Andrew Odendaal Head Chef

• Legacy: Privately used motor yacht cruising up and down the French and Italian Riviera. Cooking for up to 10 guests including Royalty with a wide variety of cuisines; cooking for 13 crew simultaneously. Managing and maintaining the galley to the highest level including doing the provisioning myself. Nice yacht and crew but as the boat is heavily for sale, and with the summer season ahead it seems the best timing to look for a new yacht.

• TAIBA: Charter and Private motor yacht cruising around the Western Med. Cooking for a discerning, demanding owner with his extended family; back-to-back charters. Catering for large numbers of guests for last minute owner parties along with many different requests; themed evenings on a regular basis to keep guests entertained; BBQ's ashore. Galley was meticulously maintained; all provisioning was done by myself; was assisted by a Stew/cook in the summer months.

• Head Chef onboard a busy charter yacht cooking for 12 guests and 13 crew. The yacht chartered in
  the West Mediterranean summer 2019, completing 10 weeks of charter. I received excellent feedback
  from all the charter clients. In particular, Marlene from C+N is a charter broker who is happy to act as
  a reference, on behalf of her clients. I am currently employed, looking confidentially for my next job.
• Supervised preparation of specialty items and customer requests to verify accuracy in production.
• Assessed inventory levels and placed orders to replenish goods before supplies depleted.
• Planned and prepared food product orders to maintain appropriate stock levels.

• I took some time out to get married while also freelancing as a chef in villas in the South of France and onboard yachts (MY Kibo 85m, MY Mahlene 50m, MY Herculina 50m, MY Aroha 35m) 8th May – 16th September 2017 .
• 16th Feb – 3rd Mar 2017 M/Y Limitless 97m Chef M/Y Limitless is a pedigree Lurssen yacht, with an impeccable reputation, having been built for the current owner and boasts little crew turnover.
• It was an honor to be offered the temporary chef position to cover the crew chef position while he was on planned leave during an unexpected owners trip, in the Caribbean.
• I cooked for up to 25 crew including bodyguards and private staff.
• I reveled in the opportunity to work onboard learning the operations and teamwork involved onboard such a prestigious yacht.
• 11th Jan – 6th Feb 2017 M/Y Far From It 43m Chef I was asked to step in at the last minute, to cook for an upcoming owners trip.
• I cooked a variety of dishes, for the guests which were popularly received, and impressed the (US) owners during their trip, with contemporary American cuisine.
• On the back of this successful owner’s trip, I was offered the full-time chef position, declining due to the yacht’s itinerary.
• 14th Nov – 28th Nov 2016 M/Y Blade 43m Chef Blade was a freelance chef position to cover leave.
• Cooking for the crew, provisioning and preparing weekday and weekend food.
• This position suited planned vacation time before relocating to the Caribbean to freelance.
• I was recommended by the crew of MY ODESSA and have been subsequently been asked to freelance again.
• 2nd Nov – 9th Nov 2016 M/Y Sea Pearl 60m Sous Chef Hired as the Sous Chef for an end of season Owners trip, I assisted the Head Chef in guest food preparation and made food for 18 crew.
• This position, although short was a fantastic experience as I worked with a renowned industry chef.
• 24th Oct – 28th Oct 2016 M/Y Odessa 45m Chef Freelance chef to cover leave, cooking for 12 crew.

M/Y Hermitage is a 32m Princess Yacht, which was an exceptionally busy private yacht, owned by five
siblings from South America. The yacht cruised the Mediterranean providing me with the experience
of provisioning in all the popular yachting hotspots. I cooked interesting, healthy and visually pleasing
meals for the guests, using fresh, local produce. Often being called to the table for a round of
applause. I cooked for 8 guests and 5 crew. I was offered a retainer for the winter however due to the
cruising plan summer 2018, I politely declined, as I preferred a yacht based in the West Mediterranean.

