Meet chef Theo Chiloane, who is on course to make Waterside waves in Durban. As of the writing of this story, not yet three weeks in the kitchen at top Durban fine-dining restaurant, 9th Avenue Waterside. Truly a little early to ambush him, which is what it feels like, given the scant time he’s had to put his stamp on the place. But why wait when you’re told: “He blew my socks off. I don’t know where he’s been hiding.”

This from Kayla-Ann Osborn, for whom he cooked a lunch to nail the coveted head chef job at this upscale destination establishment; the restaurant with the best setting, view, outlook in Durban. Is that arguable?

Culinary wonder-woman Osborn consulted for three months at 9th Waterside on her return to KZN after a two-year stint as executive chef at Delaire Graff in Stellenbosch (read Delaire Graff’s latest jewel, Osborn being the jewel). Part of what she did during her back-in-Durban consultancy was help with the search for the right person to helm the kitchen at this stylish eatery renowned, through a couple of incarnations, for its menu, its culinary creativity, and the flavour and excellence of the food served up. (Read our TGIFood 2019 story here.)

So what especially was it that struck Osborn about chef Chiloane’s food, is my next question.

“It was how beautifully balanced his dishes were. He did this like langoustine bisque and it was just so balanced and so well made and it was so… He showed such restraint in the way he cooked it and it’s just so unusual to find that in chefs these days. It was really special. He’s very, very good and I think he’s absolutely the right person.”

So what did chef Theo cook for chef Kayla that blew her socks off?

“I decided to make a starter using langoustines so the first thing, when I arrived here, I asked for langoustine shells, partially roasted them, ground them up and then put them, with white wine, through a heating process to make a fumet, which is a concentrated aromatic stock,” chef Chiloane tells TGIFood.

He mentions herbs and pressing shells and reducing. Then, for texture and intensity, he speaks of seaweed, the Japanese spices, togarashi and hondashi, also dried bonito flakes and toasted almonds. Also, of perfectly grilling the langoustines and of “wanting to concentrate the ocean to the point that every bite would give you a sensory touch so you felt, okay, I’m not here now.”

For the main course, he made duck breast.

Chef Theo Chiloane checks for the next order after plating a duck dish. (Photo: Wanda Hennig)

“I brought some fresh cherries with me and made a gastrique, a sauce based on butter, sugar, almost similar to how you start a syrup,” balanced with a stock to avoid any overwhelming sweetness. A butternut purée “which is one of my favourites” went with it, the butternut returned to the heat after blending “to remove as much moisture as possible”, then a dash of orange juice added for a hint of citrus. There was a little glazed beetroot, “which goes very well with duck” and a dukkah crumble for texture.

For dessert, a peach tarte tatin. To add some quirkiness and fun, he made “a quick meringue”, which he fashioned into little worms, eyes of sesame seeds added, a blow-torch involved, the “worms” climbing through a crumble “like they were walking through dirt”. Served with ice cream, to balance the sweetness of the tarte.

Chef Theo Chiloane puts malva pud on the menu, inspired by one his mom made but with coconut tuiles and lemongrass ice cream. Inset, his new beignet and Catalan ice cream dessert. (Photo: Wanda Hennig)

There’s been a constant cry for a while, he says, for more desserts on the menu. So he has added two.

A malva pudding, inspired by one his mom used to make using canned mixed fruit, which of course is not in his. Instead, slow-cooked, mildly tart and pleasantly intense apricots, some revealing themselves as you spoon into the beautifully moist dessert, which has none of the gooey-syrup sweetness that tends to put me off malva.

“We decided to add the syrup at the end rather than cook it in, to prevent that,” he says. It is served with a coconut tuile that stands tall on the plate and coconut and lemongrass ice cream. 

A second new dessert has beignets and a Catalan ice cream, delicately citrusy and with cinnamon and hints of crystallised sugar. 

Chef Theo Chiloane plates a long-time Waterside favourite, lamb rump with pommes purée and mushy peas. (Photo: Wanda Hennig)

Going back to Osborn’s poser on where chef Chiloane has been hiding: looking back over his CV it seems safe to say not hiding, but preparing. This is his 11th restaurant in 12 years.

