South Africa’s first Michelin-star chef, Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, is bringing his outstanding kitchen skills to local soil. On Tuesday, April 23, he announced the opening of KLEIN JAN, which will be situated on a private game reserve, Tswalu Kalahari.
Born of a shared passion and vision for everything South African, van der Westhuizen together with the Oppenheimer family, set their sights on the bush for this innovative establishment. And to add further excitement, JAN Innovation Studio, a new development kitchen, will be opening its doors in Cape Town. Here a team of chefs and students will experiment, develop and innovate South African cuisine.
His Michelin-star restaurant is situated in Nice, Côte d’Azur. The dining experience is explained as: “Each gourmet dish, carefully paired with an exquisite wine, is a work of art, framed in an intimate, warm and romantic setting.”
Tswalu in the Kalahari.
On his website, Jan Hendrik shared his excitement for the upcoming projects in South Africa.
“I am very excited to be launching these two exciting new projects with Nicky and Jonathan Oppenheimer that, together, bring me back to my roots and to the stars of the African sky,” he said.
“Driven by our values of local authenticity, heritage, and sustainability of the environment, KLEIN JAN will become the region’s culinary epicentre; a place where the Kalahari’s unique ingredients will be translated into world-class cuisine. I have long dreamt of discovering this unexplored culinary territory, which in my mind, has unlimited potential.”
Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen is excited for his first South African projects.
The team at JAN Innovation Studio will also share their findings with their colleagues at Michelin-star restaurant JAN in Nice, France, which will remain one of the premier gateways for sharing South African cuisine with the world.
In addition to these exciting projects, the studio will also be home to JAN the JOURNAL, the biannual food and lifestyle publication where he shares ideas, passion and curiosity about the culinary world.
Dates for these projects have not yet been released.
Pictures: JanHendrik.com
