Stir Crazy Cooking Culinary Theatre
Inside Stir Crazy Cooking's Soft Launch of Chefs Kitchen Collective
Lianne and I get invited to many events, but it’s not often that we are handed an apron and a knife block before the night is out. So when Stir Crazy Cooking asked us along to their Culinary Theatre on 5 June, we were curious to see what they had planned. It turned out to be part cooking class, part kitchen tour, and part product launch, all rolled into one long, well-fed evening.
A warm welcome (and a very good soup)
We arrived to a cocktail in hand and were seated at a long table, where we helped ourselves to a roasted mushroom, chorizo, blue cheese and sherry soup before anything else had even started. It set the tone nicely; this wasn't going to be a night of canapés and small talk, it was going to be about proper food.
Around the table we spotted a familiar face: Astrid Field, known to her followers as @thesweetrebellion, who we'd crossed paths with at a few other events around Cape Town.
Brett, who runs Stir Crazy, opened with a speech and went around the table asking whether we all knew one another — then proceeded to introduce every single person by name from memory. That's not a small party trick when you've got a full table of guests, and he earned a well-deserved round of applause for it.
Brett gave us some background on what Stir Crazy has been up to: training chefs for superyachts through the Superyacht Culinary Academy, and running cooking events from their Cape Town kitchen. But the real reason we were there was something new, and that's where Jason, their marketing manager, took over.
The garden, the kitchen, and a spear-caught tuna
Before getting into the pitch, we were taken on a short tour. Out back, Stir Crazy grows their own herbs: spekboom, wild rosemary, marigold flowers for plating, Thai basil, chives and oregano- and Brett was clear that whatever comes into the kitchen, they know exactly where it's sourced from. We walked through the bar into a back alley where more herbs and plants were growing in pots and old rain gutters and pipes, which I thought was a clever use of a tight space.
Back through the kitchen, where students in chef's jackets were working away, we learned that on Wednesdays they run a seafood course where a free diver spears the tuna himself. They sell it to cover the cost of the boat, and the rest goes to charity. It’s a nice touch, and one that says a lot about how seriously they take sourcing.
We were also told that every trainee is taught to make things completely from scratch, and honestly, you can taste the difference. There's a cleanness to food made that way that's hard to fake.
Introducing Chefs Kitchen Collective
This is where the evening's real purpose came in. Melissa, Stir Crazy's designer, has put together the packaging for a new venture called Chefs Kitchen Collective: a home-cooked takeaway range that will be delivered through Uber Eats and Mr Delivery, with a Spar listing also in the works. The food takes cues from the Ottolenghi school of cooking: healthy, vegetable-forward, and genuinely tasty rather than just virtuous.
The concept is built around the reality that most of us don't have the time or energy to cook a proper meal every night, and that a lot of what comes through delivery apps doesn't really count as one either. So the pitch is simple: a wholesome, nutritious meal that just happens to arrive in a box, portioned for two or four people. Some of what's on the menu:
Soba noodles with tomato, mango, aubergine and feta
Vegetarian chickpea and lentil bobotie
Chicken in coconut milk
Melanzane alla Parmigiana
A creamy courgette soup
Beef with red pepper and pineapple
Rice or noodles on the side
Enchiladas rocceros, a Mexican dish finished with melted cheese
If you're after your own version of a few of these at home, I've got a Cape Malay Coconut Cream Chicken Drumsticks recipe that leans into that same coconut milk direction, and my tomato and aubergine sauce with squid ink spaghetti isn't far off the spirit of that Melanzane. If bobotie is more your thing, I've done a loaded fries version with bobotie mince and a more traditional braai broodjie with bobotie that both get a good response whenever I make them.
What we attended was the soft launch, with the aim of opening for orders the following Monday. Jason's background is in healthcare and software, and he explained that he's seen first-hand how a product can look perfect on paper in the boardroom, only for real-world use to throw up things nobody thought of. So the idea behind this early, small-scale launch was to get honest input before the wider rollout — not a rate card from us, but a collaboration idea. Chefs Kitchen Collective is already delivering to the KFM offices at lunchtime, so there's clearly demand.
Time to cook
Next up was Luke, who runs the cooking classes. He talked us through the house rules, pointed out the fire exits and the unisex bathrooms, and asked around the table about food preferences and allergies before walking us through where everything lives: basic utensils like whisks and measuring jugs in the top drawer, pots in the bottom one, rolling pins and oven trays in the cupboard alongside the silver mixing bowls and frying pans.
We were each given an apron, tasting spoons, a knife block and salt, pepper and oil on the counter. There's a handwashing station and a separate sink for rinsing dishes, plus a table Luke called "no man's land": put a dish down there and it disappears. He warned us not to try taking anything home from it, apparently from experience. Even the recycling is properly sorted, with compost and recyclable plastic bins on hand.
We were sent off to the cooking stations, each choosing one of the Chefs Kitchen Collective recipes to make. Lianne and I settled on the Melanzane alla Parmigiana, while other tables tackled the soba noodles with tomato, mango, aubergine and feta, the vegetarian chickpea and lentil bobotie, and the chicken in coconut milk. Our glasses never sat empty for long, and the Stir Crazy team hovered close by whenever a helping hand was needed.
Just after 8pm, every dish was done and we sat down to properly tuck in. We ended up being the last ones to leave, which is a good sign.
Worth keeping an eye on
If you're in Cape Town and after a takeaway option that's a genuine step up from the usual delivery app fare, Chefs Kitchen Collective is worth watching. You can find out more at chefskitchencollective.co.za and keep tabs on Stir Crazy Cooking's own classes and events at stircrazycooking.co.za or on Instagram. Inside Guide also has a good rundown of what a Stir Crazy cooking class involves if you're thinking of booking one yourself.
For more of what Lianne and I get up to around Cape Town, have a look at my restaurant reviews and travel posts, and if you want to try your own hand at some of the dishes we cooked on the night, my recipe index is a good place to start.
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (8), Olivia (6) and Harvey (4).
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