Small-town chef eyes city dreams
• By Kaipaherue Kandjii
A 37-year-old executive chef born and bred in the dusty streets of Grootfontein in the northern parts of Namibia is seeking big players to aid him in making his dream of owning a restaurant a reality. Alexander Daniel started his job as a waiter at Leading Lodges, which owns a chain of lodges, including Epacha, where he cut his teeth, before landing a job as a chef. He initially wanted to be a pilot. However, that goal fell flat after he failed one of his Grade 12 subjects – geography – which proves his pilot’s ability to navigate the skies. The plight of unemployment, in turn, bit him so strongly after Grade 12, which forced him to seek odd jobs, where he eventually became a waiter before honing his culinary skills to develop a new passion. “I grew up in Grootfontein; I started school at Makalani Primary.
School before I went to Fredrick Awaseb Secondary School. I was born in Namibia, and my hobbies are cooking, playing football, and cooking, which are stuck with me. I started as a waiter at Leading Lodges after school in February 2006. My manager at the time, Frans Strause, saw my potential and told me one morning, ‘Why don’t you want to be a chef?’. ‘I listened to you speak to guests and explain the ingredients [on their plate of food] so, so perfectly’. That’s when I decided, ‘Yes, let’s do it’. After grade 12, I really wanted to be a pilot; that was my [first] dream, but my geography [subject in Grade 12] still needed to be graded [when I got my results]. I never attended the exam. After the result, my mom told me to look for work. I tried [job hunting], and I eventually got work. I started at Epacha Game Lodge, a five-star lodge,” said Daniel.
Daniel, inspired by Jona Levi, a chef and now a top restauranter in Swakopmund, did not stop there. Luck struck him again due to his work ethic, and his employers offered him a study loan to gain more profound knowledge in his career of choice Daniel subsequently applied to the then Polytechnic Hotel School, now Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), to obtain theoretical skills to bolster his dreams.
As if that wasn’t enough, Daniel was unrelenting. He crossed borders into neighbouring Zimbabwe to gain better skills. “I passed with flying colours [at NUST]. I then returned to my work and wanted more [growth]. I needed more professionalism in cooking, so I saved money and spoke to my executive chef at the time, Norman Ndlovu, who was Zimbabwean but is no longer. The late long rendered me said to his uncle [in Zimbabwe who was] also a good cook and a facilitator to take me in. I agreed. I said ‘Yes, sir take me there’. I got enrolled the Zimbabwe Polytechnic of Bulawayo in June 2010. It was an awesome course and classes were fun. I stayed in Zimbabwe for years doing my diploma in culinary skills. Four years later, I was done. After that, since Ndlovu told me I shouldn’t be jealous of what I have learned and that I should pass it on [to my peers] I listened,” he stressed.
After his graduation, Daniel returned to Epacha Game Lodge, where he worked relentlessly. Again, luck struck him. Epacha Game Lodge needed an executive chef, and Daniel applied. He landed the job. “I trained alot of chefs [as an executive] who are now also executive [chefs]. So, I saw that this is what I am good at. Untill now I train young chefs all over Namibia and I currently train [young chefs],” he emphasized.
In an interview with this publication on Thursday, the executive chef-turned-trainer says he now desperately wants to open a restaurant to offer his cuisines to locals, putting his skills on a breakfast, lunch or dinner plate for his clients. A typical cost of N$ 800 000 to open, including staff, industrialized equipment and rental costs.
“In the next 10 years I would like [my restaurant] to be in the top ten companies creating jobs and would like every cook to know the behavior of food when cooking and dietary requirements because, you are what you eat. I am pleading for investors, as business partners, to help me set up a place in the Windhoek central business district to start my business. In return, I intend to offer the investor a 40 equity,” he opined.