News just in that George Jardine will take over from Rudi Liebenberg, as Executive Chef at Cape Town’s iconic pink landmark, The “Nellie” on 1 February.

The Scottish-born chef has cooked all over the world in places like Europe, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, and brings a wealth of culinary experience. After moving to South Africa in 2006, George opened Jardine Restaurant in Cape Town’s Bree Street and was named Eat Out Chef of The Year two years in a row. The restaurant was also chosen as one of the world’s 100 best by The S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2008.

Chef George Jardine

The following year, the acclaimed chef moved out to the Stellenbosch winelands to open Jordan Restaurant on the eponymous wine estate – which would go on to make a regular appearance on the Eat Out top 20 list and where some of his cult favourite menu items were established, like the mussels en papillote and the honey and poppyseed soufflé.

Having worked in hotels before, George is excited about returning to the environment again. 

“It wasn’t a difficult decision for me to make at all,” he says. “The Mount Nelson is such an iconic property in Africa. Before I owned restaurants, I worked in hotels and it’s different from having your business; the scale is different, there are different areas with certain skills needed and then the opportunity to work with a hospitality group like Belmond – which is known for having the best in food and beverage, is going to be amazing. The structure and support to train and nurture young chefs is something that really excites me and I’m looking forward to developing the team.”

With that said, one of the members of the team is none other than celebrated pâtissier, Vicky Gurovich who has made a return to the hotel as executive pastry chef.

“Vicky is without a doubt the best pastry chef in South Africa and the stuff she’s doing with the high teas is absolutely incredible,” George says.

 

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A spokesperson for the hotel told Eat Out, “Rudi Liebenberg left dauntingly big shoes to fill, however, we are completely delighted to welcome our new Executive Chef George Jardine. George’s deeply respected reputation as a culinary genius, a mentor and a hugely experienced F&B and kitchen manager, is the perfect match for our iconic hotel and for the various roles he will play in orchestrating the journey of culinary creativity on which the Mount Nelson is embarking.”

 

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