From experimenting at Snoopy’s in Malta to becoming head chef at one of London’s top restaurants, Nicole Pisani is now whipping up a storm in an unusual kitchen – serving up lunch for 500 children at a London primary school. Photo: Regula YsewijnFrom experimenting at Snoopy’s in Malta to becoming head chef at one of London’s top restaurants, Nicole Pisani is now whipping up a storm in an unusual kitchen – serving up lunch for 500 children at a London primary school. Photo: Regula Ysewijn

When not facing the heat in the kitchen, Nicole Pisani could be found inside the industrial fridge scrutinising the ageing process of different cuts of beef she had hung to dry.

Her laugh rings clearly across the line from London, as she recalls her days of experimentation at Snoopy’s Restaurant in St Julian’s; light years away from her recent stint as head chef at Nopi, the prestigious Soho restaurant set up by renowned chef and cookery writer Yotam Ottolenghi.

After nearly three years of taking on egos in a cutthroat male environment and putting in 80-hour weeks to serve up exquisite dishes, Ms Pisani is now whipping up another storm – in a London primary school kitchen.

“I loved working at Nopi, but I needed a break. I was lost as I wasn’t seeking to be a head chef in another kitchen, so when this opportunity came along I pounced on it,” she said, when contacted yesterday.

The 34-year-old, petite chef is suddenly making headlines in the UK after she made the unusual shift from being at the top of her game to preparing lunch for 500 schoolchildren at the Gayhurst community school in Hackney.

The offer came in the form of a tweet by Henry Dimbleby, the co-founder of the fast food restaurant chain Leon and architect of the UK’s School Food Plan that is working to improve the standard of food served in schools.

Every weekday, at 7.30am, Ms Pisani is at the school with her team concocting dishes that will pass the test of children’s palate; a much harder challenge than she bargained for.

Fresh haddock with herbs was going to be a hard change for kids used to fish fingers to stomach, but she did win them over with salmon – “they seemed to prefer it because it was pink”.

“I guess we could have presented the haddock on pizza, but that would have been disrespectful to the fish,” she laughed. Ms Pisani also tried to ban the staple dish of jacket potatoes on the first day, but one five-year-old boy just stood among a sea of children sobbing because he wanted his jacket potato.

I guess we could have presented the haddock on pizza, but that would have been disrespectful to the fish

“Kids are not your usual clientele... in this case I just wished I could conjure a jacket potato from under my arm to console him.”

Acknowledging British chef Jamie Oliver as the pioneer of revolutionising school meals, Ms Pisani is hoping to go a step further by retaining a presence within the school to ensure the transition to healthier eating succeeds.

She is slowly introducing different ingredients from quinoa to a spinach dahl muffin cake, smashed beetroot and labneh and eventually Ms Pisani’s favourite ingredient – seaweed.

Nicole Pisani was head chef at the prestigious Soho restaurant, Nopi. Photo: Regula YsewijnNicole Pisani was head chef at the prestigious Soho restaurant, Nopi. Photo: Regula Ysewijn

The lunches are a world apart from her simple tuna sandwiches she would eat when she was a student at St Dorothy’s School, but her passion for food and discovering new ingredients was something she always possessed.

She started working in the food business in London at 19. One day her boss asked her to replace somebody who failed to show up for work and it was the first time she felt she had “entered the zone”, even though she giggles when she recalls how it was all microwaveable food.

She returned to Malta to study at Institute for Tourism Studies and earned a placement at London’s Hilton, which laid the foundation of her culinary skills.

After that she escaped for a year to Sydney where she became besotted by the fresh produce available; planets apart from the dishes buried beneath rich sauces that were being served up in London at the time.

“Things have changed tremendously in London and I couldn’t have asked to be in a better place now,” she said.

She returned to Malta at 21 and took over her father’s restaurant, Snoopy’s. Those were the years when the budding chef was given free rein to experiment and present fancy dishes to her patrons who were willing guinea pigs.

In 2008, she had a near-fatal car accident after a long night at work and those five days in ITU, recovering from severe head injuries, became a turning point.

“It made me reflect on how I was living, not how I was cooking,” she said.

A year later she closed Snoopy’s and set off to the UK, eventually landing a job at the esteemed Nopi restaurant. They took a big risk when they chose a petite, female newcomer to take on as head chef, but it paid off.

“I needed that opportunity and it has been an amazing experience. I kept the same ethos I had with Snoopy’s and worked as if Nopi was mine, which is why it became so exhausting.”

Ms Pisani never forgot her suspended appointment with death and sees her new job preparing school lunches as the opportunity to give something back by injecting children with a passion for good food and balanced healthy eating.

“I’m far from angelic... But sometimes we don’t realise how lucky we are and we forget to give back.”

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