Chef moves on with passion after job loss
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday August 14, 2022 06:00
However, only a few are able to pull out of the disappointing experience, dust themselves and find a way to keep their passion going.
Mhenyi Selei is one of those who have managed to brush aside that awful experience and take life's challenge head on. The 28-year-old’s love for food had led him to study culinary arts at Madirelo Training And Testing Centre (MTTC) in Gaborone.
The young man studied Hospitality and Catering in 2016 till 2018 when he later completed his National Craft Certificate in Chef Vocational. He told Arts & Culture that he was mostly inspired into cooking by the art and creativity behind food making.
He said he looked up to some renowned chefs in the culinary industry such as Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White. “I worked in restaurants such as Avani Hotel and Fairgrounds at Pavilion restaurant but COVID-19 left me unemployed and the hospitality industry was suffering, so no restaurant was hiring at a time even though I had to put food on the table and provide for my family.
I had to come up with a strategy since I had the skills and knowledge on how to cook food. I found it fit to start a business so I asked my elder sister for a start up loan and she assisted me and I got the ball rolling,” he said.
However, this young chef explained that he had special dishes that he caters to his clients such as fried Mexican rice, chicken chow mein, fried barbecue beef, roasted rosemary chicken and others.
He further added that he preferred using herbs than spices, as herbs are healthy to their diet. He said the public was showing an overwhelming support to the extend that some book him to cater at their weddings, parties and brunches. He explained that he sees himself owning a fine dining restaurant in the near future.
He, however, pointed out that he was currently experiencing challenges such as food being expensive, which sometimes made it difficult to cover the cost of stock, transport and others.
Furthermore, the young man takes pride in a few milestones such as having to serve the President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi and becoming head chef for some local restaurant. He added that being a street vendor in Main Mall was also one of his biggest achievements. He advised upcoming chefs to believe in themselves, work hard and go all out, be spontaneous in every they touch.