CHEF PROFILE - Nigel Zinn
Position: Regional Chef: North Region for KKS (A division of the Compass Group Southern Africa)
Q: How did you get into catering? 
Food is and always has been my biggest passion so becoming a chef was never a second thought for me. A year after completing matric I started working in the kitchens of private catering companies, hotels and restaurants, which was the start of my career in the catering industry. I enrolled to do a three-year hotel school diploma at TWR Hotel School but found cooking only once a week, in the Food Service Management course, not nearly enough for me! I dropped out and started working in a small, privately-owned catering company in Johannesburg.
Q: Have you worked abroad?
Yes, I have been fortunate enough to gain experience in the United Kingdom. In 2000, my now wife, Shirley and I decided to make London our home. We stayed there for two years, and it was a fantastic time in our lives as we were able to travel through the majority of Europe, which was a culinary wonderland for me. My favourite country to visit was France as French cuisine forms the foundation of my culinary teachings – having learnt at the Ile De France Restaurant in Johannesburg prior to my overseas experience.
Q: Why French food?
For me, French cuisine has great cooking principles, flavours and techniques. It is not the healthiest with all the butter and rich sauces but could you imagine profiteroles without crème patisserie? Or duck confit being slow cooked in anything other than rendered duck fat? We would seriously be depriving ourselves doing it any other way.
Q: If you had to pick one mentor that helped shaped your career, who would it be?
While living in London I had the rare opportunity of working for my long-time mentor, and “celebrity chef”, Master Chef Anton Mosimann OBE in his private restaurant, “Mosimann’s Club”, which is in the incredibly upmarket suburb of Belgravia. For me this was a dream come true as I had collected all of his cookery books prior to meeting him and I really looked up to him because of what he had achieved success in his career at a very young age. The 18 months I spent in Chef Mosimann’s kitchen will forever be the most special time in my career! Some of the highlights of working at Mosimann’s Club were: The Duke of Edinburgh’s 80th birthday banquet. Golfer Nick Faldo’s wedding reception. Private dining for the Duchess of York, Lady Margaret Thatcher, Sir Steven Redgrave and author Wilbur Smith.
Q: Any specific kitchen that stands out?
The Petersham Hotel in Richmond, Surrey, England. Being a small 70-roomed, the focus of the menu was very much of local produce, expertly and passionately handled to give the diner a meal worth remembering long after they’ve left the restaurant. The six months which I spent there went far too quickly but it was time for Shirley and I to return to South Africa. We missed the comforting smell of the dry bush in winter and the warmth of South Africa in her entirety (not just the warmth of the weather but the people too, with its own exciting destinations to visit as well).
Q: Have you entered any cooking competitions?
Yes. I believe that cooking competitions are a fantastic means to elevate a chef’s standards. It gives one the opportunity to create original menu items and pit one’s skills against the best in the country. For this reason, this was the next thing for me to tackle in my “short” career so far. In 1995, I was placed second in the National Easigas Young Chef of the Year Competition. Not satisfied with being placed second, I entered the following year and won first prize. A few years later I came third in the National Maize Board Challenge. In 2005, I was one of the six national finalists in South Africa’s biggest cooking competitions - the Unilever Chef of the Year Competition.
Q: What have you contributed to the catering industry?
From early on in my career I noticed that in every kitchen I worked, there was a serious need for the knives to be sharpened on a regular basis. I read up on the correct professional procedures and made my own motor-driven grindstone. On my days off (often only one a week), I started a very small business of sharpening knives which I retailed to a few local restaurants. In 2006, driven more by a passion for a sharp knife than the small bit of income generated, I wrote a manual on knife skills and presented a one day course to first year cookery students at Roodepoort’s South West Gauteng College. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching young culinary minds how knives are made, which knife to use and when, how to care for them and how to sharpen them to produce an edge that will keep them doing mise-en-place with the same knife for years to come!
Q: Any special skills that you have acquired over the years?
I was always fascinated by the Chinese art of carving fruit and vegetables, so I found a Chinese master chef who was willing to impart his knowledge onto a willing student and learnt this art in a few months. A specially carved pumpkin or watermelon with beetroot and turnip roses always makes a food buffet that little more enticing so this was a great arrow to add to my quiver of food skills!
Q: When did you start working for Compass Group Southern Africa?
GHAM Gourmet: Upon returning to South Africa in 2002, I made the decision to move into corporate kitchens rather than hotels and restaurants. I wanted to marry Shirley and start a family and the typical 18-hour day of a busy restaurant or hotel kitchen is not conducive to family life! With this in mind I started working for GHAM Gourmet (a division of Compass group Southern Africa) as a Chef Patron. During the next five years I learnt a great deal about corporate catering while opening and managing two new contracts. Corporate catering is very different from the a la carte world I am dearly fond of, but with the change came new and exciting challenges and stimulation. KKS: After GHAM Gourmet I made the transition to KKS (another division of Compass Group Southern Africa) accepting the position of Regional Chef for the North Region. I am kept on my toes with overseeing the catering needs of 65 catering contracts. I love to impart my cooking knowledge to those eager to learn, offering guidance in all things food and assisting with functions big and small. I really get a kick out of seeing staff members with a raw passion for food, excel and grow from strength to strength as the years roll by.
Q: Tell us about family and life outside the kitchen.
Growing up with my mom, older brother and sister, we became a very close family, supporting each other closely through the best and the more trying times of life. I am married to a very understanding and loving wife, Shirley, and we have a gorgeous little 2 ½ year old boy, Jason, who brings us huge amounts of joy and keeps us on the go! Something else that keeps me on the go is running. I plan to complete my second Comrades Marathon this year. Apart from running, I also like to take part in mountain biking races and play the odd game of squash now and then. I love to entertain family and friends at home, watching the Food Network Channel (and most sports on TV) and just mooching around the house with my family.
