Justine Murphy – Chef, Crew Agent, Author and Entrepreneur

Published 02/07/2020

Justine completed UKSA’s first ever Superyacht hospitality course back in 2006. As a self taught home cook, she had heard about the superyacht industry via friends who worked in it and in the pursuit of happiness and a better life was drawn to the industry. Spending every last penny she had on training at UKSA and a one way flight to Palma, in September 2006 after her first day dock-walking, she secured her first job following an interview which required her to cook a 3 course meal on a private motor yacht.

After a number of years in the industry, travelling the world, cooking for some of the world’s most wealthy individuals and visiting amazing places, she decided to come ashore and set up her own business. Based in Palma, mymuybueno was born in 2011, with its combination of British (my) and Spanish (muybueno) its name was designed to evoke good food and the personal touch.

As time has gone on, mymuybueno has expanded, and Justine’s entrepreneurial spirt has seen the business expand from a specialist yacht chef crew agent, to opening her own cookery school and deli, and more recently an author, publishing her very first cook book at the height of the pandemic.

Reading the introduction to Justine’s book, you will see she is not unused to adversity, and has been through some exceptionally challenging times in her life. One thing that has remained a constant though, is the importance of good food, and her heart felt belief it is absolutely possible to achieve anything: “If you want to do something, you’ll do it. If not, you’ll make excuses. Stop making excuses!”

We catch up with Justine, as she reflects on the past couple of months:

“The timing of my cookbook being released has not been what I could ever have imagined, but actually it has been the best of timing in so many ways! The fact it’s filling everyone with inspiration and love at this time, as well as being able to really benefit from my recipes, my story and philosophy is so heartening. This was always the intention, but it is even more poignant now.

The pandemic has been an extremely challenging time for mymuybueno, we had to make the heart-breaking decision to close our cookery school and deli in Palma. mymuybueno returned it’s focus to it’s core – finding awesome chefs to work on some of the best superyachts out there, as well as spreading the world about the mymuybueno cookbook!

The cookbook has been a real labour of love, testing my best recipes over and over again to ensure everything will work just perfectly no matter who makes it– plus all my desserts are plant-based making them so much healthier without losing the taste and enjoyment, which is so important. I wanted it to be accessible, a real cookbook, for real life, one to live in your kitchen and cook from – not just to look pretty on a shelf!

All the recipes are refined sugar free, to me ‘everything in moderation’ is key, so enjoying sweets and deserts every now and then is fine, but on a daily basis avoiding refined sugar is part of me having a healthy relationship with food. I have tried to include recipes for everyone, amongst the 160 recipes there are breakfast ideas, hearty bowls, delicious roasts, bakes and cheesecakes, as well as nice-creams – my take on dairy free ice cream!

My time at UKSA, was the first step on an adventure that has taken me around the world. It built my excitement for working on a super yacht and equipped me properly in safety and training, not only taking my STCW but I also did my Day Skipper which I loved.

These past few months, and all their challenges are now all very much part of my story. The closing of one chapter, the start of the next. I’m a survivor and a fighter, I’ve been through far worse, I am a massive believer in pushing on, adapting and moving forward. Change is good, it helps us to grow and with that new things we never would know or experience if not for the hard things happening.

I’ve learnt that many times, and this is no different. We can’t grow when things stay the same, using this time for new and exciting ways to adapt and move forward, means you will only ever be a better version of yourself when applying the same mantra.”

So what does the future hold for mymuybueno?

“On Sunday I announced that we are now relocating the mymuybueno Cookery School to London! These past months have provided so many enormous life changes, and from that, a brand new direction for a better future for both my family and mymuybueno. Coming full circle, back to my roots, I will also be bringing the mymuybueno Deli, I am so pumped to build and share all things mymuybueno.

I’ll still be keeping an agency office and team in Palma, and a home so I willl be back and forth aplenty, basically doing the reverse of these past few years. This now just feels like a very natural step after such a crazy time, and that all my ducks are now perfectly aligned. I am excited for everything to come.”

It has been fantastic catching up with Justine, and we look forward to following the progress of the move to London!

You can find out more about Justine and her mymuybueno on her website: https://mymuybueno.com/ She has also shared a number of recipes from the mymuybueno cookbook on her Instagram page, so you can try them out before buying the book which is available on Amazon UK.