The Chefs' Collective Pop-Up at Makers Landing
Less than a month after winning MasterChef SA, I opened a pop-up restaurant together with Chefs Darren Badenhorst and Callan Austin at Makers Landing, the V&A Waterfront. Having made it through many MasterChef challenges, dreaming up a fine dining menu and then executing MasterChef quality (fine dining) dishes to twenty-four guests simultaneously was a new challenge altogether.
“Shawn, are you going to start a restaurant?”
This question is one of the most frequently asked and for good reason:
The previous seasons of MasterChef South Africa saw the winners of the competition often move towards the restaurant industry. Season one winner Deena Naidoo used to run restaurant Aarya at the Sunsquare Montecasino and third season winner Roxi Wardman used to run Spoonful Eatery in Glenwood Durban. The winner of the second season -Kamini Pather- shook things up a bit by launching her own food travel series Girl Eat World.
As fourth season winner of MasterChef South Africa, I have often been asked the question whether I will start my own restaurant. And six months after the win, I can confidently say: nope. Or at least, not yet.
“I have often been asked the question whether I will start my own restaurant. And six months after the win, I can confidently say: nope. Or at least, not yet. ”
A pop-up restaurant with Darren Badenhorst and Callan Austin
I did get a taste of what it would be like, when I ran pop-up restaurant The Chefs’ Collective with Chefs Darren Badenhorst (winner of multiple awards and Head Chef of several fine dining establishments in Franschhoek) and Callan Austin (Winner of the San Pellegrino Young Chef Academy award and ex-sous chef at Le Coin Français and Chefs Warehouse at Tintswalo Atlantic) in April. We hosted the event at the Demo Kitchen at Makers Landing which felt symbolic as this is where the MasterChef episodes were recorded.
The Power of the Backstory
We sold just forty-eight tickets to the pop-up event as we wanted it to be an intimate dining experience with a select number of guests. There was no space for walk-ins as we were determined to make it something truly unique for just twenty-four guests per evening.
In my own experience from going to fine dining restaurants, food is often elevated to such an extent that what you see on the plate, cannot be easily recognised as something you know. And whilst the waiter will generally talk you through the different elements in the dish, it is most frustrating that after they are done talking you through the different emulsions, purées, spheres and sauces, by the time you put a spoonful in your mouth you have already forgotten what was said.
The true power of a good dish, in my opinion, is not just what you taste in your mouth. Other than the flavour combinations and the techniques used to create the dish, it is about the story behind it. From knowing how the dish came about, what the initial concept was, to where the idea came from and how the ingredients were sourced, knowing this background adds so much to the fine dining experience.
And so Callan, Darren and I were determined to share the backstory to each of the dishes.
The Menu
We collaborated with Holden Manz Wine Estate who provided the guests with the different wines, each carefully selected to be perfectly paired with each dish. Upon arrival, guests were welcomed with a glass of MCC. Next I served three different canapés, which paid homage to my MasterChef journey.
The first canapé was compressed watermelon marinated in a simple syrup and sprinkled with crushed pink peppercorns. On top, I piped smoked labneh, a watermelon & lime gel and some Maldon Smoked Sea Salt, as well as some toasted pink peppercorns and fennel fronds.
This dish took our guests back to one of the MasterChef episodes, when the contestants needed to dream up a fine dining breakfast suitable to be served on a luxury game drive. We needed to make four different types of canapés, and the watermelon one was my version of an early morning fruit salad.
I now look back to this MasterChef episode as my confidence-boosting episode: I came out on top and this challenge set me on a course towards the finale. After winning this round I spent the next episode on the gantry, while the other contestants had to cook their way through to the next round, so that was a significant advantage!
The second canapé served together with the compressed watermelon, was the Scotch Quails Eggs. For this dish, I soft boiled quails eggs and wrapped them in ostrich mince (done with Cape Malay spice), then rolled them in panko crumbs before deep frying them to a crisp. The Scotch Quails Eggs were placed in a kataifi nest which was filled with garlic aioli then topped with pea shoots and served on a wooden board with braaied corn husks which was a knipoog towards Jan’s mielie challenge.
