Wandile Mabaso is an intense person his passion for his craft - radiates from him. It's this intensity that has propelled him to where he is today - the owner and chef patron at fine-dining restaurant Les Créatifs in Bryanston, Johannesburg, by way of Venice, Miami, New York and Paris. What started as an after-school work placement in Venice has become his life's passion, and his recent accolade of chef of the year at the Luxe Restaurant Awards cements his position in the Joburg culinary scene.
Wandile's journey started at Capsicum Culinary School, after which he headed to Italy, where he underwent his culinary trial by fire on a yacht operating in the Mediterranean. After being suitably seasoned, he returned to South Africa and furthered his training at Capsicum. Once he'd completed his stint, he was offered a job in Miami and spent a year learning the ropes in the kitchens at Ballenisles restaurant.
"Then I headed to New York - I arrived as a boy, and I left as a man. The idea was to spend six months gaining some experience. It ended up being five years."
When he talks about life in New York, which is a notoriously hard nut to crack (ask Frank Sinatra), you can hear that this was Wandile's crucible, the place and people that shaped his career trajectory and him as a person. "I had no job, no money and nowhere to live, and was knocking on the doors of top French restaurants, literally trying to get a foot in."
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