Chef Emile van der Vee combines his love of living in the bush, running a 5 Star kitchen and skills training at Cybele Forest Lodge and Health Spa.

Cybele is a calm and rejuvenating place. It also has the credentials of having been in business for the past 30 years and was the first Relais&Chateaux accredited establishment in South African, back in 1983. Standards have not dropped since then. In fact, if anything, they are more deeply embedded. As a five star establishment, value is created by affording guests a complete, gilded experience. Cybele is a low -ceilinged former hunting lodge in Mpumalanga, not far from White River. It is so deep in forest that it feels like it has been dropped into a thick plantation of gum and pine. Trees make the place. Being off the beaten track also makes it very peaceful. Around the lodge a series of suites have been built, all with private gardens (some with heated swimming pools) views into the green beyond and much birdsong. Once through the doors, you are well and truly away from it all.

Dining well is an integral part of the total experience at Cybele, and owners Rupert and Barbara Jeffries have hired 28 year old Executive Chef Emile van der Vee for the job. The cuisine is a form of refined country food, with much use of fresh vegetables and herbs, from the in-house herb garden. It is a mixture of classical French and traditional English styles, without a tasting menu in sight. As much as possible, Emile tries to keep it local and seasonal. With accommodation limited to 28 guests, he is able to devote much individual attention to the food he prepares.

Emile describes managing supplies as the most important facet of his job. It is not a restriction, he says, just a consideration. The nearest shop is 22 km’s away at the end of a dirt road, so he simply cannot dash out and buy any ingredient he has run out of or forgotten to order. For this reason a lot of the food is handmade on the premises. A selection of breads are baked fresh daily, as are tea time cookies. Jams and granola that grace the breakfast table are homemade too. Homemade no longer designates something rustic, but is recognized as a means of producing superior products worthy of the attention to detail expected of a 5 star standard.

To anyone considering becoming a lodge chef, Emile’s job does not only consist of standing in front of a stove. He is required to be quite imaginative and compile fresh menus daily, based on available supplies. He also has to carefully cost this menu and check the quality and quantity of goods received, making sure that invoices balance. The rest of his time is spent in preparation for lunch and the evening meal, all the while fulfilling orders that come through for room service.

Being a lodge chef, or any chef for that matter, is a lot about management and Emile finds that training is a big part of his work at Cybele. Fortunately for him, he loves it, deriving great satisfaction from seeing his staff grow. He speaks glowingly of the people he works with: “My staff are very willing and supportive and so eager to learn. They want to be the best chefs they can be. I have a kitchen philosophy that two heads are always better than one, and we all learn from one another.” That said, Emile concedes that keeping his staff willing, motivated and determined has required quite a bit of managerial skill on his behalf. 

Emile’s own training took off at the South African Chef’s Academy, under Garth Stroebel and Paul Hartmann. “It was hard work”, he says of the year he spent there. “Those two have such knowledge to pass on. I felt that they really took me to another level”.

Armed with this weight of knowledge, Emile accepted a student work placement in Maine, USA, something he had managed to arrange through the Chef’s Academy. After a year, much of it spent in thick snow, sunshine was all he could think about. He headed for the South African bush as chef de partie of 5 Star lodge, Singita. If the Chef’s Academy was hard work, this was worse. Emile was putting in 12 to 14 hours a day and the menus were a lot more complex than what he is doing now. His love of learning got him through it though. Working under Lorraine Pienaar, a former Gordon Ramsay employee, he was much impressed by her tidy work methods, time management and perfect sauces. In fact, constant learning is what keeps Emile in the kitchen, which is part of the rush of it all. He thrives on the split second timing of service and the intense concentration it demands.

At Cybele, in keeping with the spirit of the place, things are calmer. His clientele is mostly South African, with a sprinkling of American and European visitors. His menus have to strike a balance between both sets of tastes and venison is as popular as a Club sandwich. He also finds himself doing light and refreshing spa packages - like the All Pink menu he’ll be doing for couples on Valentines Day. For inspiration, Emile admires his mentors chefs Garth Stroebel and Paul Hartmann. He is also a fan of Pierre Koffman, whose determined pursuit of perfection he feels
akin to his own.

I would encourage anyone staying at Cybele not to miss the spa, as it is such a crucial part of the experience. There, loving and tender hands will gently rub and stroke away all your worries, in a series of facials, massages, body wraps, manicures and pedicures.