Castaways, people would praise me and say things like ‘keep doing what you’re doing - you’re going to go places’. Hearing that stuff was definitely a morale boost.”
Those diners were right - Minhinnick was definitely going places. A spontaneous dinner in Moeraki at Fleur’s Place with his aunt and uncle while on holiday resulted in Lyall and his partner Putere Putairi (who works in front of house), securing a job there.
“Working for Fleur for three years was incredible. She was an absolute inspiration. She came from a tough background and taught herself to do so many things. I ended up head chef and cooked for people like Josh Emett, Annabel Langbein and Nadia Lim.”
When Covid hit, Lyall and his partner moved back up north, where they worked at a friend’s eatery on the Coromandel coast. He also ran a programme through Tāhuna Pa marae helping a small group of rangatahi learn to catch, prepare and cook food.
Meanwhile, the same aunty and uncle who had taken Lyall to Fleur’s went to dinner at Amisfield and told head chef Vaughan Mabee all about their talented nephew. Minhinnick had met Mabee before, as a diner at Amisfield and then cooking for him at Fleur’s, but he was hugely surprised when Mabee called to see if he was interested in a job.
Minhinnick's lamb dish for the 2021 Beef + Lamb New Zealand Young Chef Ambassador contest. Photo: Beef + Lamb New Zealand
“He left me a message, but I didn’t actually call him back. I was so nervous and he was doing his Masterchef thing and it was all a bit much. After a few months, I messaged him when he was in Spain and he called me back as soon as got home.”
Minhinnick started working at Amisfield in March 2023, thankful for the chance to learn from his new mentor.
“Vaughan is a really straight-up, down-to-earth guy and I’m so grateful for this opportunity. He’s taken me under his wing and wants to train me up to run the kitchen one day. Coming from Fleur’s, I’m not used to using tweezers and little white cloths but I’m loving everything I’m learning."
He's also grateful that he was able to find a pathway to a career and a life he couldn't have imagined as a teenager.
"If it wasn't for cooking and my mum, I would be in a gang, or even in jail like my dad was by now. I want other kids to know that they can build a different life for themselves if they find something they love and work hard at it."