In brief, he is from Nelspruit (curiously where Osborn, too, was born, although she grew up in and considers herself to be from Scottburgh). His father, a high school principal, is Pedi. His mom, a primary school teacher, is Swati. He excelled at maths and science and spent three years at Mangosuthu University of Technology after high school studying quantity surveying and construction management “and learning the Zulu language properly”.

On his 22nd birthday, while doing his internship in Pretoria, “I realised I was really unhappy doing what I was doing.” So that day he quit. Enrolled at Capsicum Culinary school, Boksburg campus.

“Then I had to explain it to my family.” That the reality of being in construction for the rest of his life was too depressing. “That I just wanted to cook.”

His passion for cooking was sparked in the kitchen with his mom. He was making basic three-course family meals as a teenager. “But don’t forget, I’m a black male approaching my mid-20s and now, you want to cook? It’s taboo. I said, ‘I’m going to make a career out of it’.”

His first full-time kitchen gig was at a lodge in Louis Trichardt. From there he moved to a restaurant in Middelburg. Then it was “home” to Nelspruit and a tapas bar.

Not too much later he flew to Dubai where he did a year at gourmet chain Pantry Cafe, now closed.

His next Dubai experience was at a tasteful minimalist Spanish restaurant, LaLuz, where both Chef Theo and a review tell me molecular gastronomy was a feature. Head chef was Barcelona-born Alain Devahive Tolosa, who had worked for a decade at the erstwhile 3-Michelin star el Bulli.

Chef Theo explains what I read were LaLuz’s signature spherical olives: small olive-shaped pouches of flavour that explode in your mouth and “leave your taste buds revelling in an intense olive experience”. The molecular gastronomy at LaLuz was subtle, never gratuitous or overwhelming, he says. “The idea was to showcase the best of Spain without taking away its purest form.”

While he had reservations about Dubai, especially the lack of distinct seasons and the fact that all produce was imported, so you got anything at any time of the year from somewhere in the world, he learned how he could be playful around food using his background of chemistry and science.

“It’s about adding touches,” he says of his molecular gastronomy interpretations. About what you create being an evocative character of an element. “You want to evoke an emotion but make sure a taste doesn’t last so long that you lose that emotion and get overwhelmed.”

After two years in Dubai, Chef Theo went to the 5-star Mhondoro Safari Lodge in Vaalwater, where the focus was fine dining “with a local twist”. Then, a contemporary Italian high-end Gemelli restaurant in Bryanston, at which point he was named one of the Top 50 chefs in South Africa by Gourmet Guide 2019.

From there and through Covid, Chef Theo was back in the environs of Nelspruit, at the luxury Ngala Tented Safari Camp in the Timbavati. He took care of the food needs of the teams streaming game drives via social media. Stock control needed an overhaul. “There was much to do.”

Post-Covid he came to Durban to help set up and to create a high-end African cuisine menu for hip and buzzing AuthentiQ on Florida Road. His lament was that often the bar menu was more of a focus than the food.

An order of Sunday’s market fish of the day exits the busy kitchen. (Photo: Wanda Hennig)

At 9th Waterside, his plan is to note any issues and to “slowly but surely readjust, all the while analysing how customers react. Also to assess the skills set of the kitchen team.” This, he says, will tell him how far he can go with some of the creativity he wants to introduce. “Retraining is possible so long as people are keen to learn. So far I’ve learned that they are keen to learn. They want to try. I think they’ve been wanting to see new things happen.”

He has no plans to mess around with any of the classics, he says. “We know people really love the lamb rump, the beef fillet, some of our favourite menu items. But we can tweak and elevate our handling of the seafood, for example. And add more seafood. I’m considering a langoustine tortellini and am working on a crayfish and clam dish on an edible soil base with champagne foam.”

The secret of any foam, he says, is that it is about flavour and must linger briefly, then disappear. “I was reading about a chef who wanted a hint of lime but he didn’t want to add lime to the dish so he made a concentrated perfume of lime and gave a little spray when the dish was served, then walked away. So when you’re eating you’re maybe getting something at the same time complicated and subtle. These are the kinds of twists and turns to dishes I’m talking about.”

I watch him in the kitchen. Hear quiet commanding requests. Often a courteous “thank you”. I see him show and tell, patiently, a foam technique. There is confidence and focus. He wants to pave the way for others. “I come from a community where the thought of making something of yourself as a chef is taboo,” he says. “If I prove that’s not true, pave the way for younger chefs to achieve greater heights than I will, that is my bigger-picture purpose.”

