Vincent Ngobeni, 27-year-old sous chef at Meropa Casino and Entertainment World and winner of the Limpopo leg of the prestigious InfoChef culinary competition will go through to the national finals of the Unilever Chef of the Year Competition taking place in 2020.
Ngobeni, the man behind some of the mouth-watering food at Meropa Casino and Entertainment World’s restaurants, is the first ever chef hailing from Limpopo to excel in this competition.
Describing himself as proactive with an upbeat and positive attitude, this sous chef was quoted to have said he was passionate about quality, health and safety. He admits to having an eye for detail, excellent organisational skills and highly efficient methods of going about his work in the kitchen. Ngobeni enjoys being with his peers and says that he is always looking for ways to better his circumstances.
He graduated from the National Youth Chefs Training Programme offered by the South African Chefs Association in 2014.
“This programme has a proud tradition of upskilling young people who have dreams to pursue a career in the culinary field,” Ngobeni said.
He also attributes his success to the training and support from the Limpopo Chefs Academy, the South African Chefs board of directors, his Meropa family and heads of department for believing in him, the Department of Tourism, his fellow chefs and all the sponsors that made the event a success.
Ngobeni’s list of other achievements on his journey towards becoming a food expert include an award in recognition of excellence performance and achievement at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 2012, being a Sun City chef of the year finalist in 2013, being a finalist in the City and Guilds student cooking competition and being the driving force behind the opening of a new a la carte restaurant at Sun City called Tree Tops Bistro and Bar in 2014.
In 2016, he was appointed by the South African Chefs board of directors to be part of the North West committee, being responsible for the development and skills of upcoming chefs and was appointed, in the same year, to open a new restaurant at Sun City called Kwena Garden (at the crocodile sanctuary).
In 2017, he was selected by Sun international’s Group Executive chef, Ronald Ramsamy, to participate in the planning and opening of the Time Square complex in Menlyn, Pretoria.
Congratulating Ngobeni, General Manager of Meropa Casino and Entertainment World, Peter Guthrie reportedly said: “We are exceptionally proud and honoured to have Chef Vincent on our team at Meropa. We congratulate him on this latest accolade. We know that this is just the beginning for him.”
Story: Herbert Rachuene
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