Cork chef and catering company founder launches podcast

EVERY industry needs someone who is happy to support others, push them forward, or give someone a dig out. In return, while shying away from the limelight, they rack up the respect quotient among their peers.

There’s a name that has popped up on many occasions during conversations with chefs, cooks and caterers in Cork over the years as someone who is all of those things: Donna O’Driscoll, chef, founder of corporate catering company Roots Kitchen, and creator at Chop Chop.

Towards the tail end of 2023, Donna was recognised with two awards from The Club for Female Founder of the Year and Business Owner of the Year. After years of growing Roots Kitchen and raising her family, she is now stepping into the limelight with confidence.

This year, under her content creation brand of Chop Chop, Donna launched a new food podcast of the same name, interviewing fellow chefs, suppliers, and others she respects from the food industry. But why decide to start a podcast?

“I didn’t see a lot of food podcasts being done over here, and with Roots Kitchen, our pillars are flavour, nourishment and fun, but sometimes food can be a little bit serious,” says Donna.

I’ve worked with loads of fantastic chefs and with every single one we’ve always had great fun in the kitchen. I thought I could bring that all together to talk about food, what they love, and have a bit of fun as well.

While Roots Kitchen is the catering company she co-owns with her husband, Chop Chop is Donna’s own personal brand encompassing her food blog and podcast.

“I had a food blog back in 2012 and really enjoyed it but had to put it on the back burner. I always liked creating new recipes and sharing them to encourage people to cook more. This year, I found my confidence to set up the Instagram page and it snowballed from there,” says Donna.

Although the duo of awards last year was a major confidence boost, plans for rejuvenating Chop Chop were already in the works.

“I suffer a lot with anxiety, and I worry about things that aren’t relevant. When I started Chop Chop last year, I was worried what would people think, but I talked everything through with my personal development coach and really, it’s having someone there to make you accountable and to give you that little nudge when you need it.,” she says.

“You can talk about things for ages, but it’s taking action that’s important. As I get older, I don’t want to ever regret not doing something because I was too scared or had imposter syndrome. 

So many people go through their lives not doing what they love because they’re afraid of what ‘Mary-down-the-road’ would think. But I heard a saying a while ago, and it’s really stuck with me: Those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.

The podcast celebrates the fun and nostalgia to be found in food. While having the chats with her guests, memory lane is a road well-travelled with food memories and funny stories shared. But for all this levity, Donna’s ethos of local, seasonal food is rooted in the core.

“I have a huge passion for provenance, that comes with quality and relationships with suppliers and trust,” says Donna.

“When I started my business, I had never worked in corporate catering before, so I came to it in my own way and carved out my own little niche. I always wanted to make sure that the food we were doing was really good restaurant quality food.

“People would chat to us about how nice it was and maybe it made their day better because we provided their lunch. 

I know that might sound a bit cheesy, but that’s really at the heart of what I do - I just want to make people happy with the food we cook.

Food is a serious business, but, says Donna, we need to get back to the roots of why we sit together and break bread and that it’s OK for things not to be so serious.

“When you look to France, they’ll just sit together in the afternoon, break up a baguette and enjoy that with some conversation.”

There are ten relaxed conversations in the first season of Chop Chop. The first episode featured Tim McCarthy of Cork’s famous craft butchery, McCarthy’s of Kanturk, and the second Pamela Kelly, head chef of Farmgate Café. In the third episode, Donna shares her own story; her career, her family, her business and plenty of cherished food memories.

A new episode drops every fortnight, so the fourth and latest episode features Aishling Moore, head chef of Goldie Fish & Ale.

How does Donna select her guests?

“I work with a producer for the podcast, and I brainstormed guests that, if I had a magic wand, I would absolutely love to have on. I looked at people that I knew locally and have a relationship with; some I’ve worked with and others I haven’t.

“With Tim [McCarthy], I really respect him and thought it would be a nice way to showcase what they do. I worked with Aishling before, and she has her book coming out soon. 

It’s getting to the point now where people are getting in touch with me asking if they could come on the podcast!

I ask Donna if, after so many years of working in a lot of great kitchens with a lot of great chefs, the positive influence she has had on many others within the industry, and the graft put into Roots Kitchen, does she consider herself a mentor now?

“I definitely feel from people mentoring me that it’s something you should pay forward. But sometimes, when you’re inside the bottle you can’t read the label! I had a young chef come on board with me last year – she was 23, and she was teaching me stuff. So, it’s important to be a mentor but it’s also important to listen to your staff, to listen to their ideas and their opinions because we don’t know it all.”

The team of Roots Kitchen is eight people strong, including Donna and her husband. At heart, she is every bit the chef she has always been, but is now leaning in more to her title as a business owner.

“I wasn’t academic in school, I was always into creative things, so opening a business I was learning as I went. I made loads of mistakes and I’m still learning now, but one of the reasons why we won Business Owner of the Year award was because we are consistent, and people trust me. So, if a company has a big meeting with their CEO and they book us, they know I’m going to spend time listening to what their needs are.

I don’t like blowing my own trumpet, but we’re good at getting customers and making sure we are maintaining them long term; and we’re growing year on year.

“I am a chef at the heart of it, but you do have all these balls in the air when you are a business owner. I’d love to be in the kitchen all the time, to be honest! I spend every morning there and fill in the gaps – if there’s a kitchen porter out, I’ll do the washing. That’s what a manager has to do.”

Roots Kitchen continues to grow and is adding a new pantry service for its customers with the aim of being a one-stop-shop for all catering needs.

“If we’re doing catering for a client every day, we can also provide the coffee machine, the coffee, milk, bread for toast, and fruit baskets every day. A lot of the bigger American offices have snack drawers and soft drink fridges. Us providing everything is more sustainable in that it’s just one company arriving at the building every day.

“We can provide all locally produced foods which fits with our ethos, so we’re packaging that as a whole. It’s starting to get some traction and will be a little sister company to Roots Kitchen,” says Donna.

Fresh, seasonal salads and juices were where Roots Kitchen all began, and the Chop Chop page is full of recipes for Donna’s favourite thing to eat - salads - she says they are the signature for both her creative outlets.

“Ninety percent of the page is salads,” Donna says. “I love posting recipes up to Chop Chop, especially when people tell me they made one of my salads for a Communion and loved it. It’s grand going into a supermarket and filling up the containers, but the joy that people get from being able to make something themselves is fantastic, so I love being able to do share recipes.”

Donna’s favourite salad is one that is packed full of Middle Eastern flavours of spice, fresh herbs and zesty dressing.

“I love squash salads with lots of spices, feta cheese, fresh herbs and toasted nuts and seeds. It’s not complicated but these are the flavours I enjoy and it’s robust.

I like getting across to people that salads aren’t just bowls of leaves with no dressing. Salads can be anything in the world you want them to be! That’s what I love about them, and anything you can do with them is exciting.

So what are Donna’s sage words for anyone looking to take up a career in food?

“Be sure of yourself. If you’re passionate about something you won’t go wrong trying to fulfil your dream,” she says.

“Be authentic because people buy into people, and don’t lose your integrity.”

Keep up with Chop Chop via Instagram @chopchop_ie for latest podcast episodes and recipes.

For more on Roots Kitchen see www.rootskitchen.ie for catering services.