Meet the Chef

Blayne Still

Head Chef, Pravda Café & Grill, Wellington

Head chef at Wellington’s Pravda Cafe´ & Grill, Blayne Still was born in Lower Hutt and grew up in the city, venturing to Australia, the UK, and Europe before returning home.

Still started his culinary journey 21 years ago, beginning a chef course at the age of 16. Since then, he has worked in Australia and London, but his first job was at Cobar in Eastbourne, where he stayed for over five years, leaving as the Sous chef. He then moved onto Shed 5 as a chef de partie.

“At first I really struggled with the move to a new restaurant but quickly found my feet. I ended up doing three separate stints at Shed 5 over the years,” explained Still. “In between my time at Shed 5 I worked at Seasalt at Armstrongs in Brisbane and The Angel in Toowoomba. I also worked at Bistro Bruno in London.”

Still expressed that his journey to where he is now, as head chef, has required a lot of hard work and sacrifice. “I originally wanted to be a baker, but that fell through. I had promised my parents I wouldn’t leave school until I knew what I wanted to do. I did a four-week course through school at the polytechnic, it was basic veg preparation and baking.

I loved it, so I dropped out of school and started my chef course the next week where I graduated as a top student, not bad for a school dropout from Wainuiomata!”

Pravada is a busy little café and restaurant set in the heart of the city and is known as a Wellington institution. In Russian, Pravda means ‘the truth’. Hence the eatery’s focus on honest, produce-led dishes that use the very best ingredients New Zealand has to offer.

Still’s day typically starts with him helping his breakfast chef and getting ready for a busy lunch. In between meat preparation for dinner service, he gets to paperwork and designing new menu dishes.

“We do it all from coffee and our famous cheese scones in the morning, to breakfast and lunch. Then we turn into a steakhouse at night, inspired by our sister restaurants Jervois Steakhouse which we have in both Auckland and Queenstown.”

One of Still’s career highlights was working for Bruno Loubet in London, another was earning and retaining a chef hat whilst working at Seasalt at Armstrongs in Brisbane. These highlights reflect Still’s love of what could be described as ‘old-school’ chefs and what they stand for.

“Marco Pierre White, Michel Roux, Raymond Blanc, Pierre Koffmann and Gordon Ramsay. These chefs are not just inspirational for how good they are but for their general passion for food and cooking.”

The biggest challenge for Still has been the peaks and troughs that are part of the territory when it comes to foodservice and hospitality, particularly over the last year.

“It makes it difficult planning for the kitchen around unpredictable times. Just as we get back on track, COVID sneaks back in and we see a quieter period again. If people keep supporting local, hospitality can survive but without tourism, trade, and foreign visas, I can see trade and staffing becoming an issue.” The most rewarding aspect of Still’s job, “hands down” is seeing happy customers.

“There is something really special to a chef when you put your heart into your cooking and people love it. I also love training and teaching young chefs and watching them grow and learn their passion.”

Still’s advice for those young chefs is to not rush their journey. Listen, focus, and work hard.

“Cooking and running a kitchen takes time and patience to both learn and grow. Enjoy the ride, the good and bad is worth it in the end when you put in the grind.”

As for the home cook, be patient and taste everything. Still noted that it’s important to start with the basics, nail them, then move on to more difficult dishes.

For Still, it’s his BBQ/Smoker that’s his ‘must have’ kitchen item, when he’s not in the professional kitchen you can most likely find him playing around with smoked meats, trying new brines and rubs, cooking times and temperatures.

While the head chef would like to try his hand at making Vodka, something he learned to do from family friends while in Poland, Still’s main goal right now is to spend as much time with his new-born daughter as possible.

“I love spending time with my beautiful partner Paige and our daughter Blake. They mean the world to me and make the job I do so rewarding when I get home to see them.”

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