Chef Vitu

Food for the soul

I had discovered growing up in South Africa, the convenience and pleasure of having an edible garden. With beautiful Summers and moderate temperatures throughout the year, it’s the perfect place to grow your heart’s desire. Both my parents instilled a very important lesson of being able to use your hands to create and what better way than to start focusing on something that will fuel your body. It’s so imperative to know what you are feeding your body and being accountable for that has driven me to fall in love with the farm to table concept, and outdoor cooking over a charcoal fire we like to call “Braai”.

Intercontinental Culinary Journey
Growing up watching my mom cook was almost like watching magic. Imagine smelling something so mouthwatering it causes the skin of your arm in goosebumps. My country is known for its diverse culture including people from all walks of life and that translates into food. My thirst for knowledge led me to culinary school and I stated to hone in on my craft. Shortly after graduation I dove headfirst into the hospitality industry and began a 7-year journey of patience, rapid response, a LOT more burns than I cared for, comraderies, and falling in love with food over and over again.

From a smokehouse in a hotel casino, to a pastry chef in a fine dining establishment in the biggest mall on the continent, I found that my curiosity knew no bounds and I was blessed to be given an opportunity to work in one of the most beautiful places in the world, Dubai. 3 years were spent in the UAE working in a theme park that had thousands of employees from every country one could think of. Dubai Parks and Resorts was a place that celebrated global cuisine by creating a world where each part of the resort paid homage to the creative structure of the overall theme including architecture, as well as cuisine. I flew back home and spent a year training different food establishment, creating menus for them but my love of theme parks called to me once again and in 2019 I found myself in Orlando, Florida. The last time I was at Disney World was 22 years ago and now I was back and working at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

I now find myself in Northwest Austin as a head chef for a restaurant & bowl park. I have used my collective cuisines from all over the world, and my love of the freshest ingredients and pure love to create a menu that is very special to my heart.

My hope is to introduce to you food that is made with passion and ultimately share my love of something different but still resonates comfort.

I Have created an 8-course taster which will introduce you to True South African food from a fine dining perspective, a pescatarian friendly 3 course menu that originates from the Western Cape, famous for Cape Town, abundant vineyards and great whites.

I have also created a vegetarian friendly menu takes everyday food and replaces all ingredients with vegetarian friendly opportunities as well as an international three course menu to give you a well-rounded variety of choice