When You Go - Dining in Joburg
‘Chef of the Year’ Wandile Mabaso By Sandisiwe Mbhele
Wandile Mabaso
J
ust named the Chef of the Year at the Luxe Restaurant Awards, Wandile Mabaso’s bright light in the culinary industry continues to shine. As this award is special to the Les Créatifs head chef, his first culinary award in South Africa after spending over a decade overseas and in many top restaurants across the globe, home recognition is a feeling like none other. Two weeks before the Sowetan-born chef was awarded with one of the most prestigious awards in culinary circles, he told us that industry intrigued him from early on. He described his childhood as a boy destined to be a chef, retelling a story of him painting what his restaurant would be at the age of nine years old, a tale his mother often reminds him of. However, at the time Mabaso didn’t know he could be a chef nor did he have any clue it could be a career. Mabaso says he always has been ambitious and as a student he realised French cuisine was the route to go, as many chefs who came before him were French and were highly successful. On why he became a trained French chef, Mabaso says that he fell in love with the techniques, the history and the philosophy of the country. “We have always known the French are rich in culinary history, for their beverages and champagne,” he added.
Highs and Lows The chefs’ inspirations were French chef legends Alain Ducasse, Pierre Gagnaire and Paul Bocuse. This era can be described as one of the pinnacle years in gourmet cooking. In his 20s, the chef spent most of his years abroad, living the life, jokingly adding he even had a 23-year-old Russian girlfriend at the time. Mabaso would find himself working with Ducasse and others in restaurants in France, New York, and Sweden to Russia years later which he describes as one of the many highlights of his career. One of the lowest moments of his career was the dreaded long shifts. “When I first moved to Paris I did not see the sun for three months. People don’t believe me because I started work at 5:30 in the morning and would finish work in the dark at midnight and I would sleep for about three to four hours and then get back at it.” Mabaso would spend his days off massaging his cramps but the passion kept him going even when he thought about coming home. Les Creatifs But the longing to return home did come. In 2018 he brought local dishes to an elevated manner from his French training and culinary travels into the heart of Les Créatifs restaurant in Bryanston, Johannesburg. The chef says his type of food isnt necessarily French cuisine. While he uses his background
32 | ABA Publications | Africa TRAVEL | May 2022
