Gordon Reynholds, Head Chef of Orange Restaurant 

Where did you grow up?
In Bedfordshire, Britain. I was a quiet and shy young man, but that soon changed when I did my studies to become a chef at Buxton University.

What made you decide to settle in South Africa?
After eight years of working in Britain I met my wife, who was working in a hotel just up the road. She is South African and was on a two-year working visa. After one and a half years together she left to go back home to do her studies. Five months on I had booked a one-way ticket with a hunger to experience more in the culinary world and to be back with my girl. I arrived in Pretoria in June 2006 and have not looked back since. I’m enjoying the everyday tackles of life in this alien environment.

Do you remember the first dish you ever cooked professionally?
Yes, I believe it was a scallop dish. It makes my mouth water every time I think about it. Seared scallops on a spicy tomato relish, frisée lettuce, aubergine crisps and olive tapenade. Great!

What in your opinion are the top three restaurants in the world? And why?
A very difficult question. Let me answer with the best restaurants that I have been to and think are top. First, ‘No 5 restaurant’ in Gloucestershire, Britain. A very small twenty-cover restaurant, with only one chef and his helper. The chef knew that I was also chef and prepared a twelve-course meal for me.  I had never seen anything like it before and haven’t since. The second top restaurant for me would be ‘Riber Hall restaurant’ which was where I did my placement at University. One year, on my father’s birthday I wanted to spoil him and show him what my career was about. The head chef made us a great meal, about six courses, brilliantly made. The last restaurant for me is the ‘Slug and Lettuce’, an easy going nice bar and restaurant chain in Britain—simply because that was where I took my wife on our first date four years ago and we had a great duck platter.

Do you have any embarrassing moments culinary or otherwise?
I have many. One was in my early days, when I was still a commis in the kitchen. It was late and we were cleaning up after a busy Saturday night’s service. I was working with another commis chef, a few months more experienced than me. In that kitchen we used to make our fish stock purely from live mussels and vanilla pods, tastes great, but it’s very expensive. The head chef used to make all the stocks at this time, and he left this one in a large bucket to cool down in the pastry kitchen. So the other commis chef thought it was a big bucket of soapy water, so he threw his cloth in and started wiping down all the benches with the fish stock. I have never seen a chef run after one of his commis chefs with a knife before (or since). He was so angry, but that commis lived another day.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
In my early days I got my inspiration from Garry Rhodes, a T.V chef who was creating great British classics in his restaurants. I soon found someone even more inspiring, and I still look up to him, Gordon Ramsay. He has so much passion and flair. Apart from those celebrity chefs, I was always inspired by the head chefs I worked under. One of which truly helped me in pastry, John Wheelan, a master chef in Britain.

Any advice for aspiring chefs?
Being a chef is not an easy job. There is so much competition all around you. My advice, start from the bottom and work your way up through the ranks, and work towards a goal.