Previous Eat Out Chef of the Year winner, Reuben Riffel, of Reubens in Franschhoek has recently won the ‘By Invitation Only’ Unilever Foodsolutions Chef of the Year competition.

The exciting competition involved six chefs receiving a surprise basket of ingredients. An hour later they had to submit a three-course menu to the judges and then present it within three hours.

Reuben created a feast…Thai-spiced crayfish broth with crayfish asparagus and vanilla salad, tuna soy and chevin tartare for starters. For mains – crocodile kebab with fig-wrapped impala, Italian-style wild mushroom mealie meal, sage and honey roasted butternut crème. Dessert consisted of white chocolate pannacotta with lime tequila syrup, dark fondant, rhubarb and strawberry.

The other top chefs who competed for the R30 000 grand prize were Arnold Tanzer (Food on the Move, Johannesburg), Chris van Wyk (Amaqueta Foods, George), David Grier (previously of De Oude Welgemoed Restaurant, Cape Town) and Jean-Pierre Siegenthaler (Park Hyatt Hotel, Johannesburg).

Previous winner Leonard Loxton (Compass Group SA at Microsoft, Johannesburg) also took part.

Go Reuben!