Irish-born Cathy Maguire Becomes One of Australia’s Favorite Young Chefs

Culinary career started in a Dublin pub—not as a cook but as a dishwasher.

By Patricia D. Sherman

“I believe chocolate is one of the finest pleasures in life,” says Cathy Maguire, Head Chef of Melbourne’s trendy waterfront restaurant, St. Kilda’s Soul Mama. “The velvety texture and heady aroma is so indulgent and decadent. Like all things, though, there's good chocolate and bad chocolate. Contrary to popular belief, I don't think good chocolate necessarily has to be terribly expensive.”

Chef Maguire’s willingness to counter accepted notions may be the key to her success as a chef. For instance, you wouldn’t expect that one of the most popular young chefs in meat-loving Australia would be a vegetarian. But her creative vegetarian recipes have made her famous.

It took her a few years to hit on her culinary specialization, she says, but chocolate has been an enduring love since childhood. “My earliest chocolate-memories are of our grandparents bringing us "Crunchies" as treats on Sunday mornings. My fascination with chocolate has remained since those early years and has found its way into my profession.”

For instance, her favorite dessert creation is a simple chocolate tart. “It's a pastry shell with high quality chocolate butter and cream set into a tart case. I drop a few chocolate shards over the tart to create the textural contrast of the soft chocolate filling and the hard shards of chocolate topping  This dish absolutely has to come with freshly whipped cream. Contrary to what you would expect, .because the tart itself is so rich a heavy, the cream makes it that little bit lighter. I adore it because each mouthful is such a treat to the taste buds. The chocolate instantly melts in your mouth contrasting with the crisp pastry base and fluffy lightness of the cream.” (Chef Maguire shares her wheat- and gluten-free Chocolate Almond Macaroon Torte recipe here.)

Chef Maguire’s culinary road started in a Dublin pub—not as a cook but as a dishwasher. Just out of high school she was casting about for a profession. Reluctantly following a suggestion that she study cookery, she applied to cooking school. She got in by the skin of her teeth because she knew someone. Starting three weeks late, her first day was making cauliflower soup, which immediately caught her interest, she says.

Three years later, with a certificate in professional cookery but no specialty, her first job was cooking for nuns and priests.  It seemed God was on her side, she recalls, because every Wednesday and Friday the nuns and priests ate no meat or fish.  This gave her the freedom to experiment and develop her interest in vegetarian recipes.

Later, she worked at Dublin’s renowned vegetarian restaurant, Juice. Then she went to Australia, where she worked at Lauries in Sydney. Returning to Dublin, she became head chef at Cornucopia.

After three-and-a-half years, though, she felt Australia calling again. Wild Rice in Windsor, Melbourne, was her next challenge, and as head chef, she quickly began to command attention. When Soul Mama opened in 2002, she started as one of nine chefs and within three days was second chef. The next year she was made head chef.

With her Irish wit and stylish vegetarian dishes, Chef Maguire is in constant demand as a guest chef on television and at food shows. She also represents Braun kitchen appliances. In 2004 she cooked alongside one of Australia’s culinary icons, Margaret Fulton, at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival where they discussed why natural is better.

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