• 16th Feb – 3rd Mar 2017 M/Y Limitless 97m Chef
  M/Y Limitless is a pedigree Lurssen yacht, with an impeccable reputation, having been built for the
  current owner and boasts little crew turnover. It was an honor to be offered the temporary chef
  position to cover the crew chef position while he was on planned leave during an unexpected owners
  trip, in the Caribbean. I cooked for up to 25 crew including bodyguards and private staff. I reveled in
  the opportunity to work onboard learning the operations and teamwork involved onboard such a
  prestigious yacht.
  11th Jan – 6th Feb 2017 M/Y Far From It 43m Chef
  I was asked to step in at the last minute, to cook for an upcoming owners trip. I cooked a variety of
  dishes, for the guests which were popularly received, and impressed the (US) owners during their trip,
  with contemporary American cuisine. On the back of this successful owner’s trip, I was offered the
  full-time chef position, declining due to the yacht’s itinerary.
  14th Nov – 28th Nov 2016 M/Y Blade 43m Chef
  Blade was a freelance chef position to cover leave. Cooking for the crew, provisioning and preparing
  weekday and weekend food. This position suited planned vacation time before relocating to the
  Caribbean to freelance. I was recommended by the crew of MY ODESSA and have been subsequently
  been asked to freelance again.
  2nd Nov – 9th Nov 2016 M/Y Sea Pearl 60m Sous Chef
  Hired as the Sous Chef for an end of season Owners trip, I assisted the Head Chef in guest food
  preparation and made food for 18 crew. This position, although short was a fantastic experience as I
  worked with a renowned industry chef.
  24th Oct – 28th Oct 2016 M/Y Odessa 45m Chef
  Freelance chef to cover leave, cooking for 12 crew.

• Perle Noire was my second season in yachting as a sole chef onboard a busy privately run MY.
• I cooked for the Ukrainian owners plus their guests, who enjoyed fresh daily seafood as well as 6 crew on a daily basis.
• I pride myself on self-provisioning to assist budget management, I like to keep a clean and well-ordered galley while also helping on deck to help the team dynamics which I have seen to be essential with a smaller crew.

• My first season in yachting was onboard M/Y Lisa IV a private and charter 46m which chartered extensively throughout the West and East Mediterranean.
• 12 guests and 8 crew.
• This chef position presented me with many challenges being the sole chef onboard and also taught me the ropes of being a yacht chef.
• I cooked for high profile charters which were all extremely successful.

• Requested to return as the Executive Head Chef (see below details of hotel and restaurant).
• I re-joined this hotel at request of the owner.
• My main duties where to recreate successful menus with the correct gross profits & maintain and run the kitchen and staff accordingly, to keep to strict budgets, targets & goals and to provide a healthy working environment.
• These actions facilitated the renewal of the standards I had set in place in 2010.

• Turbine Boutique Hotel & Spa, This Hotel was started in 2010 after renovation from an old wood fired power station into luxury 5.
• Hotel and restaurant.
• It has 24 luxury rooms, Spa, Conferencing facilities, Island Cafe Restaurant and a Tapas Bar.
• I was responsible for initial set up of the kitchen including procuring all necessary equipment & kitchen smalls required for the kitchen to operate at a high end level.
• I hired and trained all chefs and kitchen staff teaching health & safety food practices to all staff.
• This position was a highlight and yet one of the biggest challenges of my career; One I will not forget: The amount of knowledge and experience I gained as the Head Chef was invaluable.

• Exclusive 5 star Safari Company with great values with an extensive portfolio of lodges and game reserves throughout Africa and India.
• As the Executive Head Chef, I was responsible for four lodges on one reserve (Kwandwe Private Game Reserve) which is a a Relais & Châteaux property before moving on to the position of Executive Head Chef for the Getty family at Phinda Private Game Reserve.
• I had the great privilege of visiting and working at some of the various lodges throughout Africa (Mnemba Island-Zanzibar, Ngoro-goro Crater Tanzania, Lake Manyara) and India.
• During this period, I was invited to attend, with only 3 other African chefs, an exclusive international gourmet food festival in St Moritz, Switzerland.