Award-winning Joburg restaurant Marble has recently appointed Tyler Clayton as the new Head Chef. Formerly the Sous Chef at Saint, Tyler has moved across to Marble to take over the reins from Mike van Rooyen who has left to pursue interests overseas.
“We have always believed in promoting from within – the team needs to be rewarded for good work, loyalty and initiative,” says partner and Chef David Higgs. “I can think of no one better than Tyler to fill the massive shoes that Mike has left. Mike was also a good mentor for him, so Tyler really does understand the position. We all wish him well.”
Clayton can barely remember a time when he wasn’t involved in cooking in some way, saying that it has always been a passion.
“My culinary journey started as a kid having the pleasure of cooking for my brother and his friends. I grew up in Johannesburg and have always loved food, but it was only when I left school and moved to Cape Town that the love became a passion.
Born in Johannesburg, the younger of two boys, Clayton matriculated in 2011, before moving to Cape Town in 2012 to study a Bcom in Management Science at Stellenbosch. Studying was not for him, and after an initial failed change to studying a BA in marketing, he made the move to culinary school where he says he was finally studying something he was passionate about.
“I got fed up sitting down the whole day and studying books that I had no interest in,” he says with a laugh.
.Asian-style grilled aubergine, baba ganoush, kimchi peanut brittle & sesame dressing.
Clayton graduated with a Diploma in Culinary Arts before spending a year working at the Woodstock Bakery, before Chef Paul Hartmann from the Academy and he introduced me to Chef David Higgs from Marble, and in 2017 moved back to Johannesburg to join the teams at Marble and Saint as a Chef de Partie.
Still relatively young at just 25, Clayton lists his career highlights as being the high-profile individuals that he has gotten to work alongside as well as the support he has received from the team at Marble.
“I think I bring a great energy and passion to Marble,” explains Clayton. “This industry challenges me and allows me to put all my energy into something – I don’t believe any other job would bring me the instant joy that seeing the reaction on someone’s face when I cook for them does.”
Given this senior position, the expectation is likely that Clayton’s talent for cooking will slowly morph into a signature taste, but for now, his mandate is to keep the restaurant’s quality high and keep delivering the signature dishes. It’s a role and an opportunity that the young chef will likely relish, as when asked what his favourite foods are he struggles to pinpoint any one dish.
“Much like asking what my favourite dish is I find it extremely difficult to pinpoint a cuisine that I favour of the rest. What I can tell you is, my go-to dinner is anything cooked by my mother; and my top guilty pleasure, has to be my love for Nandos,” he says.
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