SOUNDBITE: ATKV
A journey anchored in faith Meetings hears from Yvette Mkhatshwa, restaurant manager at ATKV Natalia, who describes her career as one that has been blessed. What is your favourite dish, and why? I don’t have one personal favourite dish – I love everything from ravioli, nachos, butter chicken, kotas and mogodu, to my mom’s famous home-made macaroni and cheese. Food is my life, hence my current struggle to find the perfect balance between healthy amounts of food experiences versus my gym trips!
What is the dish you are most often requested to cook? My Indian curries! I was blessed enough that during my time working in Doha, I was trained by a very good North Indian chef, who taught me all his tricks of the trade on how to make a really good curry, so that is definitely a popular request.
What are some of the top cuisine trends defining the future of catering for events? The world is becoming very conscious about the sustainability of how we will be able to keep up with the high demand for food with the current growth in population. Therefore, more plant-based meals are becoming trendier, with even the big franchises such as McDonald’s and Burger King getting on board and offering more vegetarian or plant-based meals. Global warming and the enormous impact it’s having on
ABOUT YVETTE MKHATSHWA Yvette graduated in 2010 with a National Diploma in Hospitality Management in Professional Cookery. During her in-service training, she worked in several fine-dining establishments, including Beluga Restaurant in Cape Town as well as Sun City. She had the opportunity to work abroad in Doha, Qatar, for two years at the Grand Heritage Hotel. She began her journey with ATKV in 2016, where she started as a head chef at Buffelspoort before being promoted to assistant restaurant manager. In 2018, Yvette became ATKV Natalia’s restaurant manager, and she currently manages the venue’s restaurant, as well as the shop. Yvette feels that ATKV has allowed her to experience significant growth within her career, giving her a lot of exposure.
raw materials is putting more pressure on the culinary world to find ways to plate food and have the consumer buy into the idea.
Where do you hope to be in the next 5-10 years? Being a mother of three as well as being career-driven, my honest answer would be to find a great balance between the two. I would like to be successful in my career, and success to me isn’t being well known or famous, but rather contributing to our industry in an impactful manner. I want to help the less fortunate access more sustainable means of nutrition and address food insecurity while educating more people about making healthier nutritional choices.
What advice would you give to anyone aspiring to break into the culinary industry? Don’t limit yourself – we all have our own stories. The culinary industry is difficult but extremely rewarding! Make sure to be spiritually aligned because you’re going to need it on the hard days when you feel like giving up. Allow yourself to grow and be challenged, and never be complacent. Remember: success is determined by your own effort, so be creative, passionate, and in tune with the world around you. Be the best version of yourself and celebrate all your milestones, even the little ones.
36 • MEETINGS l MAY/JUNE 2022 www.theplanner.guru
