For the second consecutive year, Chef Johannes Richter of The LivingRoom at Summerhill Guest Estate has been invited to participate in the prestigious Ein Prosit food festival in Udine, Italy, taking place from 15–19 October 2025.

The festival brings together some of the world’s greatest chefs for a multi-day series of collaborations and gastronomic exchanges in the Friuli Venezia Giulia city.

This year, Richter, South Africa’s Eat Out Woolworths Financial Services Chef of the Year, will cook alongside a true culinary great and a pioneer of modern, locality-driven sustainable cooking, Chef Norbert Niederkofler, and the team from his Three-Star and Green Star Michelin restaurant, Atelier Moessmer, in Brunico, South Tyrol, in the Dolomites.

Richter, who has led the charge for sustainable cooking in South Africa, has long been inspired by Niederkofler, whose ‘Cook the Mountain’ philosophy has become a global movement focused on hyper-local, hyper-sustainable cooking. 

“Chef Norbert has certainly been a huge inspiration to us at The LivingRoom, and his ‘Cook the Mountain’ philosophy is definitely a benchmark for hyper-local cooking. I couldn’t be more excited to cook alongside him and his team,” says Chef Richter.

This marks the second Three-Star Michelin collaboration for Richter, the first being with Chef Himanshu Saini at Dubai’s renowned Trèsind Studio, which took place earlier this year.

In addition to cooking alongside the culinary great, Richter will also take part in a second dinner, which will see a host of the world’s most exciting talents join forces for a fire-led feast, with Richter cooking alongside India’s Johnson Ebenezer, Belgium’s Willem Hiele, Portugal’s Vasco Coelho Santo, and Italy’s own Gianluca Fusto.

After Ein Prosit, Richter, who has recently been awarded two knives at the internationally recognised Best Chef Awards, will also be spending time in Milan, where he’ll be mentoring his sous-chef, Luckson Mare, who will be representing South Africa at the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Grand Finale from 28–30 October.

In November, he will be taking part in the 10th edition of Gastromasa in Istanbul, one of the most significant gastronomy conferences, where he’ll speak shoulder to shoulder with some of the world’s top chefs.

From Durban to Dubai, Milan to Istanbul, Richter’s culinary journey continues to gather momentum on the world stage. Each event and collaboration underscores his passion for sustainable gastronomy, hyper-local cooking, and his commitment to showcasing KwaZulu-Natal’s culinary and cultural diversity, firmly cementing his place among the most exciting voices in modern global cuisine.