Jacques Swart, a renowned chef, discusses his journey as a chef from humble beginnings to Executive Chef at The President Hotel.
Tell us about your career as a Chef?
My career as a chef has taken me to many places around the globe. I have met and worked with talented, hard working & like minded people. I have learnt how to be a better leader and curious culinary student and also learnt how not to be. It is however a journey – so much more to achieve, so much more to learn.
How long have you been with the hotel?
2 ½ years
Why did you want to become a chef?
To create amazing things with natural resources. The finesse and dedication it takes to consistently produce high-quality results and the adventure this career can take one on is amazing.
How would you describe the food in your restaurant?
We offer a well balanced a la carte menu guided mainly by the local market with seasonal menus. We recently launched our new summer menu with some fresh dishes. Some are more rustic than others but the focus is and will always stay on produce quality and taste.
How often do you change your menu?
We do so twice a year in a major capacity but smaller changes happen right throughout the year based on seasonality, sales and feedback received.
Is there a surprising ingredient that you use often?
I enjoy featuring sumac. The lemon flavour one gets from sumac is like no other
How do you manage food waste recycling and promote source sustainability at your hotel?
We recently launched a food waste tracking system that allows us to understand and learn from the quantity of waste generated monthly and our habits (good and bad). We can now identify how many kilograms of food scraps goes into the bins. This waste does not land up on the landfills of our municipalities and that is where the win comes in for me – less CO2 immissions into the atmosphere, less trees having to be planted to rehabilitate the loss of oxygen required to even out the ratio (this is on a very small scale compared to the global waste, but every bit helps). We plan to our best ability to cater accordingly to not over order and over produce food, when we get this wrong we have the means to turn it into dishes served in our employee restaurant so not to go to waste.
What would we find in your fridge at home?
Besides the basics such as milk and eggs, a few more exotic items such as Amarena Fabri Cherries , tahini paste and Green Thai paste.
Best lesson you ever learnt in the kitchen?
The importance of team dynamics: No task is too small or too big. No person’s job is any more or less important than yours. Everyone plays a valuable integral part in making the boat sail. A culture of team mobility and care is of the utmost importance.
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