For the past 18 months, Ava Zonfrillo has been living in the buzzing city of London, exploring the sights and working in PR, as well as spending time with her boyfriend’s family in Manchester. The curious 24-year-old left Melbourne “wanting something more” and she’s built a life she loves – and one she knows would make her late dad, MasterChef Australia judge Jock, happy.
“I think he would be really proud,” Ava tells Woman’s Day.
“I always knew that I would live abroad at some point and he did too – he’d be in full support.”
And everywhere she goes on her travels, she sees her beloved dad, whether it’s heading to the chef’s native Scotland or eating her way through his own father’s home country, Italy.
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Finding comfort in familiar places
“I was lucky enough to have travelled to both places with Dad before,” Ava says.
“Going back felt like he was there with me in a really comforting way.”
Grief that lingers
Settling into London has been a welcome distraction for Ava, who has been making the most of every new opportunity at her disposal.
“Time goes so fast here,” she says.
“I’m finally starting to feel like I know my way around the city. Living abroad is the best and people are genuinely very open to making friends. Winter here really humbled me, but summer in London is magic!”
No matter what she’s doing, though, the grief is always there and more than two years after Jock’s sudden death at just 46, Ava’s still coming to terms with life without him.
Processing grief in her own way
“It comes in waves,” she shares.
“Everyone processes differently. It’s about allowing yourself the time and space to do it your way. For me, that meant leaving my full-time job to freelance and slow down a bit. “We were in a unique position that it was public and hard to escape, and I would often find myself playing things back over and over. Sometimes you need that, but you also need to admit to yourself when it’s not serving you.”
Something that has helped Ava feel closer to her dad was pulling together his final cookbook, Recipes To Remember, which the MasterChef judge had started before he passed. Ava and her younger siblings, Alfie, seven, and Isla, four – “the little crew who sat on the kitchen stools, learning, chatting and eating with Dad” – finished the book in his memory.
Memories made in the kitchen
“Food has always been a connection point and a lot of our big family conversations have been in or near the kitchen. It’s a place we would naturally gravitate toward when Dad was there.”
Understandably, sifting through Jock’s extensive food memories made his eldest daughter reflect on the things she learnt from her foodie dad, as well as his standout meals, like pea pasta with pancetta or good old Bolognese.
“He only ever made things we liked and most of the time we were either helping or watching him make it,” recalls Ava.
“I do remember Dad teaching me knife skills on a number of occasions.”
Every bite is a memory
She adds that most things food-related make her think of Jock.
“Anything that requires chopping. He really loved pork, so anything with pork in it. And vinegar – we were a big vinegar household. We used to have competitions for who could handle the biggest clump of vinegar powder without spitting it out!”
Alfie and Isla’s mum, Jock’s widow Lauren Zonfrillo, released her memoir Till Death Do Us Part last year, detailing her own journey of grief after losing him. Ava – who has another younger sister, Sofia, from one of Jock’s past relationships – says they’ll all carry on the traditions that meant the most to him.
“Dad’s heritage was really important to him and something he kept alive in our lives outside of food too,” she smiles.
“Alfie wears a kilt for special occasions. We have so many family sayings and even a family whistle, which Dad would use everywhere. And Alfie and Isla are hot on pointing out if you’re not doing something the way Papa would!”
