A Living Legacy

Stephen Billingham has combined his business, passion and hobby to showcase what is arguably the largest collection of vintage culinary equipment in the country at his HTA School of Culinary Art in Johannesburg. Each piece tells a story of heritage, housekeeping and history

- Susan Reynard

A visit to HTA School of Culinary Art in Randburg, north-west of Joburg, is a juxtaposition of old and new. Students learn to cook using the latest equipment, crafting their culinary skills to become top chefs of the future. And yet they are surrounded by hundreds of years of history in the form of vintage, antique and pre-loved items on every wall and surface, inside and outdoors, across the premises, reminding them that once upon a time, the daily conveniences they take for granted looked quite different.

Chef, educator, businessman and HTA’s founder, Stephen Billingham, has a fascination for copper pots, pans and kettles; mincers, grinders, slicers and cutters; pepper mills; scales; tins; milk cans; signage; piping nozzles, cookie cutters, cake tins and measuring cups; cutlery, chef’s knives and lifters; and much more. In similar numbers are vintage typewriters, movie cameras, film reels, books, cupboards, ice boxes, shelves, Dutch ovens, and grape and maize presses. He even has a 1953 VW Beetle boot bonnet, which has pride of place in what was the original garage of the homestead on which the school is built, now called the Culinary Garage.

All of these treasures reflect the rich culinary legacy and heritage of South Africa and the international cooks and chefs who form the foundation of today’s hospitality industry. These are household and professional kitchen items that once were involved in everyday life, and perhaps still are, in kitchens around the country. Stephen is a self-confessed building and memorabilia collecting addict, the two passions going hand in hand – for every building, room and venue that goes up creates a blank canvas on which to create new and interesting displays.