When I was 13, we got DSTV for the first time, and we were watching the food channels, and I freaked out. My mom is an artist. I was with her in studio, and we started drawing the food. Afterwards, I told her that I wanted to learn how to cook the food that I’m drawing, so I went to my first culinary school when I was 13. That is how I started.
My first internship was with Margot Janse from Le Quartier Français, which was number one at the time in the country. It was awesome working for and learning from a very influential female chef, especially 10 to12 years ago, when she was the only one. Later, I worked at The Test Kitchen with Luke Dale Roberts, when they were the top restaurant in South Africa. After that, I opened a restaurant in Dubai, Rouge Traders in the Birj Khalifa. I decided to come back to SA where I ran 3 restaurants for Dish food & Social including Red Table @ Nederburg & Casa Labia. In 2019, I opened the restaurant at Pink Valley Wines, and that’s where I am planning to stay until retirement. As executive chef of the Oddo vin et Domaines of South Africa, I run a restaurant, wine bars and hospitality on three farms with accommodation. But I am still a kitchen chef at heart.
My food philosophy is to make the ingredient taste like the ingredient. I hate it when people try and turn an ingredient into something it’s not supposed to be. You can manipulate it to make a better version of itself, but it’s like a paradox. I also love using underrated ingredients, and I’m super stoked with the ingredients for these recipes.
My initial inspiration is Ferran Adrià, who was the father of molecular gastronomy. He went into the science of understanding how ingredients are made, the molecular structure and he created a cuisine, so that you break down the food and pair it with other foods that have the same molecular structure, and it blew my mind. And now its Rene Redzepi from Noma, where they forage the ingredients, and everything is local.
Drawing inspiration from these pioneers and combining it with my research on the DASH diet, I’ve crafted a collection of recipes drawn from the principles of plant-based vegan rules and clean cooking. While, of course, maintaining a distinct chef’s touch. Enjoy!