2020-03-01 Woolworths Taste

INTERVIEW

ANNETTE KLINGER

PORTRAIT

JAG COMMUNICATIONS

32 TASTE MARCH 2020

BUBBLING UNDER

Peter Duncan

It wasa holidayjobatReuben’sinFranschhoekwhenhewas 15 thatfirst

got the La Colombe junior sous chef hooked on life in a restaurant kitchen

TABLE TALK

I grewupinthesmallWestern

CapetownofSaron.Bothmy

parentsworkedduringtheday,somy

grandmotherdidmostof thecooking.

Oneof mybestthingswascominghome

aftera dayof playingcricketorrugbyand

findingherwaiting with a plate of home-

cookedfood.

Sundaylunchwasa bigthing.

Granwouldbeupat 5:30amto cook

becausechurchwasat 10andthefood

hadto bedonesoit couldbekeptin the

warmingdrawer.Roastpotatoesand

chicken,braaitjoppies, cauliflowerand

broccoliwithbéchamel...still

my favourite kind of food.

At15,I gota holiday

jobworkinginthe

kitchenatReuben’s

inFranschhoek.I ended

uphelpingReuben’smom,

Sylvia,makethestaffmeals.

I wasrivetedbytheenergy

in thekitchen:seeingthe

levelof discipline,therespect

everyonehadforthehead

chef,howordersgotcalled

andeveryoneresponded,

“Oui!”.I wantedmore

of thatexcitement.

Afterschool,I enrolled

atthePrivateHotel

SchoolinFranschhoek.

Orientationdaywasona

MondayandI arrivedonthe

Tuesday,onlyto betoldthat,

becauseI waslate,I wouldn’t

beacceptedandcouldonly

enrolagainin sixmonths.

I wasdevastated.I managed

to geta meetingwiththe

academicdirector,Susina

Jooste,whoaskedmeif I’d

liketo workin a restaurant.

I saidyesimmediately,so

shearrangedaninterviewwithchef

ConstantijnHahndiek,whowasat Cafe

BonBonat thetime.I startedthenext day.

InthesixmonthsI spent

there,chefConstantijndrewup

a weeklytest,quizzingmeonterms

likebrunoiseandjulienne.Hemadeit

hisworkto teachmeeverythingbefore

I leftand,bythetimeI wentto chefschool,

I knewexactlywhatwasgoingon.He

reallyhelpedmeto getwhereI amtoday.

Aftermystudies,I founda job

atLeQuartierFrançaisunder

chefMargotJanse.I remember

one day I was plating two bowls of cold

beetrootsoupandsheaskedme,“How

longforthesoup?”.Withoutthinking,

I answered,“Tenseconds,chef.”She

cameandstoodnextto meandstarted

countingdown,“Ten,nine,eight...”

I managedto makeit in timeandwhen

I sentoutthedish,Margotjustlooked

at meandsmiled.Thatmademyday.

WhenMargot’sTheTasting

Roomclosed,ScotKirtonof

LaColombeopenedLaPetite

Colombeonthepremisesin 2016–

thesameyearhewonchefof theyear

at theEatOutawards.ChefJamesGaag

interviewedmeandI toldhim,“I’m

stayingwithyouguys.”I endedup

workingtherefortwoyears,working

mywayupto juniorsouschef,until

I moved to La Colombe in Constantia.

AtLaColombe,a regularwork

daystartsat8:30amandends

atmidnight.I alwaystryto bein the

kitchenby8 amso I’mthefirstpersonthere,

besidestheheadchef.ThiswayI cansteal

allthebestpotsandpans!Whileit’sstill

quiet,I phonein myorders,thenI look

at thepreplistsforthedifferentsections.

I’llpickouta jobfromeachsectionso

thatI cantakesomepressureoffandtry

to keepthestresslevelsin thekitchenlow.

Myphilosophyis if I makehappyfood

andI sendit outin a happymood,that

platewillputa smileona guest’sface.

Winningrestaurantoftheyearat

the 2019 EatOutawardsmeant

a lottoeveryoneatLaColombe.

It meanstheworldto me,at theage

of 24,to beableto saythatI work

underchefsJamesandScotat a restaurant

thatcompetesworldwide.Westrive

forperfectioneveryday,butwealso

try and have as much fun as possible.

Follow@chef_duncan95 and @lacolombect

on Instagram.

“If I makehappyfood

andI sendit outin

a happymood,that

platewillputa smile

on a guest’s face”

Peter Duncan