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Furnishings & DecorQueen of the Pink Palace
The Five Star Westcliff Hotel is Johannesburg’s answer to such venerable institutions as the Mount Nelson in Cape Town, in fact they are owned by the same company. Culinarily speaking, it has had changing fortunes over the years. Indefatigable Chef Nicky Gibbs is determined to put it back on the map, and live out her swansong at the same time.
By Kim Hoepfl / Photographs by Vanessa Grobler
“For myself, I want to develop a really good name, a household name. For The Westcliff, I want to make it huge. It has always been my goal to be in the Top 10”. So says Chef Nicky Gibbs, clearly at home with high stakes and pressure. She wants this to be her highest achievement yet, but also a gracious exit. After 28 years behind the stove, Gibbs is starting to sense a yearning for a different sort of life, one where she goes to bed at the same time as ‘normal’ people, and has time for things ‘normal’ people take for granted, like a long, lazy Sunday lunch with friends. In this vision of the future, Gibbs opens her own food laboratory, testing recipes and works from home. In the meantime, her hours are manic. Gibbs only came to the Westcliff in December 2009, where she took over from Executive Chef Dario De Angelli, and poured herself into work, staying on her feet 31 days straight over December. Her modus operandi when moving into a new kitchen is to ‘get her hands dirty’ and ‘prove’ to her staff that she can cook as well as, or better, than they can.
“You sound excited?” I tell her. “I am really, really excited”, is the response.
So what does Gibbs, ever the rolling stone: She worked for high profile music industry clients in the UK before this, and then cruised around the globe a few times in the galley of a liner and has held the position of executive chef of The Melrose Arch Hotel, Soulsa restaurant and the Sandton Towers Intercontinental, plan to do with the food? “It’s an amazing platform. I think part of the problem with The Westcliff is that they have overcharged people in the past. If value for money is absent, then you open yourself up to criticism. My solution involves raising standards and lowering prices. I want to make it a breakfast, lunch and dinner destination. So many small producers come to see me, with very exciting produce - thick cream, handmade salami. So when your ingredients are tip top, they are easy to work with. So, here is how I am going to use them: Lunch is going to be a smorgasbord using these small producers and their beautiful stuff. When I arrived all the pastry, bread and desserts were brought in, now we’re doing them in-house with a newly constructed bakery. My goal is to guarantee a 55 minute lunch, in an out, with a glass of wine.”
On the cards is also a re-launch of the Westcliff’s iconic Belle Terasse restaurant, which possesses what is possibly the best view overlooking the entire city. The new name they’re playing with, with Nicky’s input of course, is ‘Bella’. It will revolutionise perceptions of the Westcliff with a more relaxed vibe and its “sensual and eclectic” menu (Gibbs’ description), which hopefully will change daily (no stranger to hard work, are we Nicky?). Dining at the Westcliff has suddenly become exciting, and befitting of what Gibb’s calls ‘The Pink Palace.
The daily menu change is a hangover from Gibbs’ days of pandering to rock stars and their entire entourage at concerts, in the recording studio and on tour. Yes, she is well traveled (and to all those aspirant chefs on page? being a good cook is a gateway to the universe.) In those days, her job was to shop every day and make up fresh, delectable menus. It was also during this time that she acquired her taste for wanting to test recipes, having done so for a vegetarian cook book that Linda McCartney wrote. I have no fear that Gibbs can pull both off, if for no other reason than she loves what she does, and it shines out of her like a fluorescent light.
Gibbs has chosen to be child free, neither is she married. “Because of this, I can dedicate a lot more time to my staff. This creates a much happier environment, which you need if you are going to pull something like this off. My other goal this year is to make every single staff member computer literate because the Internet is full of recipes and knowledge”.
Gibbs has trademark dishes that travel with her wherever she goes. Some stuck to her during her travels, especially influences she picked up while in Japan. What appeals to her are its clean flavours and freshness, their broths and their ramen noodle dishes. These she has translated into her own style, and on the menu at The Westcliff will be her one such dish, her tempura tuna - SASSI compliant - with its ‘funkadelic’ dipping sauce, using Japanese seasoning that she knows so well. After all these years in the kitchen Gibbs feels that she is at the stage where her work deserves recognition. “For me, a chef has to be in the kitchen, not delegating. Gordon Ramsay has earned the right to be where he is because he is a chef who actually stands behind a hot pass, cooks food and feeds people. My goal is to get into the Top Ten by making good, honest food and keeping people happy and satisfied - that’s hard.
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