The Chef’s Table Chapter

The Goodness Guru, chef Lisl Bennett, shares inspiration and insight regarding all things food…

By Lisl Bennett

For the past few months I’ve had the amazing privilege to be part of The Chef’s Table kitchen. Driven by the passion and vision of Chef Kayla-Ann Osborne and led by the experience and generosity of Soti Sonitis and Sean Gray, this new restaurant has taken Umhlanga’s busy Chartwell Drive by storm.  We’ve all been solidly caught up in the excitement of bringing this project to life… a restaurant that celebrates the chefs and the process of bring food from the farm to the table, rather than hiding it away.

Working within this team was such an incredible experience. Although I was only there for a few months, it was such an all-consuming immersion into real food culture that I feel I’m coming up for air in an all new world of inspired cooking, real produce and brave bold combinations.

Working in a kitchen such as this one is a dream for any chef – a vibrant team of chefs who love what they do, a state of the art kitchen kitted out with all the latest appliances. A kitchen that’s not stuffed into a back corner but given pride of place in the centre of the restaurant. This open kitchen concept is about really connecting people with their food and its production. Production not just in the kitchen but all the way from the farm. As a nutritionist, I think it’s brilliant and so important in this day and age that we ask where our food comes from and how it was made – how else can we be sure we’re putting goodness into our bodies?

As a chef, my favourite thing about this time was the connection with actual farmers, mostly from the Midlands. They delivered their own produce, proudly and ethically grown. Stoneground flour that’s GMO free, free range eggs, raw honey, grass fed beef, swordfish pulled from the sea that morning… not many restaurants offer such fresh, seasonal and authentic food in abundance.

My favourite dish to plate was the Baby Beet starter – Herb cream cheese from the gorgeous Gourmet Greek, Roast Baby Beets so vibrant and delish, the pop of colour and sweetness from an orange gel and then those extra little touches that only come from giving chefs free range to experiment and play with flavours and textures… beetroot meringue and beetroot dust. Seriously my description is not doing it justice. You’ll have to head down to Umhlanga to taste it yourself… when it’s in season of course.

Heirloom Baby Beetroot Salad

That’s another great aspect of this kitchen, the chefs are most definitely never bored. The menu changes from day to day depending what’s in season. I’ve see Chef Kayla quickly de-bone three pigs’ heads and turn them into the most delectable tender pork roulade stuffed with apple and clove and topped with a simple piccalilli and quince. Yes, you heard me, quince such an odd, old fashioned fruit and just too yum when cooked down to a sweet puree.

Yes the hours were mad and ultimately that’s why I’ll be heading back to Ballito soon to tackle the Café at Sugar Rush. But I feel being part of this vision has been the the opportunity of a lifetime and I’ll be visiting my friends in The Chef’s Table kitchen as often as possible to see what they have to offer as the seasons change.

A Trio of Seafood Platter