Interview: Sara’s open house is showcase for her talents

Outside are the telltale signs of a good night; the recycling box is over-flowing with empty bottles of quality wine and the visitors’ book extols the newly-professional chef’s culinary virtues.

As well as running the dining club, which involves a 9am start and finishes when the last guest leaves, when we meet she is preparing to give a masterclass at the Dean Clough Cooking School and also to cook a meal at York’s Mansion house as well as recovering from major surgery to her shoulder. No wonder she is tired.

“I am everything from head chef to sous chef, washer upper and floor mopper,” says Sara, in the heavy Italian accent which beguiled a nation. “I do all the shopping as well, and it all has to be local produce. But I would not have it any other way. I couldn’t work for some 27-year-old chef shouting at me every day for hours on end. I would lose my love of cooking and then I would lose my passion and then what is the point?” It was this passion for cooking and produce which impressed the Masterchef judges. John Torode and Greg Wallace and quickly made Sara the nation’s sweetheart.

But just five months ago life was very different for the 41-year-old mother of one. Before taking part in Masterchef 2011, she was an intensive care sister at York District Hospital where saving lives was a daily occurrence for the nurse with 20 years experience in the field. When not working hectic shifts she was looking after her family, 15-year-old daughter Emma and husband David,a marine scientist. She admits that she had never even seen the programme before deciding to enter, as the family didn’t have a television at the time.

“I was getting frustrated with the NHS,” she admits. “Every promotion or job I went for I didn’t get or the job was no longer there. I just didn’t know where my career was going.

“All my friends were talking about this Masterchef. I always liked having people round for dinner and people seemed to like my food. I googled the show and saw the application form and thought ‘why not?’ It took me and hour and half to fill in the application form; longer than it took me to apply for a job.”

She was one of 20,000 to apply to the BBC programme and one of 700 to be offered an audition.

“A couple of weeks after I applied they called me at work and told me. I nearly fell off the chair. When I went to the audition I didn’t know what all the fuss was about as I hadn’t seen the programme before. They gave me this apron which meant I had got through.” As she progressed through the gruelling stages of the cookery competition, Sara soon realised just how serious a business it was.

“It got to the stage when I was cooking dishes in my sleep.” But it wasn’t the cooking that was the hardest part for Sara, whose mix of modern Italian dishes with local ingredients made her stand out.

“I just hated being in front of the cameras. I don’t like smiling and I hate having my photograph taken. That was the worst bit. John and Greg would come round and want to talk to me and I would just tell them to go away. They kept saying they would not go away until I talked to them. I just wanted to concentrate on my cooking.” And it did the trick as she was watched by nearly nine million people in the final. She still keeps in touch the some of the contestants.

Sara’s love of food goes back to her native Italy. Her grandfather had a restaurant and so cooking is in her blood.

“I remember foraging with my dad for mushrooms, asparagus and dandelions and cooking family meals with my mum.”

One of triplets, Sara is the only one of her sisters who seems to have inherited the family’s culinary gene.

Her strong Venetian background gave her a love and appreciation of seafood.

Despite this culinary heritage, Sara says it is her husband, David who has been her major influence.

The couple met in Egypt in 1993 during a scuba diving holiday and had a shared passion for good food. The following year they moved to York where David completed his PhD. Not speaking a word of English, Sara joined a full immersion course, worked in a pub and volunteered in her local primary school until her linguistic skills improved sufficiently for her to secure a job at York hospital.

“He is my mentor and my biggest encouragement,” she says of David. “He is a great cook and is my inspiration.”

When she talks about giving up nursing, which she did in July, the emotion is clear to see. “It was a really hard decision,” she says. “I asked for a sabbatical but they didn’t agree, which I can understand. I believe in doing something 110 per cent and they knew that I couldn’t do that if half my mind was in the kitchen.”

So Sara took the difficult decision to give up nursing, although she hopes to return.

“I would love to do one day a month as I really do miss the job and the people. I miss the teamwork. It has been quite hard adapting to the solitude of working by myself.”

She realised that the publicity she got from Masterchef gave her a finite window of opportunity to fulfil her cooking dreams. “The Masterchef name opens a lot of doors. They are really supportive and like to think of you as a member of the Masterchef family, but with that comes responsibility not to let them down.” Sara had always wanted to open a dining club and Sara@StJohn’s, is the first of what is a growing trend in London, in York. For just under £40, guests are treated to a three-course set meal designed and cooked by Sara. While the food is Michelin star standard, Sara is keen that the dining experience is less formal. She has no licence and diners can bring their own wine. Husband David has taken a sabbatical from his job to be front-of-house while guests can watch Sara at work if they want. David is due to go back to work soon and that leaves Sara with something of a front-of-house dilemma. She wants to keep the whole experience a family affair and so is considering asking her auntie to step in. The food is strongly Mediterranean-influenced, but with many a Yorkshire twist. She decides on her menu when she sees what looks good at her favourite shops. She loves game and is desperate to introduce her guests to rabbit.

“People come along and say they don’t like pigeon but I ask them to try. No-one has ever sent anything back.”

It is this passing on of knowledge and love of food which gives Sara almost as much pleasure as cooking it.

She is already holding master classes at cookery schools and hopes to start working with a catering college next year. As a person who never uses a cookery book she believes that chefs are always learning.

“Some contestants would spend hours trawling through books seeing what went with what, but you know by tasting it. It is obvious that anchovies and artichokes go together.” It may be to Sara. She says she still has a lot of learning to do and has already been invited to go to La Gavroche next month to work with Michel Roux, who is already a keen Sara fan.

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