If you thought things moved slowly in small towns and the winelands, think again. In a flurry of activity during which a number of pieces fell quickly into place, renowned award-winning chef Christiaan Campbell has been named as the new executive chef and head of food and beverage at Grande Roche Hotel in Paarl. He will assume his duties on September 1, 2023.

“Relocating to Grande Roche was the furthest thought on my mind two or three weeks back,” says Christiaan, who has been living and working in McGregor for the past year. “Out of the blue I received a message from Ian Manley saying he had seen my Instagram post of my project reaching completion in McGregor. Ian brought to my attention that the owners of the Grande Roche were looking for someone ‘top notch’ to head their restaurant offering.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Grande Roche Hotel & Restaurant (@grande_roche)

The timing could not have been better. Christiaan and his partner, Moya, were poised to embark on a variety of projects in and outside the realms of hospitality.

“We had already secured a gorgeous new home situated in the mountains and nature, in the winelands. I soon realised that the message that I had received was serendipitous. Or what one could call a meaningful coincidence,” says Christiaan. “One thing led to another and before I knew it, and after meeting owners Theresa and Hansie Britz and director Johann Bouwer, I was happily committed to the Grande Roche and am at the ready to play a part in its future.”

Christiaan’s work extends far beyond just being a chef in charge of a kitchen and all that entails. He and Moya run LivingExchanges, where one of the key goals is to build staff engagement in the workplace. This was implemented at Temenos and Tebaldi’s in McGregor, and will be applied at Grande Roche, among other projects in the hospitality industry.

“I have a personal statement that I live by which is ‘enabling individuals so that collectively we can drive change’. I strive for what I have coined ‘Conscious Collaboration’, synonymous in both my personal and working life,” explains Christiaan. This is achieved through learning a new life supporting language, creating the conditions for cooperation by taking each other’s needs into consideration in a collective purpose-driven environment.

“Under the conditions I have described, it becomes possible to enable fertile grounds to grow a team that is there to be of meaningful service to both guests, service providers, themselves, and the Grande Roche as a whole.”

A winner of the Eat Out Woolworths Sustainability Award in 2018, when he was at Boschendal, Christiaan has a theory that sustainability is made possible “through the collective outcomes of regenerative systems. I will, with my team’s support, look at the fine detail that influences the conditions which help shape guests’ experiences,” he promises.

“At the end of the day, we want to strive for a guest to feel nurtured. This is achieved through using nutrient-dense ingredients, prepared and served by a team that thinks and acts in a life-supportive way.”

Relocating from McGregor is going to make Paarl and Stellenbosch feel like bustling metropolises. “I always joke that living in McGregor is like being married – your behaviour is reflected back at you at lightning speed, which makes for fun and interesting living,” says Christiaan. “It has been an absolute treat to have experienced the village of McGregor and its beautiful people.”

For more decadent food stories and mouthwatering restaurant reviews, join over 20 000 other Eat Out fans and get our weekly newsletter straight to your inbox!