Chef Martha Williams from the 5-star Plettenberg Hotel has been invited to cook at the Cape Malay Food Festival at Vasco’s, Hilton in Abu Dhabi from 28 September to 6 October 2018. She will present her delicious South African recipes in her unique Cape Malay cooking style. 

During this week she will present a special Cape Malay menu with meals like Bobotie, Tomato Bredie and Masala Fish to name a few. For desert she will present true South African treats like Malva Pudding and koeksisters. Martha will share her stories and tell visitors more about her love for the Cape Malay cuisine.

Williams said: "Food is an incredibly important part of Cape Malay culture. Our food reaches into a rich history and our culinary traditions have travelled down foodways stretching around the world. This is what makes Vasco’s the perfect venue for people in Abu Dhabi to try out Cape Malay’s cuisine.”

Martha got exposure to traditional dishes and ingredients typical of the Cape Malay style - a fusion of spice-rich and fragrant east-Asian cuisines that developed in the kitchens of the Cape during the 17th century – and her innate understanding of flavours and hard work saw Martha being promoted to Head Chef at the hotel’s newly launched Cape Malay restaurant. 

The restaurant was a huge success, proving immensely popular with both local and international guests and Martha established an excellent reputation leading to her ultimately being invited to present her Cape Malay culinary skills at a number of event, in South Africa and abroad. A flagbearer for Cape cuisine, she has travelled extensively to represent The Liz McGrath Collection in a variety of destinations, from Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong and Taipei, and now Abu Dhabi.

Martha has returned once more to The Plettenberg, where she’s able to create the authentic flavour-filled dishes she loves that draw on her personal narrative. Her favourite food to prepare is that which reflects her Cape Malay heritage – beloved traditional dishes like bobotie (a baked beef-mince dish using spices and topped with egg), pickled fish (firm white fish typically pickled using curry spices), and seafood potjies (a stew slow-cooked in a special pot over a fire). 

For more information visit www.theplettenberghotel.com

It’s roasting at The Conservatory at Cellars-Hohenort every Sunday!

Spend quality time with friends & family over a traditional Sunday Roast at The Conservatory at Cellars-Hohenort in Cape Town. Enjoy slow cooked roast beef, crispy roast potatoes and fresh seasonal garden vegetables. And what better than to end off your lunch with a traditional Yorkshire pudding.

VENUE:  The Conservatory at Cellars-Hohenort, 93 Brommersvlei Road, Constantia

PRICE: R145 per person Booking is essential.

Contact The Cellars-Hohenort on +27 (0) 21 794 2137 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For more information visit www.thecellars-hohenorthotel.com  

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Louise De Kock via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +27 (0) 21 685 0169

Dining out is not a binary experience according to Greenhouse’s Executive Chef Peter Tempelhoff, whose menus are meticulously designed around a holistic sensory dining experience. Whether it’s a smell, image or feeling that inspires, Peter creates modern, complex dishes that earned Greenhouse Restaurant the Eat Out accolade of Top Five restaurants to visit in 2017. Laying further testimony to Greenhouse’s legacy of excellence, Eat Out has billed the restaurant as one of the Top Ten eateries to visit for eight years running. To boot, Greenhouse Restaurant took home the trophy for best South African Restaurant of the Year in the 2011 Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards. This string of praise proves Peter to be a stalwart on the South African culinary map, and a shape-shifter behind the country’s rise in stature as an international destination for progressive world-class cuisine.

Peter began his chef training in Cape Town at the Institute of Culinary Arts, before being awarded a bursary to study abroad at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America following which he made a trans-Atlantic leap to London and worked his way through a series of Michelin-starred restaurants. 

Mentored by globally renowned chefs, Peter cut his teeth at London’s Quo Vadis with Marco Pierre White at the helm before moving on to Hambleton Hall under Aaron Patterson, a restaurant that boasted a Michelin star. Building on this experience, Peter took his knives to the Michelin starred Zafferano under the guidance of renowned Italian chef, Giorgio Locatelli and in 2005, his British tenure culminated in a move to American Brasserie, Automat where he crafted the restaurant to be one of the best places to dine in London, heralding nods from Harpers And Queen Restaurant Awards (nominated for Restaurant of the Year) and a vote as Top Table in London 2005.  

Arriving back in South Africa in 2007, Peter was appointed Executive Chef at Grande Provence Heritage Wine Estate in Franschhoek where his local renown quickly grew amounting in his being voted Sunday Times Chef of the Year.

