Former Pretoria east learner bags Michelin star for cooking

Thinus Van Der Westhuizen (33) has become the fourth South African Chef to be awarded the prestigious Michelin Star along with the United Arab Emirates restaurant.

“Since I was 14 years old, the love and passion for cooking started to brew as it was instilled by my parents and especially my father.”

A former Hoërskool Menlopark learner has done his school and Pretoria proud – even while living overseas.

Thinus Van Der Westhuizen (33) has become the fourth South African chef to be awarded the prestigious Michelin Star, along with the United Arab Emirates restaurant.

He has been employed as chef de cuisine at 99 Sushi Bar in Abu Dhabi for the past two years and eight months.

Speaking to Rekord, Van Der Westhuizen said he was inspired by his father to pursue a career in culinary arts.

“Since I was 14 years old, the love and passion for cooking started, as it was instilled by my parents and especially my father.”

He said at 16, he started working in a restaurant called Transkaroo, in the small town of Groot Brak near George.

“I worked there on holidays while still in school and then moved there to work permanently.”

Van Der Westhuizen said he then studied culinary art in 2008 at Eden School of culinary art in George where chef Francois Ferreira was headmaster and co-owner with chef Carol Wicht.

He later completed his second year to gain his City & Guilds diploma at Steyn’s culinary school in Pretoria where chef Maritha Steyn was headmaster and owner.

Van Der Westhuizen said years later his hard work paid off and he was thrilled to be part of a team bestowed the Michelin Star.

“We are a very dedicated team with a single goal, to be the best. So for us, it is an amazing feeling.

He said the team was now enthused even more to provide well-cooked and flavored dishes.

“As a well-known restaurant within the UAE, clientele that visit us expect a certain flair, style and professionalism, so we do the utmost to present and serve the best dishes with the freshest ingredients.”

Van Der Westhuizen said for 99 Sushi Bar and Restaurant, the award meant that the work really had to begin for the team.

“This is our first star, and it came quite unexpectedly. We can only see ourselves rising towards another star.”

Van Der Westhuizen said as one could not really apply to be in the Michelin guide, as Michelin brought in an unidentified agent to assess the food, he would work hard to ensure they were consistent and deserving of the award.
The agent could rock up at any moment disguised as a regular walk-in guest. So when we heard we had been selected for the guide, the team was absolutely ecstatic.

“Now we will have to keep pushing, and who knows what more we can achieve.”

“The whole game has changed as we are now a Michelin star establishment.”

“Guests from all over the world will be excited to try our cuisine and the same guests expect the standards of a Michelin restaurant as in other awarded restaurants anywhere in the world.”

Van Der Westhuizen advised other young chefs to bring passion, drive and love to what they do – then hold on to this passion.

“You must have the drive to learn and keep on learning every day to excel. Even I still learn new things every day.”

He said there were numerous sacrifices that one would need to make to succeed such as missing a lot of family events and other celebrations for the love of career.

He said he was inspired by the likes of his first mentors Stefan Jammeck and Anthony Bourdain.

“Jammeck inspired me from the start, he will always be the guy who set me on this path. There were a few more over the years.

“Bourdain and his book Kitchen Confidential has also had a massive impact on my life, the passion he had for what we do was instilled in me from an early age.”

In 2016, Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen made history by becoming the first South African chef to be awarded the Michelin Star before Jean Delport and Conor Toomey joined him in 2019.

Die Hoërskool Menlopark has since congratulated its 2007 matriculant Van Der Westhuizen on his award.

A Michelin Star is awarded to restaurants offering outstanding cooking and takes into account five universal requirements such as the quality of ingredients, the harmony of flavours, the mastery of techniques, the personality of the chef expressed through their cuisine and consistency both across the entire menu and over time.

Here are the Star meanings:

– 1 star: A very good restaurant in its category
– 2 stars: Excellent cooking, worth a detour
– 3 stars: Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

Source: Rekord Pretoria