At The Top And Loving The View

Last year, SA chef Chantel Dartnall was named best female chef in the world. She tells Stephanie van der Plank about her first food memory, late-night toasties, and the pressure to innovate.

- Stephanie Van Der Plank

When local chef Chantel Dartnall, 38, was named best female chef in the world last October, we celebrated. And so did Chantel! “It was an overwhelming accolade,” she says. “When I started out, I never dreamed I’d reach this level of success, but all our hard work is paying off.”

In The Best Chef Lady competition held in Poland, she beat Michelin-star chefs to claim the award. Chantel also placed number 32 in last year’s The Best Chef Awards Top 100 list – she was the highest-ranked woman (one of only three to make the top 50), and the only SA chef who made it onto the list.

As patron-chef of Restaurant Mosaic in Elandsfontein (part of The Orient hotel, run by her mom Mari), Chantel’s modern botanical menus use seasonal produce for nature-inspired cuisine. Chantel lives on an estate near Pretoria with Mari and Mari’s partner, Cobus.

I can’t pinpoint what ignited my love of food, but it has to do with the perfect chocolate cake.

I remember going to a restaurant in Pretoria for my eighth birthday. First, I accidentally ordered oysters and couldn’t quite manage them, but I was rewarded with a slice of the best chocolate-mousse cake I’ve ever had. It was also the first time I heard a chef himself speak to diners about his menu, which I thought was very special. That’s my favourite food memory.

I wanted a future in food, so I studied at the then-Prue Leith College of Food and Wine to learn the ropes.