In an exhilarating finale of Top Chef South Africa on SABC 3, Johannesburg’s Annemarie Robertson was crowned South Africa’s first ever Top Chef.
The ‘cheftestant’, who quickly stood out as a firm favourite to win with her perfectionist approach, not only beat 13 other established chefs to the coveted title, she also walked away with R100 000 in prize money.
The reality cooking series saw chefs from across South Africa compete in various culinary challenges and was whittled down to two finalists.
In the final, Robertson, executive chef at Burrata, Bocca & Open Door, and Ayabonga Gope, chef at The Deck House in Cape Town, were given four hours to produce the best four-course meal of their lives.
In an interesting twist, the previously eliminated contestants also made an appearance in the Top Chef SA kitchen and the two finalists had to select three sous chefs each from their fellow former competitors.
Robertson chose to cook alongside Devin Hogan, Martine Christian and Linda Mazibuko, while Gope had Sachin Gosai, Phillip Nel and Hezron Louw cooking in his corner.
Robertson and Gope’s very distinct leadership styles in the kitchen were interesting to watch with both chefs whipping up fascinating menus. Gope’s menu included grilled pork served with avo purée, pickled onion and cauliflower and toasted tacos, followed by three-way sous-vide quail.
His main course was beef bourguignon with dauphinoise potatoes and dessert was shortbread mille-feuille with cherry ice cream. Robertson’s menu included spinach and artichoke tortellini followed by cured Norwegian salmon with avocado and basil puree, then a main course of sous-vide lamb rack with garlic puree, fried gnocchi, chilli tomato relish and bone marrow jus.
Her dessert was a blue cheese mousse with spiced walnuts, sherry jelly, puffed wild rice and chives.
One of South Africa’s most celebrated chefs, Luke Dale-Roberts joined fellow judges Lesego Semenya, Neill Anthony and Lorna Maseko at the judge’s table. He said it was great to see the chefs in action and they both did well and presented some really good food.
Reflecting on Gope’s Top Chef SA journey, the judges commended him for his good attitude and for being a sponge keen to soak up all the feedback he received in each episode. Robertson was dubbed the most consistent ‘cheftestant’, who despite being very organised sometimes, lacked faith in her own skills.
Ultimately it was Robertson’s menu that won the judges over.
An overwhelmed Robertson said, “I wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for my boss who encouraged me to enter and for my husband and parents who got me where I am.”
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