Chef Minette Smith

She’s worked with world-renowned chefs at some of the country’s best restaurants, including Rust en Vrede and Five Hundred at The Saxon, and she wowed guests at the 2013 Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards with a dessert of ginger beer gel with yoghurt crumble, meringue sticks, compressed apple, yoghurt-and-apple mousse and verbena custard. Now Minette Smith has found a new culinary home with Chantel Dartnall at Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient.

“My passion in life is culinary arts, and I have a specific love for pastry and confectionery,” says Minette. From a young age, this pastry chef knew her chosen career would need to allow her to be creative, invent and truly inspire.

“I feel privileged to be a pastry chef, because the proof is always in the pudding,” she jokes. Minette is definitely on the same page as the team here at Eat Out, as her trademark is eating cake for breakfast. We asked Minette to share her other food favourites.

My favourite …

Place for pizza

I’m a big fan of a pizza with a thin base, and Andiccio 24 does it perfectly

Tapas

There’s a quaint little tapas restaurant in Melrose Arch. The food is always consistent and very tasty ­­– they definitely have the best baklava in town.

Sushi

I do enjoy sushi a lot. When in Cape Town I always visit Beluga. When up in Jozi, I head to Yamato, a tiny little Japanese Restaurant in Illovo.

A great view

I love the scenic drive from Gordon’s Bay to Hermanus along the coast.

Take-away coffee

Vovo Telo in Parkhurst does coffee just the way I like it. And Father Coffee in the heart of Jozi is not a bad choice, either.

A week-day breakfast

Eggs benedict is my favourite, and you can’t go wrong at The Whippet in Linden.

A lazy Saturday morning brunch

My perfect place to relax is salvationcafe at 44 on Stanley.

Sunday lunch with the family

In my mother’s kitchen at home. You can order anything you want and it’ll be made for you for a smile.

Blow-the-budget celebratory dinner

Rust en Vrede Restaurant in Stellenbosch will always be a favourite.

My guilty pleasure

I’ve got a very soft spot for gelato. I had the best gelato of my life in the small coastal town of Rimini in the South of Italy.

Market-style shopping

The Neighbourgoods Market. I love, love, love everything about it.

Recipe book

My first recipe book, White Heat by Marco Pierre White, and my pastry book, Frozen Desserts by Francisco J Migoya of the Culinary Institute of America.

Home-cooked dinner

My dad’s braaivleis.