COOKtastic Hub

🚨🔥 Calling all aspiring chefs! 🍴✨

Ready to turn your passion for cooking into a culinary career? 🎉 Cooktastic is now accepting applications for our next intake (April 2026). This is your chance to level up your skills and ignite your culinary journey 🌟🔪

What you need to know:
👩‍🍳 Open to individuals aged 18-26
📚 Minimum Grade 10 required
💰 Commitment fee of R4,500
👨‍🍳 Hands-on culinary training
🔥 Work-integrated learning placement

Don't miss out on this amazing opportunity. Apply now at www.cooktastic.co.za before it's too late. For any inquiries, reach out to us on WhatsApp at 2779 640 3113 or email [email protected] 📲

Get ready to unleash your inner chef and join the Cooktastic family 🍳🎉 🌟

Guess who popped in at Cooktastic? Our very own graduate, Chef Fortune, now a Commis Chef at Queen Victoria Hotel. 👨‍🍳🌟 It's always a pleasure seeing our former students thriving in the hospitality industry 🌱✨. Thanks for dropping by and inspiring the new batch of aspiring chefs.

Congratulations to all our students who recently graduated from our culinary program. ✨👩‍🍳🎈🥳They excelled and we wish them the best on their culinary career journey. At Cooktastic Hub, they have been equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to become employable, and we are proud of their achievements. They are now prepared to leave a lasting impression in the culinary industry and contribute to the country’s economy. 🌍🔪

Unexpected professional support from 5 EY denkstatt consultants in Vienna!
Their employer offered them the opportunity to work with Cooktastic on a CSR basis for half a day, focusing on key topics — including awareness training around sustainability. 🌱
When you come from disadvantaged backgrounds, immediate life priorities often come first.
That’s why we believe it’s so important to also create space for learning about sustainability — as part of long-term empowerment and opportunity.
The team also supported us with economic development tasks, helping us think strategically about growth and impact.
Thank you so much for your time, expertise and commitment.
It feels good to co-create a better world. 🤝✨

In November, Cooktastic had the pleasure of hosting a group of Austrians on an immersive leadership development journey in Cape Town — a setting where leadership and management skills were experienced in practice: presence, sound decision-making, flexibility and the ability to adapt beyond familiar boundaries.

Over 10 intense days, this journey became far more than a program.
It evolved into a real-life space for leadership, resilience and mindful collaboration.

👩🏽‍🍳 Working side by side in the Cooktastic kitchen
🔄 Responding to new situations again and again
🫶🏽 Meeting people at eye level
🎈 Creating through improvisation, trust and shared responsibility
🥁 Closing with a drumming workshop, where the Cooktastic cohort played for the group and thanked each participant personally — a deeply moving moment.

This experience was never about “helping”.
It was about mutual learning — meeting humans as humans through real work, shared responsibility and respect. Resilience emerged naturally by adapting together, staying present and learning in real time.

We extend our sincere thanks to Tina Tichy, leadership expert with a background in IT management and mother of former Cooktastic volunteer Hanna Tichy. Her engagement felt like a continuation of her daughter’s journey with Cooktastic — grounded in humility, curiosity and reciprocal learning.

During the program, Austrian recipes were cooked together with our students and are now featured as special dishes on the Cooktastic menu 🇦🇹✨

Thank you to Brigitte and Mbuyi, and to the entire Cooktastic team whose daily work creates opportunity, dignity and real impact.

🔗 Learn more about Cooktastic: www.cooktastic.co.za

10.000 km from home. 🇿🇦✈️🇦🇹
For the first time, three Cooktastic chefs went international — from Cape Town to beautiful Austria in Europe.
A journey of growth, courage and culinary adventure:
• Lufefe Kwayinto & Michee Kabeya gained experience at Restaurant Langwallner at Irrsee – a two-toque Gault & Millau restaurant – working in hot kitchen and service.
• Priscilla Mazibuko followed her passion for pastry at Hotel Scalaria at Wolfgangsee, a stunning event destination in Austria’s lake district.
New language. New culture. New horizons. 🌍
All three stepped far outside their comfort zones — and came back richer in skill, experience and confidence.
Their hosts were thrilled:
“They have a solid base, are motivated, hardworking and kind — our guests loved them.” – Barbara Langwallner
The best part? This pilot project is just the beginning.
Cooktastic’s international exchange program will continue and expand in 2026!
If you’re interested in joining or partnering, contact [email protected] 💌

Applications are still open for the last intake of 2025 at Cooktastic 📢👨‍🍳. This is the final opportunity for late applicants to join the program.

To apply, visit www.cooktastic.co.za. Applicants must be aged between 18 and 26, have completed at least Grade 10, and have a passion for cooking. There is a commitment fee of R4,500.

Cooktastic offers comprehensive culinary training, covering various cooking techniques and skills, as well as a work-integrated learning placement.

For more information or to apply, visit www.cooktastic.co.za. For inquiries, contact via WhatsApp at 2779 640 3113 or email [email protected]. Don't miss this final opportunity to join the Cooktastic program in 2025 🍳🌟

We’re still reminiscing about what an incredible time we had at the trade show! From start to finish, the energy was inspiring, our amazing suppliers filled the space with innovation and passion, and the atmosphere was buzzing with creativity. One of the true highlights was watching the chef expertly breaking down a whole bluefin tuna with absolute precision, such a display of skill and artistry that left everyone in awe. Moments like these remind us how privileged we are to be part of the hospitality community. Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make it unforgettable.
Beautiful moments captured by Dale Herbst