Chef Conrad Gallagher - A Culinary Experience Second to None

Chef Conrad Gallagher has been cooking up a storm in South Africa for nearly two years. Appointed as the group executive chef and restaurant consultant for the resorts division at Sun International, he is in charge of upgrading the standards of the five- and six-star properties within the group, these predominantly being the Table Bay, Royal Livingston and Palace hotels.

Recruited by the CEO and the Director of Operations of Sun International, the main focus of Conrad’s job is the recruitment of chefs, sommeliers, captains and general managers. He is also in charge of the building concepts within their restaurants, creating signature fine dining restaurants with name chefs, and development of wine lists and menus.

The Irish super chef visited South Africa on vacation a few years back and decided that Cape Town had to be his home. Working in New York at a string of world-renowned restaurants at the time, Conrad packed his bags and headed south and admits he hasn’t looked back since.

Now living with his wife and ten-month-old son in the Constantia winelands, Conrad has his plate full with various projects. These include a gourmet coffee shop, which his wife owns, a cooking school, catering business and a restaurant consultancy.

His next big project is Sun International’s POSITIVE ROCKS banquet. The four-day festival combines a unique fusion of music, fashion, art and cuisine, all in aid of the Tapologo Aids Hospice in Mpumalanga.

The event will be taking place at Sun City from 8 to 11 June 2006, and guests invited to POSITIVE will experience, among other things, a 5-course gastronomic feast. Conrad will be leading a group of four Michelin-starred chefs, who will each be preparing a course.

Away from home about 20 days a month, Conrad divides this time between Johannesburg and the United Kingdom. A typical week sees Conrad up at four on a Monday morning to catch a plane to Johannesburg where he does most of his work. He usually returns on a Thursday evening.

Growing up in Ireland, Conrad started cooking at the age of twelve, making breakfasts in a local hotel.

“In Ireland in those days it was nothing out of the ordinary to start working at such a young age. My mother was a great cook and baker and was always baking for someone in the community. I got hauled in to help and discovered that I had quite a flair for cooking.

“As I went along I started doing more and more interesting dishes as opposed to just doing scrambled eggs and bacon,” says Conrad.

Conrad has catered for events all over the world including St Patrick’s Day dinner at the White House and the MTV award ceremonies in Frankfurt and Dublin. He boasts a celebrity client list that stretches from Bill Clinton to Madonna.

Currently one of his biggest ventures is his consultancy business. “Conceptualising the design of a restaurant is an extremely difficult affair. Not only do you need vision but also a practical understanding of the working environment. The choice of every item involves time, knowledge and research and every component is dependent on one another. In restaurants there are no second chances, first impressions last and so it is vital to create a total restaurant experience first time round,” says Conrad.

The business helps plan everything from the type of chairs to the uniforms to the way the food should be presented on a plate. Conrad believes that a restaurant is an entire concept and even the finest detail has to fit in with that idea.

In addition to consulting for numerous top restaurants, Conrad has also released 5 award-winning cookbooks and starred in countless TV cooking programmes.

One tip that he consistently gives to budding chefs and even housewives is to keep things simple.

“If you buy beautiful, fresh ingredients your food will turn out the same way and in the end it will save you time. It is a shame to have to spend five hours slaving in the kitchen before a dinner party. If you can, keep the food simple but tasty,” advises Conrad.

To make things easier Conrad has recently launched Conrad Gallagher’s Harvest Foods, a range of gourmet food products, which includes a recipe created specifically for it. Products include African Habanero Jam, Wild Summer Berry Vinegar, Cape Malay spice rubs and Granny Nora’s Wine Syrup. There are even bottles of decade-old balsamic vinegar to be ordered.

Despite his numerous achievements, Conrad says his greatest accomplishment remains his family and he enjoys nothing more than to sit down and have a meal with them. Which goes to show that no matter how many awards you have to your name, it is the simple things in life that make it worthwhile.