Award-winning Chef Chantel Dartnall greeted South Africa with the sad news that she will be closing the doors of her beloved Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient Hotel on March 28, 2021.
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Dartnall has been applying her traits at Restaurant Mosaic for the last 15 years. During that time she has managed to win numerous local and international awards, including being named TBC Best Female Chef in the World in 2017 and Chef of the Year by the Hospitality Counsel.
Restaurant Mosaic has also been listed among the top 100 restaurants in the world for some time, and is also acclaimed for its expansive but carefully curated wine cellar, having won numerous awards as one of the best wine cellars in the world.
While this announcement may mark the final chapter of the Mosaic story, Chantel’s story continues – and she is excited to embark on a new journey in her life, pursuing a variety of possibilities and stretching her horizons.
‘I am proud that I have been able to pioneer Botanical Cuisine locally, and it has been gratifying to see that a variety of chefs and restaurants have incorporated some aspects of this style into their own repertoires. My team and I have achieved all that we could have hoped for. We now leave behind a proud legacy as one of the top fine dining restaurants in South Africa, having also established a solid international presence,’ Chef Dartnall said in a statement.
As is the case with many young creatives, Chantel also has a yearning to explore, to learn and to dream new dreams. She will start her new chapter in 2021, after presenting her final dinner service at Restaurant Mosaic on Friday 26 March 2021. So, for the first three months of the New Year, she has the privilege of presenting a“Best of Mosaic” menu to celebrate the last fifteen years.
For now, Chantel will divide her time between the southern Cape splendour at her secret hideaway and La Ville Lumière, Paris where new projects and further studies await her.
She will be focusing on her cookbook, a literary-artistic labour of love three years in the making, full of recipes and insights she wants to share with the world and culinary peers.
‘During the lockdown in 2020, we have all had a chance to take stock. I have been considering this brave new adventure for a while, and this period helped to solidify my decision. We have attained all the goals we set out for ourselves and I will look back on our accomplishments with gratitude and humility, and at the same time I will embrace exciting new challenges!’ she said.
We wish the highly talented Chef Chantel Dartnal all the best in her future endeavours.
Picture: Instagram/@restaurantmosaicattheorient
