Puhineas Lepur

As a teenager, Phineas Lepuru did not harbour any great desire to become a chef. Instead, he saw himself in front of a drawing board, designing and planning houses. Architecture, he thought, was a good, stable career. However, a lack of financial endowment led Phineas to enrol at Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) to study Sports Management and Administration. While he studied, he worked part time in the kitchen of a restaurant to earn a bit of money, not realising that a passion for life in the kitchen was slowly beginning to simmer.

Though he was born in Pretoria, Phineas grew up in Limpopo and the North West Province, before moving to Johannesburg. The only son in a small family, Phineas lost his father at a young age and was raised solely by his mother, to whom he says he is especially close. His mother was a cook in a lodge and to this Phineas attributes a lot of his inspiration as a chef and says he inherited a lot from her. “I am everything I am because of my mother,” he states with pride.

In 1995, Phineas took a post at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg, where he slowly moved up through the ranks of the kitchen, eventually completing his three-year in-service training and acquiring his Professional Cookery Diploma. After this, Phineas accepted an offer made by the Hilton International Hotel, in Sandton, Johannesburg. While Phineas was far from new to the industry, he began once again as a trainee. However, this time he was specialising in Oriental Cuisine, which would later become his forte and lead him to create an award-winning signature dish:

Seafood Chakalaka.

Several chef posts followed and now, fourteen years since he first took a job in a kitchen, Phineas holds the position of Food and Beverage consultant for the Erasmuskloof unit of SITA, the State Information Technology Agency. His job involves all aspects of industrial and corporate catering, including organising and preparing for banquets, conferences and outside catering.

While Phineas believes that characteristics like strong leadership and management smarts are vital in this industry, it is dedication and passion that he values the most. When asked if he enjoys what he does, Phineas’ eyes light up. “Yes, very much. I have a passion for it. This is my life.” His work philosophy? “You plan. You plan and you double-check. I do not believe in being over-confident. Every time I do something, I do it as though I have never done it before. This achieves consistency, which sets a standard and provides an example for others to follow.”

When asked what he thinks about when preparing food, Phineas’ answer is clearly impassioned: “I think about the taste, the flavour, the texture. I think about the flavour dimensions and I always, always picture the customer.” Phineas is eager to describe his signature dish, which he has aptly labelled ‘Afro-Asian cuisine’. “It is a chicken breast stuffed with Seafood Chakalaka, served with morogo and polenta or pap. Every time I cook this for a competition, I win,” he chuckles. Phineas acknowledges that chefs are under constant pressure to be innovative: “If you never create a few recipes of your own, then you are not a chef, as you show no originality.”

Being a chef is not all sunshine and spices, however, and Phineas believes that there is a lot more to being a chef than simply being able to cook. “In the old days, chefs were chefs,” he said. “Nowadays, you need to be a culinary entertainer, a manager, a businessman and an entrepreneur. You cannot just be a chef. You need to prepare for life after the chef’s jacket.”

For Phineas, this would be a future in the Training and Development field. Currently holding a portfolio in Social Responsibility with the South African Chefs Association (SACA), Phineas feels this is his true calling in life. “I believe that history can be rewritten. If tomorrow dawns and I am no longer a good chef and I have not contributed to the community, it will be as though I never existed.”

Phineas is a relentless worker. Aside from his work commitments, his training and development portfolio and his family, he is also in the process of writing a cookbook - though it is still in its early stages. Additionally, he is currently studying towards an MBA degree. He has travelled the world extensively, cooked food for celebrities on five-star cruise liners and studied at a top school in Florida, USA. He has participated in several competitions and won numerous awards. Most recently, Phineas has been nominated for the Momentum Lifestyle Achievement Awards. “I have won more than ten awards. But this is the most touching because I was recognised by the public.”

Phineas has a goal towards which he is directing his numerous endeavours. He would like to open a training facility that will be run by mentally and physically challenged individuals, with whom he is already working as part of one of his several projects. “This is my dream. It is what I want to do,” he says emphatically. “It is where all my studies, my research, my energy and the little saving I have will be invested into.” He smiles and shakes his head. “I want to help those who cannot make it on their own.”