Belinda Black
Photos: Trish Chong
Editorial: Jessie James
Belinda Black lives in Narrabeen, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with her daughter Eva, not far from her twin sister Jo and the Black Pantry kitchen, where together they make artisanal marshmallows. Her apartment sits in a quiet street, where the road is wide and there’s no curb. A single palm tree peeks above the district landscape, framed perfectly through her living room window. A dining set and antique sideboard filled with enamel, china, wooden bowls and a English tea set passed down from Belinda’s grandparents sits with a cardboard house made by Eva, a collection of lego, books and photographs. This afternoon’s tea is French earl grey with Black Pantry’s dark chocolate rocky road and strawberry marshmallows – Eva’s favourites are ‘the pink ones’.
Where are you from?
The Northern Beaches of Sydney – we grew up in Elanora and have ended up in Narrabeen.
Where have you lived previously?
Mostly around this area with a stint in the Turks and Caicos Islands and New York for a steamy summer where I managed to score a summer job as a private chef. I would wake up, check in with the client, then go and make a steak and blue cheese dressing, call it a day and wander the streets of New York. Even now when I daydream it is here I find myself travelling to.
Could you tell us a little about your background?
When I was at school I worked in cafes on the weekend and the Upper Crust at Long Reef, a renowned local pie shop. When I finished school I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so one day I was standing there looking at a menu with Dad and deciding what to order for lunch and he said ‘you are really fussy, why don’t you become a chef’, so I started my apprenticeship! From there I worked my way up in film catering, Women Weekly test kitchens, restaurants and private homes.
I am now a private chef, and was cooking for a client who wanted me to re-create a marshmallow that she had in St Tropez years ago. We made the rosewater marshmallows, and so Black Pantry began.
What are you currently working on?
Perfecting our recipe, scaling up our business and fine tuning. We have been on an interesting road as a small business full of twists and turns and challenges and we are ready to streamline and grow.
What are you most proud of?
Carving out a stylish and bespoke product I love. A lot of that style comes from Jessie and hard work from Jo and I, you definitely need both to succeed.
What do you see as limitations?
Time is definitely a limitation, but we are working on that.
What is most important to you right now?
Just refining and taking our business to the next level we can see it at.
If you could study anything, what would it be?
I’d say architecture, I think it would be a great skill to have. Also I would love to be great at photography, to have time to learn a lot of technique.
Your favourite neighbourhood (anywhere) and why?
I loved being in Brooklyn for the summer, I loved being anonymous. You know everyone on the Northern Beaches but there (Brooklyn) it was a melting pot of so many walks of life, it was electric. I remember a burst water main in the back of Brooklyn on a stinking hot summer day and we literally stopped the car and ran through it along with half the neighbourhood kids – that was amazing.
What inspires you in your neighbourhood?
I’d have to say the ocean, we live so close and when it’s warm our lives revolve around it and the tides.
Where do you like to spend time locally?
Any little spot on the water with no crowds, Paradise Beach in Clareville on high tide is pretty magical and Eva absolutely lives in the water, she has just started surfing so that would be perfect.
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