Wellington’s Top Chefs Laura Greenfield – Theatrical style Field & Green
Laura Greenfield
Isaac Chamberlain – Scandinavian skills Atlas
At just 29, Isaac has clocked an impressive 10-year kitchen career, including a stint in Scandinavia. There he worked for the owners of two-Michelin-star restaurant Noma, at its sister restaurant 108. Isaac started his career working front of house at Wellington’s Mojo and ended up in the kitchen where he discovered his passion to learn new things. He’s always sought jobs that will offer new skills that help him progress. From Gypsy Kitchen and a catering company, to The Spruce Goose and then Matterhorn, to 108 in Copenhagen, and back to Wellington to work in the now closed Whitebait, Isaac has achieved much in 10 years. He was invited into his latest role as head chef at the newly opened Atlas in Wellington by Yu Group executive chef, James Pask, his former Whitebait boss. “I love the challenges in the kitchen and always trying to do things better than I have in the past,” he says. “Mostly though it’s about being part of and working with a team,” he says. There’s always a good team bond in hospitality.” He sure knows about teams. During his three months’ working at Nordic restaurant 108 he was one of a brigade of 25 chefs on any given day. While Isaac didn’t really grow up among serious foodies at home, there sure are some top ones in his family right now. As head chef he now oversees younger brother Ben Chamberlain, also a chef in the Atlas kitchen. 10 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 - HOSPITALITY BUSINESS
For Jewish-raised Laura, a love of cooking is in the blood, passed down from her grandma to her late mum. “I always helped in the kitchen. It was a happy time,” she says. “Food is a huge part of Jewish festivals and I always enjoyed it. “I was a bit naughty and didn’t listen at school. I only knew what I was doing in domestic cooking class,” says British-born Laura, who flourished into a top chef, nailing jobs like head chef at Sotheby’s Auction House restaurant café in London. She even wrote a cookbook while working there. Not bad for a girl who wanted to be an actress but ended up as a chef. “I went to drama school - London International School of Acting, to train and had an agent but couldn’t get any jobs,” says Laura. “My parents had insisted that I had a back-up career to acting when I left school at 18, so I did a three-month Cordon Bleu Cookery Course,” she says. “There’s a huge amount of similarity between cooking and acting. It’s a performance and you have all the build-up of rehearsals before that.” Just over five years ago Laura was ready for a change from London. “I never saw the light of day during winter and wanted to be above ground and see people.” Her Kiwi partner, Raechal Ferguson, convinced her to open Field & Green in Wellington. It was a far cry from some of the places her almost 30-year London career had taken her, such as Delfina Art Gallery; private chef work in the South of France and for private shooting parties in Scotland. This time however, Laura cooks above ground and interacts directly with her guests and does a bit of acting too in Field & Green’s fun and vibrant open theatrestyle restaurant. Lockdown didn’t pose any major challenges, once she and Raechal knew their staff were looked after. “I absolutely loved it. The sun shone and we got a new pup called Soufflé. I cooked dinner from a different cookbook every night.”
Isaac Chamberlain
