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