Apart from preparing something similar as part of the ‘luxury game drive breakfast’ challenge, I grew up with my mom always making Scotch eggs and I always enjoyed helping her make them and of course eating them afterwards!
Whenever Chef Callan and I were discussing different dishes and food memories, I always came back to my favourite pork dishes, so he jokingly said that we should call one of my dishes ‘Shawn’s Obsession with Pork’ and that’s exactly what we did! My third and last canapé was inspired by my love for pork belly – a sous vide pork tenderloin wrapped in pancetta with puffed crackling, pancetta crisp, mushroom chips, corn purée, pea shoots and sage dust. This dish was a Iot of effort to prepare but also loads of fun to make and I think the end result warranted the time and effort.
After the canapés, we served a bread course. As Chef Callan explained to the guests, we considered baking our own bread, but after tasting Francois Zietsman's sourdough, we decided to serve that instead! Makers Landing runs an incubator programme, providing a springboard for up-and-coming entrepreneurs to run restaurants, shops and food stalls from what used to be ‘just’ the cruise terminal! This is where Francois runs his Bread Bar. As a former contestant on MasterChef (making it to the Top 8 in the previous season), Francois is not unfamiliar with excellence, and has had a sourdough starter going for many years! We couldn't beat that.
Next, Darren paid a Tribute to Franschhoek Trout, a dish served with the Holden Manz Chenin Blanc. The 'Cold Smoked Dome' was served with a glass of Holden Manz Semillon Reserve, followed by a palate cleanser: the Amazi sorbet with caviar. Chef Callan’s aged local duck, with a fermented honey glaze and artichoke was served with a glass of Holden Manz Visionaire and his ‘Heirloom Squash’ was served with a glass of Holden Manz Proprietors Red Blend.
Next up was dessert. This was made up of two petit four, first up: an espresso topped with a mini stroopwafel. The coffee could have been symbolic for the amount of coffee I drank to stay alert during the long filming days while on but it actually just pairs very well with stroopwafels. Throughout my MasterChef journey I aimed to cook South African dishes, using local ingredients, but there were also some Dutch components, as I have been influenced by my wife’s heritage. The stroopwafels we served were proudly South African though, supplied by an Eastern Cape business called Soete Swaan that employs young people who have a disability or have fallen behind in school.
My second petit four was provided by another Eastern Cape small business: Sjukla, an artisanal Belgian chocolaterie run by Ela Van Coillie. Especially for the Chefs' Collective Pop-Up, Ela made two truffles, one filled with Speculoos and another Tiramisu-flavoured. I see Ela as my second mom, as she used to live across the road from me and I spent half my childhood at her house eating her food.
When the guests went home, we handed out these Sjukla favours. On the night they were displayed on a vintage tool box which I had brought in to pay homage to my family history. After the second World War, my grandparents left the UK and came to South Africa on a ship seeking employment. When they arrived, my grandpa Percy ended up working in construction. In those days, this was hard labour and each foreman had a tool kit of his own. And so the toolbox my grandfather used while building the Volkswagen factory in Uitenhage got a new life at The Chefs' Collective Pop-Up.
What was different?
Guests were exposed to a 4D MasterChef experience, being able to taste some of the dishes they could previously only see on the show. They were exposed to a true fine dining experience with dishes cooked by Darren Badenhorst and Callan Austin. But what was most different to any other fine dining experience, was that they could openly interact with all of us in between courses. The open plan kitchen allowed the guests to watch us plate their dishes and we each took turns to tell the stories behind what we made.
For me, it was a great learning experience. The main thing I learned was that while I enjoyed it a lot, I don’t see myself opening up a permanent space any time soon. I will continue to host different pop-up events over the next few months, and I have come up with some ideas on what these could look like. Keep an eye out on my events page to see what I’m planning on doing next! You can also sign up for my newsletter below.
About Shawn Godfrey
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 (6), Olivia (4) and Harvey (2).
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