South Africa’s hot spots and travel destinations have recently been booming. But it’s not just the sights that people are enjoying, it’s the delicious food on offer as well.
Leading the charge are some phenomenal women in the food and wine industry.
In celebration of Women’s Month, Dineplan has made a list of some of the top stars in their fields, offering a glimpse of where South African hospitality is heading.
Amori Burger, executive chef at Upper Union
Famous for their ever-changing menus, Upper Union’s dishes move freely between the Middle East, India, northern Africa and South Africa. Slow-cooked meats are sharpened with harissa and zhug. Expect plenty of pickles and ferments, and the intoxicating push and pull of chilli, acidity, sweetness and spice.
With an interest in becoming a chef since the age of 13, Burger went on to be part of the team that started the Van der Linden restaurant in Johannesburg before becoming the executive chef at Lion Sands and Sabi Sands lodges.
“I joined the lodges in my 30s, and my team was 90% men in their late 40s. It was a struggle and took a year to win them over. Now they’re some of my favourite humans on the planet. But as a woman, you have to work twice as hard in this industry. As we grow, it’s also our duty as women to grow female chefs. We have a responsibility.”
Upper Union has teamed up with The Reverie Social Table for an exclusive four-part Women’s Month Sunday lunch series that runs until August 30.
Kiara Scott Farmer, cellarmaster at Hazendal Wine Estate
At just 26, Kiara was appointed head winemaker at a wine estate in Paarl, with acclaimed winemaker Duncan Savage serving as her mentor. The appointment made her the youngest female head winemaker in the country at the time. She went on to win the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year Award in 2024, becoming the first woman of colour to receive the prestigious accolade.
“I didn’t grow up in a wine-drinking family or community,” says Scott. “I was raised on the Cape Flats and was never exposed to fine wine, but I developed this curiosity around the science of it, the chemical reaction that takes place, how it makes people feel.”
Scott now heads up the cellar at Hazendal Wine Estate, where she experiments with everything from the fermentation process to the harvesting time of each varietal, and even barrel size, as she explores new blends.
Head to Hazendal Wine Estate’s wine lounge to experience their winter special and taste your way through the estate’s range.
Jane Nshuti, chef, food educator and author of TAMU
Jane Nshuti’s journey to becoming a chef was neither conventional nor linear. After fleeing Rwanda in 1994 and losing both her parents, she found herself in a DRC refugee camp with her siblings. At nine-years-old, while her older siblings went out to work, Jane stayed behind to cook. “I didn’t enjoy it then. I did it from a sense of duty.”
As the family moved on to Kenya and Uganda, places where she couldn’t speak the language, the kitchen became a constant, providing a safe space.
It wasn’t until she settled in Cape Town that Jane realised cooking could become a career. Today, she is a chef, food educator and author of TAMU, a plant-based cookbook that weaves recipes with stories from her Rwandan childhood and life across the continent.
The book was rejected by countless publishers at first, who told her African food and personal storytelling wouldn’t sell.
Much of Jane’s work now is about returning value to the food she once felt embarrassed by. She champions indigenous African ingredients such as sorghum and cassava, both for their comforting nostalgia and their affordability.
“I’m a mother, and the first thing I think about when I cook for my family is not about how fancy it is but how nourishing it is. I focus on how it makes people feel. It’s instinct. Women’s kitchens are often calm and peaceful and nourishing to the people we work with or cook for. It’s something you feel in the food. My book is really about how a kitchen can bring a sense of home to wherever you are.”
Julia Hattingh, founder and chef at Reverie Social Table
After making her way up the fine-dining ranks at the likes of Le Quartier Français, where she worked under Margot Janse, Julia Hattingh kept coming back to a different kind of dining, the dinner parties she hosted at home.
That idea eventually became Reverie Social Table, the intimate Cape Town restaurant Hattingh opened in 2018. Guests gather around one communal table for a seasonal tasting menu built around produce sourced from local farmers and suppliers. For Hattingh, a successful night is often measured by what happens after the plates have been cleared. “When strangers chat into the night or keep in touch after dinner, that’s the sign of a successful evening.”
Hatting shares that she would like to see a shift in more women having the confidence and backing to build something of their own. Her advice to the next generation is to cook what makes them happy, take the risk and find the women who will champion them. “There is such an amazing support network. There are women in this industry who want to see each other grow.”
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