Albertonian guides the future culinary artists

NICO Lombaard (40), a resident of Florentia, is celebrating his 10th year of being at the forefront of training the new generations of chefs at Capsicum, a leading culinary school in South Africa.

He has held the position of principal of Capsicum’s Boksburg campus, where he has a hand in teaching the art of cooking to students of all different ages.

“I’ve always been interested in cooking,” said Nico about the origins of his career. His first experiences with cooking involved helping his mother in the kitchen. “I would stand on a chair and stir the pots.”

On a personal note

Nico has been an Alberton resident for 19 years, having moved here after studying hospitality management at university. He has, however, always had ties to Alberton, having gone to high school at Hoërskool Alberton.

“I worked my way up from waiter to manager and later became a restaurant owner,” he said. “I completed qualifications in both hospitality management and as a chef. After 10 years in the industry I decided on a change of pace and wanted to move into academia, so I joined the Capsicum team as principal of the Boksburg branch in 2009.”

A decade of service

The RECORD spoke to Nico about his experience as a principal at Capsicum.

“The work is very rewarding. You get to see the way the students grow from where they started.”

According to Nico it is very interesting to compare their cooking skills before and after they complete their courses. After a decade of service at Capsicum, Nico has experienced some changes over the years.

“Over the last few years, one of the obvious major changes was when Capsicum joined ADvTECH, becoming more of a powerhouse in the hospitality-training arena. I’ve also noticed a change in the calibre of students, as more people become aware of the opportunities in the field through social media and television.”

Bringing people together

Nico says his favourite part of food is the togetherness it brings.

“Whenever there is food involved it inevitably becomes a platform for friends to get together.”

He has also shared his love of food with his family. Nico has been married to his wife Zané for 17 years and together they have two children aged 11 and 6. Both of his children have expressed interest in food, with his eldest considering following in her dad’s footsteps as a chef.

To anyone with dreams of being a chef, Nico has the following advice: “You need to be passionate. You must be willing to work hard as it is a hard industry. In our times social media and networking are very important.”

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