Words: Catherine Black
The end of March marked the end of the Marabi Club Pot Luck pop-up featuring Michelin-starred Australian executive chef Russell Armstrong and sous chef Vusumuzi Ndlovu. From this month, The Marabi Club continues as a permanent restaurant, with Vusi stepping into his new role as head chef.
“The venue’s design, layout and internal management team will remain the same – the only difference is that we will now have a permanent head chef to start the process of creating a food culture and identity,” says The Marabi Club’s director Dale de Ruig. He emphasises that The Marabi Club is focused as much on food as it is on music, so while it’s a live music venue where you can stay until the early hours of the morning, it’s also a restaurant where you can enjoy dinner for a few hours. “Our goal is to create food that’s unmatched in the CBD/Maboneng/Braamfontein area,” says Dale.
At only 26 years old, head chef Vusi’s experience is impressive. A Pretoria native, he worked as a chef in Belgium before returning to South Africa, where he worked under David Higgs at The Five Hundred at The Saxon Hotel, and then later with Luke Dale Roberts at the Luke Dale Roberts X The Saxon pop-up.
According to Dale, Vusi’s time in Belgium helped Vusi unlock a whole different way of thinking, which comes across in the dishes he’s now producing. “He likes to experiment, and at the moment there’s a lot of fermentation happening and ageing of all sorts of proteins and vegetables,” says Dale. “His strengths lie in a solid mixture of creativity and technical ability that will make The Marabi Club’s food an incredible offering.”
Vusi was recently announced as the winner of the S Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 Africa and Middle East semi-final and will advance to the global finals to be held in Milan in May. “Winning the final of the San Pellegrino competition this May is a big priority for him, as well as keeping Marabi evolving food-wise,” says Dale.
For more information on The Marabi Club, phone 0105912872 or visit their website.
