The gloves are off in the kitchens at Durban’s Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani complex as the hotels young talent dish out their culinary skills in a cook off that is set to be the recipe for a delectable taste sensation.
Guests at Sky Venue will get the opportunity to dine on the Elangeni & Maharani’s finest culinary offerings on 30 May 2015 – the first of a monthly event, which is the culmination of an internal competition which will see junior chefs go head to head in a showdown to claim kitchen supremacy and serve their winning cuisine to diners.
The competition will provide the chefs with a platform to put their culinary skills to the test by creating their own three course meal using their favourite ingredients and flavours.
“Spirits are high in our kitchens as our junior chefs compete against their colleagues for a chance to wine and dine guests at Sky. We are delighted to afford our chefs the opportunity to explore their common passion for food by pushing the culinary boundaries. We at Southern Sun’s Elangeni & Maharani complex believe that creativity is airborne and has spawned young and inspiring talent in our kitchens” says Executive Chef Shaun Munro.
The line up for the first showcase of “Dine with our Stars” includes Kimberly Pillay, Philani Malunga (Kimberly’s assistant) and Mduduzi Shabangu.
Leading the team is Pillay – the newly appointed Commis Pastry Chef with a great love for food and pastry. As a young and vibrant chef she prides herself on bringing joy to others through her creative and interesting cuisine.
Mduduzi Shabangu, the assistant restaurant manager and wine steward at the Southern Sun Elangeni and Maharani’s Grill Jichana, will complement Pillay’s dishes with a fine sparkling wine selection from the Pongracz range.
“Being surrounded by such outstanding talent has prompted us to create this new monthly event at Sky to showcase our great line-up of chefs. Through this concept we aim to improve productivity and ensure the highest levels of quality in our kitchens by urging all our junior chefs to participate and explore their culinary expertise and to diversify our offering to the public,” said Samantha Croft, GM Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani Complex.
The internal competition also gives the chefs an opportunity to sharpen their culinary flairs ahead of the Cape legends Inter Hotel Challenge- an annual competition in which chefs and wine stewards from leading hotels across the country compete in a food and wine pairing challenge.
As many as twenty five hotels participate in this challenge. The first leg is a regional competition where the qualifiers go on to compete nationally in the final, which takes place in Cape Town.
After participating as an assistant chef in the competition last year, Pillay will this year compete as the candidate chef representing the Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani hotel.
“Participation in last year’s the Cape legends Inter Hotel Challenge was the most wonderful experience for our team – the excitement of this competition rippled throughout the kitchen resulting in fantastic teamwork and support for our candidates who in turn did the team and themselves extremely proud. It almost created fast tracked recognition and career growth opportunities for the respective candidates. We look forward to participating again this year – ready steady, cook!” says Munro.
To book a seat contact Garika Ramdarie
T: 031 362 1300 or e-mail: Garika.Ramdarie@tsogosun.com
Cost: R280 per person.