There is an entire vegan menu for chef Theo Chiloane to tweak. Here, a mezze platter. (Photo: Wanda Hennig)

Expect mango to make its way onto the menu in some form this season. “Everyone has food memories and eating memories. Everyone around here has eaten mango.

“We had mango and avocado and peach and macadamia trees in our garden when I was growing up. We would have someone come in and plant the corn and the sweet potatoes. You learned to wait for certain crops at certain seasons.

“If there is a dish that is a homage to memories, everyone can relate. So I will be working on the best way to treat the mango.

“And I was also thinking of pineapples. You drive up the North Coast to Zululand and Hluhluwe. All those pineapples. So like, call it ‘a trip to Hluhluwe’.

“I could make a pudding with a pineapple base or,” he is thinking out loud, explaining in his engaging, charming, sharing manner that draws one in, “I could actually make an ice cream with pineapple that is actually more honey-based, because I remember buying honeycomb while up there too.”

Time to tell these stories of South Africa on the plate, he says.

From the kitchen, mushroom tortellini with parmesan, mushroom dust and truffle. (Photo: Wanda Hennig)

For those who don’t know, 9th Avenue Waterside started life as 9th Avenue Bistro. Early owners were a husband and wife team who moved, in 2010, to Australia. At which point a second husband and wife team, Gina and Graham Neilson, having made a deal to buy the eatery, took over. Sublime food, wonderful service, tip-top in Durban — but in a grungy parking lot location near Greyville.

Some 18 years – and many accolades – after taking over, the Neilsons had been looking to move when they were approached to consult on what would become 9th Avenue Waterside. The location had previously been home to Cafe Fish, a Durban favourite for its location. In the yacht mole. Among the sailboats. Dancing reflections. Moonlight on water. Valentine’s Day drinks.

After issues with Transnet, who own the harbour property, Cafe Fish was forced to close. And becoming more and more like the drying out skeleton of a filleted fish, it stood decomposing until the building was finally condemned and scheduled to be torn down.

Enter a third husband and wife partnership. This time low-key, not in hospitality, but who recognised potential and were saddened watching the death throes of what they had considered a Durban gem.

Prashan Sewram, a businessman, had enjoyed many a sunset from the balcony of Cafe Fish. It was while sitting at Cardero’s, a gorgeous harbour restaurant in Vancouver, Canada, that he saw, in his mind’s eye, such a place at the Cafe Fish spot. Having decided to try to make it happen and having ironed out the obstacles, he and his wife, Leona Chetty Sewram, approached the Neilsons. Asked them to be consultants. To give advice.

The 9th Avenue pair immediately knew they wanted to do more. A collaboration ensued, a partnership was established and they became directors; shareholders in the business. Graham in the kitchen and Gina front-of-house as before: 9th Avenue Bistro had become 9th Avenue Waterside.

Then Covid came and during Covid, the Neilsons upped and left. Like the first 9th Avenue owners, they moved to Australia. And in turn Leona, who I met recently through Chef Kayla, became the reluctant, if hands-on and committed, restaurateur.

“It’s a very funny story,” chef Chiloane says when I ask him how he got to be at 9th Waterside. “Leona apparently stopped in at Block Men Beef” – branded as fine meat purveyors – in suburban Morningside.

“I was there with Kayla,” says Leona. “I asked if they knew of any good chefs with precision and know-how when it came to choosing good cuts and buying quality meat. The owner said, over and above any other, the chef that knew his meat, who was fanatical about his cuts, was this Chef Theo. I was intrigued. Asked for chef’s number.”

“Block Men was one of my suppliers,” says chef Chiloane. “Out of the blue I get this call saying there is this lady from 9th Avenue Waterside. Did I know the restaurant? Of course. And she is looking for a head chef. Could he give her my number?

“Leona called me. Was I interested? Did I want to come in? My daughter (Anayha) had literally just been born. I was on paternity leave so I said, yes fine, I have the time.”

And now: there he is. There they are. And the rest is, who knows? Some kind of history in the pot cooking, steaming, foaming, unfolding. DM/TGIFood

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