Highly regarded by his contemporaries, Novelli was at the forefront of the celebrity chef trend, appearing on prime time TV shows including Hell’s Kitchen, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Celebrity X Factor, The Apprentice and numerous BBC cooking shows. It was the late Keith Floyd – one of television’s first food superstars – who gave Novelli a piece of advice that has become his mantra: “Cooking is fun. It’s nothing serious.”

Novelli is no stranger to South Africa either, having once run the prestigious Novelli’s in Cape Town while married to his second wife, model Anzelle Visser from Stellenbosch. He now runs a cooking academy at his 14th-century farmhouse in Hertfordshire. This venture has already won him more awards and fans, and is regarded as one of the top cookery schools in the UK. His latest best-selling cookbook is titled Simply Novelli.

The master chef will be creating magic for 300 guests at The Art of 8, part of the launch for the new Audi A8, which takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre on Tuesday, 6 May. While he’s remaining coy about what is on the menu, Novelli does promise that it will be a dining experience to remember.