By the age of 7 it was pretty clear that the profession of a chef would be my chosen career path. At 15 I started an apprenticeship as a baker and confectioner, and by the age of 20 I also held a diploma as a professional chef. In the beginning I worked in the then capitol Bonn for the government as a chef, cooking for German politicians and foreign guests. I then joined the Steigenberger Hotel in Bad Neuenahr where I worked as Entremetier for the fine dining restaurant. Here it was that I would find my love for the art of Patisserie and Baking. After running the Pastry department for over 1 year I moved to London to be a part of the opening team of The Langham Hilton hotel. From there I joined the King Solomon Palace hotel in Eilat, Israel and was lucky enough to become part of the team on the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Cruise Liner, traveling all over the world. In 1991 I joined Sun International as Assistant Complex Chef for the Sun City resort, assisting in opening the Palace Hotel and The Lost City of Sun City. After 2 years I moved to Asia, Hong Kong, working for New World International as Executive Pastry Chef. I then moved back to Sun City as Complex Executive Pastry Chef, being responsible for everything with regards to Pastry and Baking on the complex for all properties. Then followed 5 years in Asia, Myanmar and India, opening a hotel in Yangoon for New World International and then working for the renowned Oberoi Group in Mumbai for The Oberoi & Towers. I joined the world renowned hotel group Peninsula, moving to Chicago where I was the opening Executive Pastry Chef for The Peninsula Hotel Chicago, which reached 5 star and 5 diamond status in its first year of operation. The hotel was also awarded number 1 hotel in the USA and was in the top 10 hotels of the world. Then came the opportunity to join the renowned hotel group Ritz-Carlton and I became Executive Pastry Chef at the world famous Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Hawaii, Maui, then number 3 in the world. From there I moved back to India, joining the luxurious TAJ Hotel group as Corporate Executive Pastry Chef for their properties in India. The followed nearly 2 years in Seoul, South Korea, working as Executive Pastry Chef, responsible for the Grand Intercontinental & COEX Intercontinental Hotel, as well as a supermarket group belonging to the owning company. In 2006 I arrived in Port Elizabeth, joining my wife, Cherilyn and my 2 sons. In the early days we operated a small cooking and baking school for kids, teens and adults. We started producing a few cakes, wedding cakes, etc. The rest is history. Today The Pastryworks offers baking, Culinary and cooking classes to all ages and hosts many corporate clients in our kitchen. We have been featured numerous times on national television and magazines in South Africa. We also operate an Artisan bakery and have after just 2 years doubled our production space and have just recently opened our 2nd outlet. We do make occasion and wedding cakes and create sweet things as favours, or for dessert buffets. The Pastryworks is also a consultancy for hotels and restaurants in South Africa and also overseas, opening hotels and holding training courses for international hotel groups and or assisting with hotel opening, facility layouts, menu designs, etc. From 2011 I became associated with Chocolate Frey, from Switzerland, working for them as Pastry Consultant, responsible for Africa, Middle East and Asia. Chocolate Frey is also a great supporter for our school and sponsored all out latest chocolate equipment and tools as well as the famous Swiss chocolate for our students to work with. Finally after all these years I fulfiled my lifelong dream, and in February 2013 opened SAACA – the South African Academy of Culinary Arts. I would welcome the opportunity to share my vast knowledge and passion with your daughter / son, be assured that we at SAACA will do everything in our power to make sure that she or he will be given the best culinary education possible. We will measure our success on the success of our students. Thank you very much for the opportunity,
Ralph Gottschalk
