Nicole Pisani: Chef quits renowned London restaurant to become school dinner lady

Ms Pisani says her new role is the 'most rewarding' thing she has ever done

Nicole Pisani (Linkedin)

As head chef at Nopi, Yotam Ottolenghi’s renowned London restaurant, Nicole Pisani was used to preparing meals for some of the world’s most discerning diners. Last January, though, it was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire for the top chef, when she quit her job at the esteemed Soho eatery to serve up dishes to an altogether different market in her new role as a school dinner lady.

Many wondered if she had bitten off more than she could chew when she announced that she would be preparing lunches for 500 pupils at Gayhurst Community School in Hackney, London, on a budget of 92p per head, but several terms into her new role, Ms Pisani says it is the “most rewarding” thing she has ever done. Using her years of restaurant knowledge to cook for children has been “an amazing experience”, she adds. She knows of four other chefs who have followed in her footsteps.

Ms Pisani’s team makes fresh bread every day, which children and teachers alike enjoy tucking into. The most popular dish is her hot and sour beef, for which she uses bavette steaks, thinly sliced.

She is also encouraging older children to learn about food. Last week, she teamed up with Borough Market in Southwark and an education charity, School Food Matters, to share some of her favourite soup recipes with local secondary pupils. Under her tutelage, the group created several batches of soup from surplus vegetables that would have otherwise gone to waste. “Food waste is always on my mind as a chef,” Ms Pisani says.

Working at Gayhurst is the biggest challenge she has taken on but also the most rewarding, Ms Pisani adds. “The children make it worthwhile, even when they come up to tell me they don’t like peas. I hope I’ve gone just a small way to being a part of a positive relationship with food early in their lives.”