Chronicle Editor
THE statement, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” has cuisine origins and there is one chef who thrives to stay in the kitchen.
A kitchen is a place where procrastination doesn’t cut it. Last month, culinary skills were put to the test with our featured chef, Irvine Nyasha Mutare.
Chronicle Showbiz was in for a treat when we spoke to one of Zimbabwe’s rising chefs and entrepreneurs. He is not your everyday chef who adorns aprons every time but sometimes trades that for the overall when demand requires him to.
Owner of Upfu mealie-meal brand and clothing brand SunSet Clobber, Irvine Mutare is on a train of his own. He has been a rolling stone since he has resided in Harare, Bulawayo, Ngezi and other places in the past.
First things first, Chef Irvine Mutare (IM) gave Showbiz Reporter Mbulelo Mpofu (MM) a synoptic view of his world.
MM: How old is Irvine and where did you learn?
IM: I’m 29 years old. I did my primary education in Chegutu and high school at Seke 1 High in Chitungwiza. After high school, I enrolled at Young Africa Skills Centre.
MM: When did you venture into the world of cooking?
IM: I won’t say I always knew that I wanted to be a chef, but I knew that I loved cooking and I was very good at it from the tender age of eight.
I spent most of my time in the kitchen with my mum who was an executive chef, learning basics. I started my culinary journey professionally at the age of 17. After finishing my apprenticeship, I moved on to work at Nando’s as a kitchen assistant and that’s when I developed my love for fine dining and high-quality food.
With the desire to gain more experience and expertise, I moved over to the then TM supermarkets where I landed myself the position of kitchen supervisor, the position I held till I left for Montclair Hotel and Casino.
I worked as a chef de partie and I was the youngest in the brigade. My love for fine dining and high-quality food and top-notch service grew to greater heights.
Three years in this structured environment where teamwork, precision and uncompromising standards were essential, proved a valuable lesson in both culinary skills and management techniques.
There was no time to spare other than just work, research, learn and teach. As a team leader, I participated in the Colcom recipe of the year challenge in 2018 and scooped a gold medal.
A year later I left Montclair Hotel for Tsebo Food Solutions, where I’m currently a head chef. I’m also developing my brand as a chefpreneur, private and personal chef.”
MM: What is a chef de partie?
IM: Chef de partie is the French term used to refer to a line cook, station chef in charge of a particular area of production, who in large kitchens may have other several cooks or assistants under him.
MM: How did you feel when you scooped a gold medal in the Colcom competition?
IM: To be frank, I didn’t know how to feel, I remember, I couldn’t believe it. It felt so satisfying.
MM: What’s the worst mistake that a chef might make in the kitchen?
IM: Thinking that you have mastered everything and get comfortable because being a chef is a movement.
MM: Who is your icon chef?
IM: Internationally it is Marco Pierre White and locally it’s Chrispen Mudhefi.
MM: What’s your favourite cuisine and why?
IM: Afro-Fusion. It lets you explore the best Africa has to offer and fuse it with other cultures.
MM: What have been your ups and downs in your culinary journey?
IM: Like in every other career or trade, there is the southward and better part, I started my culinary journey at a very tender age, blending in with the older generation was not easy, but I pulled through.
MM: If you were not a chef, what would you be?
IM: I would be a pencil artiste full time as it’s something which I do part-time.
MM: How do you balance being a chef, a mealie-meal seller and also your clothing line, SunSet Clobber?
IM: I have a great team that I work with and we look at each of these as diversification of a whole brand hence creating time for everything is not that much of a problem.
MM: Tell us about your expansion drive.
IM: I have always loved challenging myself and my abilities. I believe it’s all art. When I look at designing, it is an art and so is cooking. When it comes to the Upfu mealie-meal brand, it’s a project and we want to try new things and be able to add value to the maize. We are also going to incorporate other lines in our SunSet Clobber brand.
MM: How would you best motivate an up-and-coming chef?
IM: As long as you’re doing what you love the most, put in your all and everything else will fall in place.
Remember to live in the world space created for you and own it. Being a chef is a movement, improve with each day and strive to be better than you were yesterday, keep focused and cook your heart out.
Cooking professionally and managing other businesses on the side takes a lot of heart, perseverance and skill. The aforementioned attributes are clearly part of Chef Irvine’s fibre.
– @eMKlass_49
Online Reporter