Margot Janse (born 1969,

Naarden Naarden () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and former List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Gooi region in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It has been part ...

) is a Dutch chef, best known for her work as

head chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads a kitchen and its cooks. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is a chef that manages multiple kitche ...

Le Quartier Français Le Quartier Français is a restaurant and hotel in Franschhoek, South Africa near Stellenbosch. The property has thirteen rooms, eight suites and a cottage that overlook a landscaped garden with a natural pool.The restaurant ranked 36th best resta ...

Franschhoek Franschhoek (; Afrikaans for "French Corner", Dutch spelling before 1947 ''Fransche Hoek'', French: ''Le Coin Français'') is a small town in the Western Cape Province and one of the oldest towns in South Africa. It was formerly known as Oliph ...

, South Africa.

Career

Born in Naarden and raised in

Bussum Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the province of North Holland in the Netherlands near Hilversum. Since 2016, Bussum has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren. Bussum had a ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Margot Janse originally travelled to Africa in 1989 alongside her South African boyfriend when he was offered a job in Zimbabwe as a reporter. They lived in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

, where she worked as a waitress. His job took the couple to Zambia, where she met the recently released South African political prisoners

Ahmed Kathrada Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada OMSG (21 August 1929 – 28 March 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. Kathrada's involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African Natio ...

and

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC ...

while taking photographs for her boyfriend. Following the release of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

, he also visited Zambia where Janse met him. Janse moved to South Africa following the end of

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, where she lived in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. She began working at Ciro Molinaro's

Italian restaurant ''Italian Restaurant'' is an Italian comedy television series. Cast *Gigi Proietti: Giulio Broccoli *Nancy Brilli: Connie Mancuso *Adriano Pappalardo: Frank Di Giacomo *Tiberio Murgia: Salvatore *Cristiana Capotondi: Angie *Luigi Montini: Mancu ...

Parktown North on the other side of the city, where she would do double shifts to earn a living. She then moved to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, where she worked at the Bay Hotel. In 1995, she was hired as a

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members o ...

at the

. When the

moved back to Johannesburg to work with Molinaro, Janse was promoted into the role. At the time, the restaurant was already award winning and had been named South Africa's Restaurant of the Year. She introduced

tasting menu A tasting menu is a collection of several dishes in small portions, served by a restaurant as a single meal. The French name for a tasting menu is . Some restaurants and chefs specialize in tasting menus, while in other cases, it is a special o ...

s to South Africa when she created the Tasting Room within the restaurant. In 2000, she spent three months in

The French Laundry The French Laundry is a three-Michelin star French cuisine, French and California cuisine, Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1 ...

under chef

Thomas Keller Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, the French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Found ...

. Over the course of her time at Le Quartier Francais, she was named Eat Out DStv chef of the year in both 2002 and 2012. The restaurant was named eight best in

The World's 50 Best Restaurants The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a list produced by the UK media company William Reed Ltd, William Reed, which originally appeared in the British magazine ''Restaurant (magazine), Restaurant'' in 2002. The list and awards are no longer direc ...

. By 2012, the restaurant had been named in the 10 ten list of South African restaurants on 11 occasions. After 21 years at the restaurant, Janse left Le Quartier Francais on 29 April 2017.

Personal

Janse has competed in marathons to raise money for charities and local schools. In 2009, she began a scheme where muffins were baked for a small creche each Friday at Le Quartier Français. Following donations, this grew to a daily production for 200 pre-primary school children each day, and 1100 breakfasts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janse, Margot 1969 births Living people Dutch women chefs Dutch expatriates in South Africa People from Naarden