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“Chefs are key to driving change, creating seafood dishes that inspire and create awareness!”
– Pavs Pillay, WWF-SASSI Manager
Chefs play a vital role as key influencers in the food, culinary and hospitality industries, shaping market and food trends significantly. By exploring a variety of seafood options, chefs not only broaden consumers’ culinary experiences but can help transform the fishing industry and safeguard our oceans and its resources. Chefs who advocate for sustainable seafood practices and only serve ocean friendly seafood contribute to the availability of fish for future generations to relish.
When chefs choose sustainable seafood, they directly shape the seafood supply chain and when they ask the three WWF-SASSI questions when procuring seafood (What species is it?, How was it caught or farmed? And Where does it come from?) they encourage seafood suppliers and producers to increase their transparency, allow for better traceability and move the supply chain toward offering high-quality, sustainable seafood products. Using ocean-friendly species pushes chefs to be more creative and inspires them to create new seafood dishes with unfamiliar and underutilised species opening up their menu offerings and challenging other chefs to push the culinary boundaries – allowing for new gastronomic experiences.
When chefs and restaurants make the public more aware of the environmental impacts of serving species out of season or species that are regarded as unsustainable, it benefits not only the fish species but will have long-term impact on the oceans’ health and have far-reaching socio-economic consequences for the fishing industry and people’s livelihoods.
Every restaurant and its staff have the power to make a difference and you and your establishment become known as a chef that cares for our planet and future seafood lovers!
Sustainable seafood is more than just advocating for the protection of the marine resources, there is a strong business case to be made across the entire supply and value chains within the hospitality industry. More and more chefs are being seen as the new “rockstars” of the world with global platforms like MasterChef, Ultimate Braai Master and other cooking shows reaching new popularity heights and attracting new audiences, both local and global. These platforms coupled with social media has catapulted chefs into the limelight. Through these channels chefs can make significant changes in the industry from raising awareness about sustainable seafood to shifting people’s behaviour.
Working beyond the kitchen, chefs can contribute to national and provincial food policies and advocate for changes in the food system , such as better legislation around food labelling, curbing food loss and waste, and ensuring that suppliers are transparent whilst reporting the sale of illegal or specially protected species. Chefs have a unique yet important story to tell and can help shift systems beyond the culinary and hospitality industry.
WWF-SASSI recognises industry-leading chefs that are engaged in promoting sustainable seafood and honours chefs who take responsibility for seafood choices in their kitchens.
Our WWF-SASSI chef champions are culinary trailblazers who implement seafood sustainability in their restaurants, tell their clients, staff and suppliers about their seafood sustainability practices and inspire consumers by spreading the WWF-SASSI message via social media, events and TV appearances.
Kevin Joseph may have been born and raised in Cape Town, but today he is passionate about KwaZulu Natal and the East Coast style of cooking. The Oyster Box serves only local vegetables, beef from the Midlands and sustainable fish caught off the Durban coast. The restaurant has its own oyster licenses and only serves as many oysters as their licenses allow them to collect. Kevin won’t even accept oysters from further down the South African coast.
Kyle Knight is chef/owner of The Shop, a Sea Point bistro where he and his wife Gabi put the emphasis on traceability and the sourcing of ingredients. Their menu changes frequently: If it’s fresh and in season on the day then it makes its way onto the menu. They describe their style as “simple, tasty and uncomplicated”, opting for free range, green-listed and sustainable produce with an emphasis on seasonality and provenance.
Seafood is Chef Leigh Trout’s favourite food to prepare, and he draws inspiration from the versatile sea life found along the Cape coastline. A born and bred Capetonian, Leigh has spent time working in London, first at the exclusive Mossimann’s Dining Club and then at Racine Restaurant, and in the Seychelles. He returned home to head up the kitchen at Mange Tout in the Mont Rochelle Hotel in Franschhoek, before realising his dream of cooking in his own restaurant in 2011. He can now be found at Birds Café on Bree Street.
Executive Chef at the Kurland Hotel, Leon has been rated as one of the top Chefs in the Western Cape. Awards include the CXpress Garden Route Culinary Awards in 2013 and the 2016 American Express Platinum Card Fine Dining Award. His main desire is to provide an excellent dining experience by creating dishes that exude quality and a favourite dish is curried mussels.
Louis believes that there is an important role to play in countering the negative effects in our world especially when it comes to sustainable issues. As Van Reenen says, “Anyone can be trained to do fancy icing on a but what’s far more significant is how we as chefs can educate the public and change attitudes. We need to make people think more about what they choose to eat and how our food products are sourced. We’ve already lost a huge amount of fish stocks from over-fishing, and eating this wonderful product is fast becoming a luxury. What will be left for future generations?”
Lucas started out as a commis chef at Aubergine Restaurant. He is now the executive chef at Makaron Restaurant, Majeka House. Home grown excellence, simplicity and honesty are the hall marks of his cooking. Locally sourced, ingredient driven dishes bounce off the menu. Seafood is a strong feature at this restaurant. He is committed to using only sustainable fish. Lucas is still dreaming about the fresh sardines he ate on his recent trip to Lisbon.
DW Eleven 13 is a family affair. Marthinus Ferreira is the head chef and owner, who began the restaurant with his parents and his sister after returning home from the UK where he worked alongside Heston Blumenthal at The Hinds Head and The Fat Duck. He has recently opened a second restaurant called The Grazing Room, which offers a tapas style menu. The menus at both restaurants change regularly, based on what is fresh and available. He is serious chef and serious about SASSI.
Massimo is originally from Piemonte, in northern Italy. Massiomo and his wife Tracy run their popular home style Italian restaurant, Massimo in Hout Bay. Massimo is passionate about sustainability. In his cooking he uses locally sourced sustainable produce. He only ever serves green listed fish. In doing this he is following the path he set when they first opened in Hout Bay over 7 years ago. Also his passion and care for his community and bettering the lives of others is known by all those who visit his restaurant.
Matt perfected his trade in London under the likes of Marcus Waring and the one-and-only Gordon Ramsay. On relocating to South Africa he joined the brigade at La Colombe before moving on to become the king of pop-ups on the Cape Town foodie scene. Last December he opened his first fully fledged restaurant called Grub & Vine where tasty sustainable dishes are finely crafted at this stylish bistro on Bree Street. He only uses green-listed fish on his menu.
Cooke is a breath of fresh air with a humble and down to earth approach when it comes to creating his ingenious and sublime dishes. He’s worked at Heston Blumenthal’s Michelin-starred The Fat Duck, following that up as head chef at La Colombe and the Greenhouse. So, he is no stranger to the starry world of cheffing. But at the root of everything he does is sustainability and respect for his ingredients. He is insistent that green is the only way.
Michelle is personally dedicated to sourcing only sustainable seafood. At this award winning restaurant in the Winelands there is an emphasis on fresh sustainably sourced food and cooking with a local twist. It was while working with the previous chef Chris Erasmus that Michelle honed her sustainable credentials.
Chef Neill Anthony is a Cape Town based. As well as a culinary star on TV he now heads up the kitchens at award winning restaurant, La Mouette. Since training with Gordon Ramsey and Marcus Wareing in the UK, he has stuck to his principles of embracing sustainability in the kitchen. His mantra is seasonal, ethical and local is lekker.
*Disclaimer: WWF-SASSI does not endorse or certify restaurants/businesses/establishments but rather works with culinary champions to improve their sustainable seafood offerings and reduce demand for exploited species. The WWF-SASSI logo should not be on menus or displayed in restaurants, please let us know if you see this by emailing us at [email protected]
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