Yesterday was International Women’s Day, and the Michelin Guide has paid tribute to the Top 16 Women Chefs in the world which own and head up the kitchens of one-, two-, and three-star Michelin Restaurants.
It is also a good opportunity to pay a final tribute to our country’s only Top 10 Chef Chantel Dartnall, who is soon to close down her Restaurant Mosaic outside Pretoria.
Women Chefs have always been in the minority in general, but also at the top echelon of restaurant ownership.
It was a shock to see a Facebook post by Chef Chantel Dartnall of award-winning Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient, announcing that she is closing her restaurant on 28 March 2021, after 15 years of operating it outside Pretoria. Not only has the restaurant been on the Eat Out Top 10 List for many of these years, but Chef Chantel’s restaurant is probably the most highly internationally recognized South African restaurant.
Last month The Restaurant at Waterkloof closed its doors in Somerset West, another Eat Out Top 10 restaurant.