A surprise pregnancy at 18 years old wasn’t part of Auckland cook Eleanor Ozich’s plan, but it didn’t stop her from pursuing a career in food. In fact, her children helped her dream become a reality.
“I wouldn’t be talking to you about all this today if it weren’t for these two,” she says, looking over at daughter Izabella, now seven, and son Obi, two, playing. “They’re the reason all this has happened, really.”
The “all this” to which Eleanor refers is the humble blogger’s transformation into a best-selling author and café owner – one who has just released her second cookbook, My Family Table. But it didn’t come easy.
Growing up, the 26-year-old mum always wanted to work in food. “Dad was a chef and we lived above his restaurant,” she explains. She left school early to work in cafés and restaurants then, at 18, met her husband Valentin, now 30, the founder and co-owner of Kiwi clothing brand I Love Ugly. She fell pregnant soon after.
“It was a surprise but an awesome one,” Eleanor recalls. “Bella coming into our lives so young was actually such a blessing. It drove us both to make something of ourselves.”
Eleanor with her children Izabella and Obi.
A new direction
However, it was only when she was on bed rest during her second pregnancy with Obi that her kitchen skills really developed. “People assume I was inspired by my dad, but it was actually Jamie Oliver!” laughs Eleanor. “His cooking style really resonated with me.”
Eleanor’s culinary approach took a drastic U-turn, however, after Obi was born, when Izabella developed severe eczema. The worried mum and dad visited numerous specialists and doctors, but nothing worked.
As a last-ditch measure, Eleanor took her little girl to a naturopath, who diagnosed an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in her gut, with toxins in her body escaping through her skin. “It was a lightbulb moment,” says Eleanor. “Your gut and stomach are the motor of your body, so if that’s not working properly, it’ll cause issues.”
The whole family went on the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet, which involves an intensive period of healthy eating – no sugar, no dairy, no grains and no gluten. “We were eating a lot of bone broths and slow-cooked meals – things that were soothing on the stomach,” Eleanor recalls.
“We did it for six months and it was really hard, especially when you’re trying to tell a three-year-old why they can’t eat the things they’re used to eating. It was extreme, but we were desperate – we just wanted to get her better.”
Izabella and Obi were Eleanor’s inspiration for getting closer to nature.
The food remedy
After a few months, Izabella’s eczema improved and the whole family felt more energised. Although they eventually weaned themselves off the diet, Eleanor adopted many of the recipes and methods into a daily routine focusing on wholefoods, which she documented on a blog called Petite Kitchen.
“We were living in this little two-bedroom unit with the tiniest kitchen, hence the name!” she explains. “I’d post recipes and photos of what I was cooking, and people really loved what I was sharing.”
Within the first month, she had 10,000 followers on Facebook. Not long after, she landed her first book deal, resulting in My Petite Kitchen Cookbook, a smash hit that sold 30,000 copies across New Zealand, Australia and Europe. Riding on the wave of her book’s success, Eleanor teamed up with fellow food blogger Hannah Horton to open a wholefoods café, Mondays.
Now with 46,000 Facebook followers, she says of her second cookbook, “Everything is ridiculously simple. I have two young kids – I don’t have time to do anything crazy!”
Filled with photographs taken and styled by Eleanor herself, the book features her favourite dishes, including gingerbread fudge smoothies. Many of the wholefood recipes also have vegan, dairy-free or gluten-free options.
“It’s all about balance,” Eleanor explains. “Food is for enjoying – if it’s simple and wholesome, it’s going to be good.”
