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At-home chef

FOR years Neville Naidoo was a teacher dedicated to educating everyone from Grade 1 to Grade 12, a job he was and still is passionate about.

But after 15 years of tireless dedication to the profession, he felt it was time to try his hand at something he is equally passionate about - cooking.

Five months ago he quit his teaching job and set up an unconventional cooking business. Inspired by Leila's Arm in Cape Town, he opened his home in Kensington to the public where he acts as both chef and host to complete strangers.

Some people might call him crazy for turning his home into a restaurant-style setup, but Naidoo's enthusiasm about the venture is contagious.

"I taught for 15 years and needed to take a break from it. I'm passionate about it and could easily go back and do it again, but I wanted to do something that really fulfilled me.

"I wanted to do something that gave me more time for myself, so I decided to break away from teaching and launch myself. I wanted to set up a business in an unconventional sort of way... It's a way to slow down and be in a more intimate space," says Naidoo.

Not only does he cook for people, but he also teaches them how to cook - and it doesn't end there. Demand for his culinary skills has been so strong that he has been travelling around Joburg from Soweto to Midrand, cooking for people in the comfort of their homes.

Incredibly, this self-taught cook says he can whip up any dish his guests request, from Indian curries to Italian pastas and traditional South African dishes. Furthermore, he tries to encourage healthy eating by using organic products and using oil sparingly when he cooks.

His prices vary depending on the ingredients, so a vegetarian course would be R100 while a meal containing red meat or seafood would be more expensive. The constantly fluctuating cost of food plays a factor in how he prices his dishes, but he says he has discovered local suppliers whose prices are fairly consistent.

His cooking business has grown so impressively that he even caters for corporate events and functions such as weddings, not to mention an upcoming booking for a 300-strong function. He also supplies a canteen in Randburg and Linden.

Naidoo has helpers that assist with the preparation and his mother lends a hand with Indian savoury dishes, but other than that he single-handedly cooks each three-course meal - a testament to how hard-working and passionate he is about food.

Although he runs the business alone he has a close network willing to supply him with equipment, cutlery, chairs and any other material customers ask for.

Keeping costs down

Surely cooking for people day in and day out gets tiring? Not so, says Naidoo: "You have to be an out-going person, love people and interacting with them... If cooking is your thing, do it with all the love and energy that goes into it."

Thanks to his Facebook page Local Chef he has managed to garner a strong following of supporters without spending a cent. People post their feedback and make bookings via Facebook, he says.

"I haven't done any vigorous advertising - it's more Facebook and word of mouth that spreads the word. The response has been great; it's taken off nicely," Naidoo adds.

Only five months into the venture he has managed to build a small but sustainable business which often has bookings for four orders a week. The key, says Naidoo, has been his homely dishes and his interaction with his guests throughout the cooking process.

It's the reason he decided against opening a restaurant in the traditional sense - he wanted to retain the intimacy of cooking and get rid of the fussiness that sometimes comes with the restaurant experience. Evidently it was a smart move, because it has also helped to keep his expenses down substantially.

His biggest investments thus far have been his cooking and catering equipment as well as setting up his two kitchens - one where does all the cooking and another where he teaches guests how to cook. He was able to make such purchases by tapping into his savings and is not indebted to banks in any way, which he admits takes the load off his shoulders.

He acknowledges that worrying about a consistent income has been a huge concern, but his community has been supportive and the steady growth of the business has been encouraging.

Stepping into the competitive cooking business alone was a brave move on his part, but he stands by his decision. Says Naidoo: "As with any market, it's really tough but I don't feel intimidated because I'm doing my own thing.

"I offer good service and have a good company and there are orders coming in on a daily basis - it's enough to keep me going. If people like you, they will come back and your business will grow. Business has been great, not mainstream success but manageable success."

Like any businessman he aspires to grow the venture, although he wants to maintain its smallness. "I deliberately kept the business the size it is so that it can be manageable. I want it to be big enough yet small enough so that I can do other things during the day," he says.

In the near term, though, he says he'd like to create a larger work space in which to cook and employ a few more hands to assist him.

So while Naidoo's one-man show takes on a life of its own, he is taking things slowly and making sure it retains that off-the-beaten-track feel.

 - Fin24

 
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