Alumnus: Matt Labuschagne

Most young graduate chefs attribute their love for cooking to their mothers or grandmothers, for Matt Labuschagne it was his father who inspired him to take up a culinary career. “My dad loves cooking and was always preparing the meals on family camping trips and at home and although it always looked relaxing for him to cook, I can see now how rewarding it was for him to feed us a delicious meal.” Born and raised in Benoni, 23-year-old Labuschagne enrolled at Capsicum’s Boksburg campus in 2019 for a three-year Advanced Professional Chef Programme. After one year he found himself in Aspen, Colorado working at the ski resort’s 5-star, luxury hotel, The Little Nell. “My first industry placement was one of the best things to happen to me. I worked on the grill section in a crazy kitchen the size of a shoebox cooking for 600 to 800 people a day. In the beginning I was so anxious about the lunch service I could feel my heart thumping in my chest on my way to work. But I knew if I didn’t do a good job I would get reassigned to banqueting and have to brunoise shallots for the rest of the day. When Covid struck he returned to SA, but after restrictions were lifted the hotel asked him back, gave him a promotion and wanted him to stay. But he had to return home because he still had two more years at Capsicum and his US visa was about to expire. Labuschagne completed the final two years of his course at Capsicum’s Pretoria campus and, following graduation, he worked at a bakery and then at the acclaimed Embarc in Parkhurst. It was while there that he was contacted via LinkedIn for a post at Riviera by Jean Imbert, one of the dining options at The Lana, Dubai’s first Dorchester Collection hotel where he currently works on the hot line looking after all the pasta dishes.