Just Tastes Good

She’s braved sexism and sacrifice to make it in the culinary world, but Bridget Foliaki-Davis will always be a Kiwi kid with a soft spot for wholesome fare – and a good old-fashioned pie

- Monique Mckenzie

We’re good at celebrating our successful chefs in New Zealand, with everyone from Alison Holst to Josh Emett becoming household names for their foodie flair. So it’s time we all learned the name Bridget Foliaki-Davis. The 43-year-old Auckland-born chef has a resumé that includes cooking for royalty, and being a chef and keynote speaker for Google. She has amassed more than a million followers on social media and hosted our pregnant Prime Minister. But as NEXT learned when we spoke to the Sydney-based Kiwi, she hasn’t forgotten the humble Otara roots that gave rise to her successful career.

Bridget can recall not being tall enough to reach the kitchen bench in her South Auckland home, standing on an upturned crate and being absolutely taken by everything she was experiencing – all the different smells and textures. Her mum may have just been making bread or soup, but it was all very exciting for the youngest member of the family. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t really impressed with cooking, or just being in that energy that was the kitchen,” she says.

Today, Bridget jokingly refers to her Otara upbringing as a “culinary desert”. She grew up eating very simple food, dishes that were more about fuelling the body than enchanting the tastebuds with something spectacular. Her mother was a busy lady, and there were many tummies to feed. This meant the meals on the table were simple, with lots of white bread to keep hungry kids going.

“I definitely didn’t struggle, because that’s all I knew growing up,” says Bridget. “It wasn’t like I was starving. It’s just that my palette was going, ‘There’s got to be more to life than this.’”

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