Luke Dale Roberts Spices up his Menu!

Published: 29 Jul 2010

Luke Dale-Roberts is a hungry man. Hungry in the sense that he is not content to rest on his laurels and stream of accolades, but hungry to grow, develop and continually evolve his craft.

He comments, “Travelling to the 10th Annual World Gourmet Festival in Bangkok and the Amazing Korean Table in Seoul last year allowed me the privilege to meet up with some of the top chefs in the world, where I was inspired by their innovative dishes and techniques. They enforced on me that there is always a chasing pack of highly talented chefs, and that to stay at the top requires continual evolution and a focus on perfection. This has been part of my inspiration, which spurred me on to develop new dishes that will be incorporated into future menus.”

After extensive experimentation and creative exploration, Dale-Roberts will be unveiling a selection of his new dishes at the Good Food & Wine Show, taking place in Johannesburg from September 23 to September 26. He will play a focal role in the event and will be showcasing a selection of La Colombe’s classics during the BBC Lifestyle Theatre, with his new dishes being presented at the Chefs in Action Theatre.

Added Dale-Roberts, “I am driven to create dishes with finesse, depth of flavour, and balance, in order to offer diners a unique sensory experience. I have been playing around with some new ideas, incorporating exotic spices and flavours, mainly from the Middle East, and the finished dishes are coming together nicely. It should be great fun and there will be plenty of surprises in store.’’

La Colombe and Dale-Roberts have been winners of both Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year in the Prudential Eat Out Awards 2008, as well as being honoured with the title, Eat Out Restaurant of the Year for 2009. Furthermore, La Colombe has also achieved the pinnacle three-star rating in both the 2009 and 2010 editions, of the highly-acclaimed, Rossouw’s Restaurants guide. An international achievement for La Colombe includes a phenomenal 12th place in the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, announced in London earlier this year.