Chris Erasmus is the group head chef and food and beverage curator at Newmark Hotels and Reserves, a luxury hospitality management group headquartered in Cape Town.
Chris has a fascinating and varied background, starting with cooking at home for his family when growing up in the Karoo. He was one of four children being raised by a single Mom so everyone pitched in to prepare meals and it was here that Chris's love for food and organic produce began. Chris's Mom taught him how to make everything himself, but the most important lesson that stands out to him still to this day is how to make a little go a long way.
It is this passion for home-cooked, Afrikaans farm-style food that Chris has taken around the world and earned him reputation as one of the top five chefs in South Africa.
He earned exceptional experience in the UK – under the mentorship of Michelin star chef, Shane Osborn – as well as at a number of South Africa’s most esteemed restaurants, one of which led him to work in kitchens in New York, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Salzburg, and Rio de Janeiro. His treasure trove of experience notably includes working as executive chef at Newmark’s Ginja, set in the heart of the Mother City, at the Victoria & Alfred Hotel.
Chris also owned an award-winning restaurant, Foliage, in Franschhoek for seven years, which translated into a tremendous feeding scheme for a four-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic.