By Lindsey
FEAST Food and Wine Club was established in 2009, and celebrates food, wine and people, hosting regular events that bring these three elements together.
Having been part of the Gastronauts Food and Wine club for a few years, Christophe Jouet, founder and secretary of FEAST, had the idea to create a young and dynamic food and wine company that was new, fresh and energetic, with the underlying principle to be able to help the youth further their careers in the hospitality industry, similar to that of sister club, Gastronauts. “I got together with a friend, Daria Higgins, who is also the
deputy chairperson for FEAST, and a previous committee member, Tarryn Cutts, and we came up with the name, FEAST, which we felt was perfectly suited to the idea. We then identified a team of eight likeminded individuals and the rest is history,” said Jouet. Members forming part of this CSI initiative include Franck Deroche, chairperson; Darrell Steyn, treasurer; Vusi Ndaba; Holly de Vries; Jo-Anne Fraser; and Conrad Geldenhuys.
The FEAST Food and Wine Club events not only provide a platform for restaurants and wine farms to showcase their culinary sensations and unique blends, but it also contributes financially and give back to the culinary arts. “Specifically, the money we raise through our events is given to the Dr Bill Gallagher Young Chefs Study Assistance Fund to provide the underprivileged with the necessary means to pursue an education and career in this rewarding industry,” explained Jouet.
The Dr Bill Gallagher Young Chefs Study Assistance Fund, established in 2004 by South Africa’s culinary great, Dr Billy Gallagher, provides students already enrolled in culinary training programmes with the necessary financial assistance that they may need when purchasing utensils, books, field trips and study aids. “In this way young people, who perhaps would have not been able to do so otherwise, are able to flower and carry the torch whose standards were, in some way, set by Gallagher himself,” commented Jouet.
With the funds that have been generated, FEAST has been able to touch the lives of two young individuals, Vuyiseka Maneli and Jarred Jameson.
Maneli, who has been a full-time student at HTA The Industry Connection, since February, has “shown a lot of potential, interest and consistent effort in what she does, she is an involved member in the class and participates whenever she is required to. She has maintained a 65% average on both her theoretical and practical classes,” said Nancy Kinyua, Craft Trainer at HTA, in a recent progress report sent to FEAST. “Thank you for having given her this opportunity to better herself in the food industry, another person’s life has been changed due to your generosity,” added Kinyua.
Jameson, who started with his in-services apprenticeship programme in January, is currently busy with his first year practical placement at the Airport Grand Hotel. Said Dagnay Newman, executive chef at the Airport Grand Hotel and Conference Centre, in his progress report for Jameson, “On behalf of Jarred, I would like to thank you for granting him this opportunity to become one of South Africa’s home-grown chefs in the ever growing hospitality Industry.”
For further information on the FEAST Food and Wine Club events, contact Christophe Jouet on 082 391 2389 or email
[email protected].