DUFFIN
STU DUFFIN - CHEF
Constantly striving to grow my knowledge and learn new techniques, challenging myself to be better everyday.
I'm thirty years old now and I can honestly say I'm so happy to see how far I have come. Looking forward to the future, I feel confident in the direction I am heading.
I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa with a childhood always filled with family and... food. Some of my earliest memories are of helping my Mom in the kitchen, making desserts and birthday cakes. I always had a natural pull towards desserts and cakes and my sweet tooth was unmatched by that of my siblings. However, unbeknown to me it was only later on in life I would come to realise how important those memories were in the driving force to creating blissful dishes.
I wish I could tell you I had known from a young age that I wanted to be a Chef, but that would be the furthest thing from the truth. It was only after school that my Mom suggested a course in advanced cooking.
Call it a mothers intuition if you will, but it lead me down a path that changed my life forever.
Studying in Cape Town, I worked under some incredible chefs, both during my studies and the years following in the restaurant and hotel industries.
I was still very young and early on in my career when a friend phoned me up and introduced me to the yachting industry. Not knowing if it was the right move at the time, I can now honestly say I think I have grown more personally and professionally than I ever could've imagined if I had stayed in South Africa.
I grew as a Chef, I met my wife, I moved to New Zealand and I have seen more of the world than most people could dream of.
My food has come a long way and without ever stepping foot inside a 'Michelin starred' kitchen, I learnt through obsessive recipe book reading and practice to refine my cooking to where it is today.
I pride myself in every dish that I create and I know that I will always give one hundred percent to every job and every opportunity.
Working hard comes naturally to me, but creating new dishes and finding new flavours is an endless venture and something that will always teach me new lessons.