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A LOCAL LAD who has been in and out of the Helderberg building his career as a top South African chef, has returned to head up the kitchen at the upmarket Lady Phillips Restaurant on Vergelegen Wine Estate.

Henrico Grobbelaar was part of the culinary team at the restaurant for a six month stint a few years ago, but left to broaden his horizons. In May he returned to take up the new job, preparing a new menu for the restaurant that re-opens this week after its annual winter break.

Henrico is a past learner of Hendrik Louw Primary School in Strand. After completing high school at the Bellville Technical School, where he studied engineering, he spent six months working at Denell Aviation, but "hated every minute". He set a course for his other love - cooking - and enrolled at the Granger Bay Hotel School.

Starting fresh had its downside. Three months' on-the-job training in a professional kitchen saw him peeling vegetables and learning the job from scratch.

But once he had it down pat, the world became his oyster. He spent some time as a chef on chartered yachts in the US before returning to SA to join the Chefs Academy to further his studies and graduated first in his class.

His first job was at Vergelegen Wine Estate, as sous chef, in December 2005, but it lasted six months when he was lured away by an opportunity to work on a private yacht in America. "When I came back [to Somerset West], I bought the Lemons coffee shop and then went on to start a catering company, venturing into a specialisation in pastry," he says.

At the time, Grobbelaar was approached to help at the Rust-en-Vrede estate restaurant and remained there until April this year when the opportunity at Vergelegen arose.

During his short career, Grobbelaar has been voted Chaine des Rotisseurs Young Chef of the Year and represented SA at the Culinary Olympics, which he hopes to do again in Germany later this year.

The team consists of 16 members currently, but in a couple of weeks, the final 10 members will be announced.

Visual impact
Grobbelaar says the judging of the food is done firstly on visual impact and then on flavour - and only after the visual exams are passed satisfactorily. He is very excited about the competition and optimistic about his inclusion into the final team.

He has big dreams for the Lady Phillips kitchen; is keen to support local producers and has a focus on saving energy in the kitchen.

"I believe in discipline in the kitchen," says Grobbelaar, adding that he has "huge respect" for patience.

"That is the motto for my work," he says.

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