Chef Jess van Dyk heads up the kitchen at Protégé Restaurant at Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek. She was previously the Head Chef at La Colombe in Constantia, a huge honour, in it being South Africa’s number one restaurant. She is one of our 2021 Top 10 Women Chefs, and has won a bottle of Adhara Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Jess describes herself as follows: ‘Small town girl, from the Northern Cape, came to study at Silwood in 2010. I finished all three years, my third year being spent at La Colombe in 2012 (Constantia Uitsig). I stayed on at La Colombe, moving from Chef de partie to Sous Chef by the end of 2014. I left to pursue my dream of working on the yachts, but also spent a few months working with a catering and events company before heading to the Mediterranean. After 11 months on the yachts, I came back as Head Chef of La Colombe in 2018, and moved to Franschhoek to head up Protégé at the end of 2019’.
