From formative holidays spent at a stone fruit orchard in Central Otago to a Michelin Green Star restaurant in upmarket Mayfair, the regenerative restaurateur talks to Jessica-Belle Greer in London.
On an actually sunny English summer day, Chantelle Nicholson is feeling nostalgic about her home country. The London-based chef, advocate
“I was always surrounded by incredible produce,” she says. “I think that was probably what started it.”
Now, 19,000km away in London’s upmarket Mayfair, she sits at a table at her own restaurant, Apricity. With a name that evokes the feeling of the sun on your skin in winter, she savours every season.
Like her restaurant’s menu, Chantelle’s culinary journey is filled with moments of discovery. She enrolled in a law and business degree in Dunedin, but seemed to spend more time working in cafe kitchens than in university libraries. Her holiday job was at the restaurant of the Corstorphine House boutique hotel, which became full-time as she completed her studies.
The graduate did try her hand at law, moving to Wellington to work for the Banking Ombudsman. After hours, flicking through Cuisine magazine, she entered the Chef Search cooking competition and made it through to the final, where she met guest judge Josh Emett. This was 2004, and the celebrity chef (also from Hamilton) offered her a job at The Savoy Grill in London — whenever she was ready. Chantelle handed in her notice the very next day.
Working at The Savoy Grill was, in her words, “bonkers”. When she showed up on her first day, wearing pigtails and sneakers, she was blissfully unaware of how serious this career could get. “I think if I’d known more about what I was getting myself into, I probably wouldn’t have done it. I would have been too scared.”
Trading eight-hour office days for 18-hour days in the kitchen, she proved herself from the frying pan to the fire. After two years, she moved to a restaurant run by the Berkeley hotel and Gordan Ramsay, the host of the serendipitous Chef Search. Five years later, she moved to another top London hotel restaurant, The Gilbert Scott, where she learnt the operational side of hospitality.
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Advertise with NZME.Chantelle’s culinary ascent was astronomical, especially for someone who didn’t know what a Michelin star was when she landed in London. Come 2014, she was instrumental in the opening of British bistro Tredwells, in Covent Garden, and took over full ownership of the restaurant by 2018. The same year, she published the Planted cookbook.
Twenty-twenty was a fateful year, when there was finally time to find her purpose. “During Covid was the first time that I’d stopped in 16 years, and had more than a week off,” she says. “I had time to reflect and really decide what was important.”
Apricity was the answer. Opening to rave reviews in 2022, it is a more cosy and considered space than the restaurants Chantelle took on before. Here, the lights above her are made with the likes of recycled coffee grounds, oyster shells and orange peel – a testament to the light Chantelle has shone on regenerative restaurant practices in all forms. “We want to do things differently,” she says. “In a more positive way.”
On the rescued wooden tables, even the simplest of dishes are worth writing home about. There’s the red butterhead lettuce, which is grown with 90% less water in London shipping containers, and served with fermented miso aioli, crispy kale and semi-dried tomatoes. Another starter, of marinated tomatoes, comes with cashew cream and frozen pickle juice sprinkled as a granita with crispy onions on top.
“Looking at the spectrum of plants and what they can bring to the table is incredible,” says Chantelle.
While the menu is hyper-local, pickling and fermenting ensure fresh produce can find its full potential throughout the year, while creating a balance of flavours and textures in every dish. Plums, apricots and peaches are some of the sentimental stone fruits that Chantelle preserves with head chef Eve Seamann.
While the focus is on plant-based creations, a small proportion of the menu includes ethically sourced meat and seafood, “important for the ecosystem and biodiversity”. The plates are delicious — and seldom preachy.
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Advertise with NZME.During our daytime interview, team members amble into the restaurant as Chantelle welcomes them warmly. Among other thoughtful policies, Apricity is open five days a week to help them avoid burnout. “When I was coming up through some of those restaurants that was not a focus at all,” says Chantelle. “How can we move forward as an industry, if we’re not looking after our people?”
Apricity was honoured with a Michelin Green Star in 2023. More importantly, the team has just received Sustainable Restaurant Association accreditation with the highest rating. “For us, that was a great achievement because we’ve had to prove everything that we’re doing,” says Chantelle. “It’s very much about how the operation functions more in a 360 way.”
As an advocate for the environment, Chantelle has spoken out about the overuse of the word “sustainability in the industry. Instead, Apricity focuses on creating a circular economy. “I’m a very practical person, and I feel like waste is basically just someone not having common sense,” she says. “If you minimise waste, you’re actually going to save money, which provides longevity.” (The same can be said of a low staff turnover.)
Currently, Chantelle is on the board for Re-London, a partnership with the Mayor of London that aims to transform the city into a leading low-carbon circular economy. She also sits on the Food Council for City Harvest, a food redistribution charity that tackles inequality.
“Hospitality has gone through some really tough times, and I think will continue to do so, but I also feel that on the flipside – by doing a lot of the things we do – it actually creates resilience and it creates longevity.”
Chantelle has also realised the importance of sustaining her own work-life balance. Last Christmas, she returned to Aotearoa for the first time in six years. She was there to film an episode of Food Rescue Kitchen, but she also made time for swirls of real fruit icecream and a trip down memory lane in Central Otago. “I was on the orchard for five days and just gorged myself with the most amazing cherries. They just don’t compare to anything here.”
The founder-chef misses feijoas most but knows of an English producer who she hopes to work with next harvest. Whichever the hemisphere, Chantelle picks ingredients that you can taste the sunlight through. She shows that a light touch can address the weighty challenges felt across restaurant kitchens.
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