Jess Murphy of Kai Restaurant: Never let your ego get in the way of a good opportunity

Jess Murphy of the award-winning Galway restaurant Kai

I’m from a farming background. I’m originally from New Zealand and my husband Dave is from Carlow. We ended up in Galway because I saw an advert on TV when they were trying to populate the West. I was like, ‘Where’s that!’ he said ‘Oh, Galway — we used to holiday there as kids’ and I said ‘I want to live there’. So we moved. It’s been 17 years now.

I love the people here, I love everything about it. People go on about the weather but you don’t move to Ireland for the sun. It’s about the craic, the people, the landscape. And the best food culture is in Galway, obviously. Everyone talks about Denmark being this Holy Mecca of food, and I’m like ‘are you kidding me? We have all that here!’

I think I was born to be the person I am. I always knew what I was gonna do. I left school at 16 and I didn’t worry about a thing because I could cook and I wanted to be a cook.

My earliest memory is the rain on the plastic cover of my pushchair, my granny pushing me. My granny used to bake lots and she always used to thank me for helping her... when I was just five or six. To be thanked when you’re little by an adult, that’s always special.

The greatest challenge I’ve faced in my life so far was probably approaching a bank manager in 2010 in the middle of a recession to give me a loan. I’ll never forget that walk up to the bank. But he believed in me and gave me the opportunity, so it was a pretty good moment.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

When we went into lockdown. I didn’t know that it was going to be seven months: I walked 10k a day, I lost three stone, I kept mentally fit — but the lockdown was really hard. I’m a chef, so I can’t make one of everything, I have to make 10 million. I was breaking into my own restaurant, grabbing flour, and making bagels for the whole neighbourhood during the lockdown.

What kept me going was the people. Kai is 10 years old now, and while the restaurant was closed, I’d be walking the prom and someone would stop me and be like, “and what was in that crab recipe again?” I’d be standing there freezing giving them the recipe and having the chats. That kept me going.

My proudest achievement is becoming an Irish citizen. That was a really big moment for me. I’ve basically won everything that I possibly can for my career but for me, getting the Irish passport and getting the nod of ‘you’re one of us now’. That’s really nice.

I would like to be remembered for doing things for other people, making a difference to somebody’s life. Making life easier for them. Sharing a burden, making the future brighter for somebody. I think that’s what I want to be remembered for.

The person I turn to most is Dave, my husband, but also to my kitchen team. I work 12 hours a day, four days a week. In that period, you discuss a lot of things! I have an amazing sous chef called Hannah who I always call ‘my work wife’.

The best advice I’ve ever been given is probably from my sister-in-law who told me ‘your thoughts aren’t facts.’ When you’re feeling down and you’re feeling a bit stressed out and overwhelmed, what you’re thinking isn’t factual. How I calm myself down if I have to do something big that freaks me out, when I’m feeling unconfident because as a woman, you won’t feel confident all the time, what I do is I say to myself ‘my thoughts aren’t factual, what is factual is I am here because I deserve to be here.’ I always joke with people that I would earn more money if I had a penis and I was five inches taller — which is hilarious because it’s true.

The lesson I would like to pass on is, always be humble and never let your ego get in the way of a good opportunity.

Kai is one of only three restaurants in Ireland to have a Michelin Green Star (an annual award that highlights restaurants at the forefront of the industry when it comes to their sustainable practices). When I opened the restaurant, the environment, along with the local economy and how we treated people, was number one in my mind.

I am best at collecting memes off the internet. Everyone calls me the meme queen. I am also really good at making ice cream.

What surprises me is... you know how people get uncomfortably embarrassed and cringe at awkward situations? I get excited in those situations.

My biggest fear is of being lonely because I’m such a social person. Sometimes I like to go into a cocoon and lock the door and not come out for 24 hours which is fine... but generally, I am a very social person.

My ultimate wish this Christmas was to see my parents again, I haven’t been able to get home for three years. My wish has come true because they recently announced that I can fly back home to New Zealand in April!

New Zealand-born chef, Jess Murphy, is the owner of Kai Restaurant in Galway. She has joined with non-profit social enterprise FoodCloud to drive awareness of the huge problem that food waste poses in Ireland, and internationally. As a nation, Ireland currently generates 1.27 million tonnes of food waste annually, with the average family throwing away €700 - €1,000 of food each year. Starring in episode 2 of FoodCloud's new online series, 'All Taste Zero Waste', Jess shares her knowledge and expertise to help inspire positive change in homes and kitchens across the country. Visit food.cloud to find out more.