Culinary jetsetter dons head chef toque in time for Valentine's

Is there anything not to love about a seared rack of lamb with confit carrots and seasonal sides as a main course?

This Valentine’s Day executive sous chef Mthobeli “Sunshine” Ndaleni will put his personal stamp on fine dining at one of the Eastern Cape’s premier hotels for the first time.

He was recently tasked with running the very same kitchen at the Radisson Blu in Gqeberha he first worked in as a dish washer years earlier.

Having his dishes spring to life at the establishment’s Tabú Grill, Bar and Lounge eatery is the culmination of a journey that has literally taken him to the ends of the earth and back.

It started when the Radisson backed Ndaleni to attend the Christina Martin Culinary Art Studio in Harkerville on the Garden Route, where he was schooled in the creation of the finest pastries, breads and cakes you could lay your hands on.

It was not a world of excess, he quickly learnt. The secret was in using choice ingredients and presenting these in small portions alongside a whiff of flair and a generous helping of innovation.

After returning to the Radisson, his voyage of personal discovery soon saw him cross the Atlantic to ply his trade at The Club in Admirals Cove in the US state of Florida.

Ndaleni also prepared dishes alongside celebrity chef Francisco and had the opportunity of introducing his unique creations to basketball and golfing royalty at restaurants in the Sunshine State and Chicago.

He headed back to GQ when the pandemic struck in 2020, which was when Radisson general manager Elmarie Fritz snapped him up before anyone else could.

The appointment of the man with the sunny disposition as sous chef indicated that he was earmarked for bigger things.

While Ndaleni has contributed significantly to the hotel’s seasonal menus, Tabú’s Valentine’s Day offering is the first carte du jour to bear his personal signature.

For starters is the Beet Gravlax, a dish comprising cured salmon roses so beautiful that they could easily pass for the floral equivalent.

Then Ndaleni has opted for his signature dish – a seared rack of lamb with confit carrots and seasonal sides noted for its strong lemon tones – as the main.

“I love lemon,” the Wells Estate local confessed. “It smells like romance.”

The meal is rounded off with a chocolate carnival sharing plate boasting sponge, dark and white chocolate mousse and pistachio.

The menu is far and away his most creative and he hopes couples will taste his vision come February 14.

Donning the head chef’s toque did by no means make him the finished product, he said.

Apart from having to manage his own learning curve, he has to make sure the kitchen staff are well-versed in his way of preparing and cooking menu items.

“I went through the menu and prepared the dishes in front of them. I then held a tasting for Radisson staff.”

And when it was time to do the photo shoot for the Valentine’s menu, he left the cooking in the capable hands of his staff.

“That was very satisfying,” Ndaleni admitted.

Radisson marketing manager Sigourney Bruintjies said he was exactly the type of person the Group prized.

Even though he was still young by industry standards, she said he was already something of an old hand in the kitchen and inspired the other millennials on the staff.

Being in charge of creating culinary delights also requires considerable skills in the financial and budgeting departments.

Here, too, the Port Elizabeth property’s executive management team were giving him their full support, Bruintjies said.