Ambassadors

With two decades of experience in running high- volume professional kitchens and holding the title of Group Executive Chef for two prominent Hotel Management Companies, Chef Gregory Henderson has led some of the country’s finest restaurants and food operations.

Throughout his career, Gregory has garnered numerous recognition awards and medals, including a Respectable Silver Medal for the Salon Culinair Competition in 2006. Notably, in 2018, he was honored with the title of “Best Head Chef in Africa,” include Global Winner for “Most Sustainable Dining Experience” in the same year a distinction he takes immense pride in.

Chef Gregory’s culinary journey has been influenced by some of the country’s top chefs, enabling him to develop his unique style and technique. He has always been a staunch advocate of sustainable living and resources, which he consistently implements in his projects across the continent. Gregory’s profound passion for wild foods has driven his commitment to preserving the rich heritage of indigenous ingredients and sustainable dining experiences.

Having traveled extensively throughout Africa, Chef Gregory Henderson has gained a deep understanding of various African culinary cultures and heritage foods, inspiring him to proudly showcase South African products. He is dedicated to empowering local community staff, nurturing skills, and elevating the competency level of unskilled labor, contributing to both the success of businesses and the personal development of passionate individuals.

Currently residing in the Western Cape, within the world’s largest and most diverse floral kingdoms, Chef Gregory continues to forage for indigenous and wild ingredients, embodying his commitment to sustainable and authentic culinary experiences and is currently Executive Chef of La Residence in Franschhoek.

He spent his childhood in the kitchen where – nurtured by his mother and grandmothers – he refined a talent that would one day lead him to open a celebrated restaurant on the French Riviera.

In 2016, less than 3 years after opening its doors, JAN received its first Michelin star. Later, Jan Hendrik expanded JAN’s borders by introducing MARIA, an elegant cheese and preserve room across the street from JAN named after his grandmother.

From the beginning of his career, Jan Hendrik expressed a special affinity for publishing, leading him to publish his first cookbook, The French Affair – a collection of recipes from his childhood – in 2013. He has since published two more bestsellers, JAN, A Breath of French Air, which captured the mood and inspiration of the dishes served at Restaurant JAN, and The Klein JAN Cookbook, a volume inspired by the Kalahari.

Since then, his hospitality and media career has been marked by considerable achievements: his SAFTA-Award-winning TV Show JAN, a biographical culinary travelogue that first aired on VIA in 2017, which has since been followed by three more seasons; JAN the Journal, a biannual luxury food and lifestyle publication that launched in 2018, a culinary innovation and publishing studio in Cape Town that opened in 2018, an elegant JAN Homeware range, and the seasonal dining experience, JAN Franschhoek, in the Cape Winelands first launched in 2022.

The crown jewel of his achievements on home soil, however, is Restaurant Klein JAN, one of the world’s most remote and unique dining experiences. Located at Tswalu Kalahari, South Africa’s largest private game reserve, Klein JAN has beguiled the culinary world with its mix of locally sourced and foraged ingredients, sensational epicurean delights and personal storytelling, becoming an instant global sensation since its eagerly anticipated opening in 2021.

The JAN brand continues to enchant with every endeavour by amplifying the beauty in the world, guided in every step by Jan Hendrik’s unfailing vision, creativity, and leadership.

Having grown up with a restauranteur mother and father who was a part time nature conservationist, working with sustainable seafood has always been a given. His favourite seafood is trout, hake and mussels.

Her cooking philosophy is keeping it simple and use great produce. Jocelyn is Canadian and while in Toronto worked with Jamie Kennedy a pioneer in the organic food movement in Toronto. Jocelyn has been a bit of a globetrotter, she has chopped and stirred her way through Australia, London, France, Sardinia but Cape Town is where she has dropped anchor. This has been a 3 year journey for Jocelyn to become a Trailblazer.

Chef Zana is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
She runs her own food production and catering company, Mestizo, focusing on private dining experiences, events, and corporate catering. She recently entered the retail space with a premium range of ready-to-use pantry products, The Zana Alvarado Collection.

Her food philosophy is largely influenced by her travels around the world, environmental health, and centres entirely on farm-to-table and sustainability.

Prior to changing her career to the culinary industry, Chef Zana was also a seasoned media specialist and on-air presenter having worked in both radio and television and for the global brand, Disney, as a marketing strategist in the UK.

In addition, she is a food social media influencer, published author, and 2023 Champion of the BRM National Burger Challenge.

With a personality that packs a lot of flavour and an inescapable passion for food, Nene swapped her B Comm. Law studies for the invigorating smells of the kitchen, forking good times that have lead to a successful culinary career spanning over 10 years. In 2016, she branched out and joined TV judge, Tjaart Walraven, and comedian, Anne Hirsch, and Lentswe Bhengu as co-presenters in the third season of BBC Worldwide Africa’s The Great South African Bake Off, which premiered in October 2017 on BBC Lifestyle (DStv 174). Raising the bar in 2018, Nene joined wedding planner Zavion Kotze, former Miss South Africa Bernelee Daniell and socialite Denise Zimba in a special instalment of M-Net’s Wedding Bashers franchise entitled, Wedding Bashers Specials: With Love. Staying on course in maintaining a simple golden standard, Nene was appointed as the Cape Town restaurant’s editor for the prestigious Eat Out magazine. Nene’s infectious love for cooking bubbled over in her latest venture that sees her whip up hearty meals and share warm laughs with South Africa’s brightest stars in her own cooking show, Celeb Feasts with Zola, on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161).