Alumnus: Tinotenda Sadziwa

Even though Tinotenda Sadziwa went to university to study for a BSc in Sociology her real passion lay in cooking, something that had been ignited when she was a young girl. Says the 29-year old chef who hails from Zimbabwe: “From about the age of eight, I started to really love cooking for my family and spending time in our kitchen at home baking with my mother.” So it was no surprise to her family when she told them that she wanted to switch careers from sociology to cheffing. In 2019 she started a small catering business as a side hustle, but the fear of being average and tired of doing the most basic dishes made her decide to enrol at a culinary school so she went on to the internet and searched for the “best culinary schools in South Africa and Capsicum Culinary Studio popped up first.” Tinotenda studied for a Professional Cookery and Patisserie Diploma at the school’s Cape Town campus and after graduating in 2021, started working at the President Hotel as a Pastry Commis Chef. Then the call came with the offer of a position as Pastry Chef at Winslow’s Tavern in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the US where she is now, responsible for creating and executing dessert menus, ensuring high-quality presentations and tastes, collaborating with the head chef to develop new and innovative dessert recipes and overseeing daily pastry production, maintaining consistency and quality standards. She says that she wants to cook and serve around the world, learn different types of cuisines and save enough money to be able to open my own bakery before 2030.