Ever wondered who the whiz behind your favourite dish is?
Chef Hennie Nel, the captain of the Spier Farm Café culinary ship, is not a fan of fancy, fussy cooking.
“For me, the secret to a great meal is honest, authentic and unpretentious food made with the best quality ingredients,” he says. Added care and passion are two more keys that make a dish delicious, he adds.
Here at the Farm Café, we’re committed to ensuring each and every guest is served an incredibly tasty meal. As I learnt all those years ago at culinary school – ‘one team, one dream’! Collaboration is the name of the game. That’s why love to teach, learn, listen and ask questions – and I expect my team members to do the same.
Chef Hennie didn’t find cooking; it found him. he helped out in his dad’s Sea Point bakery during school holidays and through this experience decided he wanted to become a chef, much to his father’s surprise.
Chef Hennie enrolled into the prestigious Zevenwacht Culinary School in 2004.
Even though those three years involved tough, hard work with long hours, it set the standard for what to expect moving forward with my career. Chef Tim Woodford taught me to respect the industry, its equipment and the guy standing next to you on the line.
Following graduation, Chef Hennie became a commis chef at Winchester Mansions before moving on to Gordon Ramsay’s Maze, working under Eric Bullpit at The Roadhouse, joining the Two Oceans Restaurant team and then progressing to Hotel Verde.
He transitioned to Spier in 2017, starting out at Vadas Smokehouse & Bakery, before moving to Spier Farm Café, which opened last year. The menu is tasty and relaxed, with pork, chickem, beef and eggs from Farmer Angus’ certified organic pastures. Chef Hennie’s favourite of homemade tagliatelle with courgettes, chilli, parsley, parmesan and olive oil will also hit the spot.
When Chef Hennie is not hard at work with his team in the kitchen, he’s hanging out with his family.
My four kids love kicking balls all over the place, so most of my free time is spent driving them to parks to just run free and kick their hearts out!
The Spier Farm Café overlooks the historic werf and is open daily from 8:00 to 16:30.
Directions to Spier Wine Farm
R310 Baden Powell Drive
Stellenbosch
021 809 1100
