Hosted by two establishments, The Gin Gallery located on Durban’s Florida Road, and Gemelli Cucina, an Italian restaurant based in Bryanston, Gauteng, Gemelli Restaurant Head Chef, Theo Chiloane said this was the first VDJ marquee dedicated to food and drinks.
The 28-year-old from Nelspruit, in Mpumalanga has been in the culinary industry for seven years now and developed his love for cooking from a young age.
“I’ve always loved cooking. I come from a boy’s only family so we were always tasked with chores and cooking was one of the priorities".
“The VDJ is a premium event where everybody gets to show off a little bit. We are doing something out of the box and totally different. There’s no chef who doesn’t look to reach a higher level in whatever he or she does. So for me personally, I was looking forward to cooking and seeing if there was somebody who can do it better and come back next year and do it better than them, but I doubt there is”, said Chiloane.
Chiloane said they are well- known for Italian contemporary food but this time the cuisine had a few twists that involve Mediterranean styles of cooking and some classics.
What Chiloane served for lunch time:
Starters: A Trio Bruschetta
“What we’ve realised is gin and its botanicals complement food that is light, acidic and aromatic.”
Main course: A chicken Ballontine
“With the chicken ballontine we infused multiple flavours. I wanted people to have that lightbulb moment as they tasted each distinct flavour.
Dessert: Panna Cotta
“We infused the dessert with a 12 Year Old Macallan - heightening the flavour of the dish and as the fruit complemented the whisky itself it brought out another side of the fruitiness.”