Tempelhoff moved to The Liz McGrath Collection in 2008 where he was tasked with overseeing the 5 kitchens across the portfolio. During Peter’s tenure as Executive Chef, the collection has been awarded numerous accolades – including holding a record nine stars at once throughout the group from Rossouw’s Restaurant Guide. The SeaFood at The Plettenberg was named best Hotel Restaurant on the Garden Route for 2009 and 2010 by CXPress Newspaper. Peter has also put The Cellars-Hohenort Hotel on the culinary map through the Greenhouse’s ongoing success, which consistently draws awards as well as a discerning foodie crowd.

When asked “why cooking?”, Chef Peter cites a 7-course dinner, prepared by Raymond Blanc at The Grande Roche Hotel in Paarl in 1996, as the food moment that made him want to become a chef saying, “Each dish that Raymond cooked was beyond superb – beautifully created, simple and balanced; I told myself that I would like to cook like him one day. There have been other great meals along the way, but none could come close to the meal that affirmed my decision to become a chef. It was the meal of a lifetime!”

Peter is inspired by the abundant and diverse resources offered by the local landscape (ocean, garden, veld and farmlands) and the rich food history and heritage of South Africa. His menus incorporate innovative cooking and preparation methods and his dishes are always plated with meticulous attention to detail and inspiring levels of artistry – he’s constantly experimenting with new flavours and ideas, stretching the boundaries and elevating the Cape’s dining experience.  

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The CEO of The Liz McGrath Collection, Jacqui Elliot is a hospitality veteran with a formidable career history spanning over 30-years. Having earned her stripes across inter-continental and local hotel brands, Jacqui joined The Collection by Liz McGrath as Chief Executive Officer in May 2014 and carries responsibility for the group’s three hotels and overall company performance. Not only does Jacqui bring vast experience to The Liz McGrath Collection, she’s synonymous with excellent leadership qualities, outstanding communication skills, a dynamic personality and (a prerequisite for anyone in the hospitality industry), an unfailing sense of humour.

The Liz McGrath Collection was founded by its namesake Mrs Liz McGrath, one of the few women in the world to own three hotels. Since Jacqui’s appointment, she’s been steadfast in keeping the legacy of the successful and powerful businesswomen alive. Commenting on her mentor Jacqui says, “I had the privilege of working for and learning from Mrs M for only eight months before she passed, but in that short time I was truly inspired by what she had achieved as a woman in the hospitality industry. It’s important to me that we maintain her standards of excellence across all our hotels’ operations.”

Jacqui’s repertoire is firmly entrenched in launching and managing demanding hotel portfolios with her signature, considered touch. On the approach that a boutique hotel demands, Jacqui comments, “Small hotels give you the opportunity to go the extra mile and make magic for your guests. Fewer rooms mean that they vary and have unique character, and that you can offer more personal service and a more customised experience, which sets the experience apart from one you’d have at a large corporate venue."

Over the course of her career, Jacqui has seen much development across the continent. “Africa as a commercial and tourism hub continues to be very exciting. The number of hotel groups represented is constantly growing and with this comes expertise and the opportunity to develop and train local talent,” she says. This bodes well too for more equitable gender representation, as more women are being appointed to senior positions. “During my time in central Africa, this was still mostly unheard of. I recall featuring on the front page of a local newspaper - my appointment clearly being newsworthy.

”Jacqui has often been the only woman in a boardroom environment, and maintains that it comes down to exuding confidence. “It can be tricky to be a woman in that context, and I don’t believe it will ever change completely. I think it’s up to each individual to prove their own worth, and one way to ensure your standing is to know your subject very, very well.” 

It’s not just determination and ambition that denotes success in her eyes, though. Jacqui believes that humility is one of the most powerful attributes you can possess. When it comes to dealing with colleagues, clients and customers, she feels emotional intelligence is absolutely crucial. “If you can master this and manage your team with well-developed EQ skills you will find that you enjoy your role so much more,” she adds. 

Job appreciation is essential in such a demanding role. “The industry does require long hours and one often has to forego special events in your personal life in order to manage the business well. But I’ve always been driven to land that next big position and most importantly, I’ve had heaps of fun on this journey,” concludes Jacqui. 

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Contact: Louise De Kock via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +27 (0) 21 685 0169