Chef Mahlomola is Johannesburg’s Jack of all Trades

Born in Mofolo, Soweto, Chef Mahlomola Thamae’s love for cooking started when he was a child. Now he mentors a young generation of up-and-coming chefs.

Growing up, Thamae watched his family cook various dishes, and his passion blossomed.

“I’ve got a lot of inspiration from my family and the love of food that started in the family when I was young, and what inspires me is to wake up every day and come to work and do something that I love, something that I am passionate about,” he said.

After obtaining his degree in the science of cooking at Westminster Kingsway College in England in 2009, Thamae continued to pursue his culinary passion and refine his craft. Almost a decade later, he was inspired to start his own business. The owner of TM Innovations, Thamae operates bespoke events and a catering company specialising in events, canteen services, and coffee shop and vending machine management in Johannesburg, where he contributes to the culinary industry with his “luxury for your taste buds” brand.

As I prepare to write my reflection piece for Tony, I am in awe at the number of serendipitous moments I have had in South Africa and the paths I kept crossing. I first met Thamae at the Africa Food Show in Cape Town in June when the friendly chef was engaged in conversation with a fellow chef. I learned a bit about his culinary background before I shared with him that I was Tony Jackman’s intern for his food section. The eager chef told me I must visit his catering service in Johannesburg.

The invitation made me feel like a celebrity, the way I was asked to pay him a visit during my travels. Since this summer was my first time exploring writing about the culinary industry, I didn’t know what to expect for my first culinary excursion without Tony, but boy was I pleasantly surprised.

I arrived at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in Parktown, Johannesburg, the day before my multi-layover trip back to New Jersey. After greeting the security guards, I pushed through the turnstiles before making my way to the entrance. Another guard met me at the entrance of the hospital and I signed in. I told her I was here to see Mahlomola Thamae. She then pointed to the direction of his catering service, and I made my way over to reunite with him.

Towards the entrance to the garden of the hospital is chef Thamae’s catering service. A retractable banner stands with his brand name, TM Innovations, and his list of accolades from private chef to the services he offers such as skills development in the culinary arts. The chef’s special for the day was beef burgers served with potato wedges for R90, and towards the kitchen was a counter that displayed different cookie flavours from chocolate chip to macadamia, as well as a coffee maker. His two chefs, Lala Segacwi and Queen Moshokwa, greeted me while he was in the kitchen preparing a meal, which I later learned was samples he created just for me to try.

A few moments later, chef Thamae walked out and greeted me with a hug before ushering me into his kitchen. He was wearing his white chef’s jacket with a logo that read “Future Menus 2025 Chef of the Year, Chef Mahlomola Thamae”. The chef loves to cook but most importantly wants others to experience his passion for food.

As we walked into the kitchen we updated each other on our lives, while he also shared his culinary background with me. He moved his utensils from his cooking station so he could finish preparing my meal.

“We use the best ingredients, the best available products and we are using the best suppliers in our country. We normally go to the suppliers every Tuesday to buy fresh ingredients,” said Thamae.

In the kitchen, I watched Thamae plate the meal he had made for me. He placed the millet (a starchy grain) first, followed by a hake fillet on top of sea bass, some vegetables on top of the fillets such as caramelised onion, cucumber, pepper and carrot, before finishing it off with drizzled lemon butter, garnished with his favourite herb, rosemary. My mouth was watering as I watched the professional chef in his element. But that wasn’t all — I was truly in for a South African curated culinary experience.

In sample-sized bowls was my new favourite condiment, pickled atchar using mango, sorghum (an ancient grain rich in fibre) salad, beetroot relish, seasonal vegetables, spicy BBQ wings for Thamae, salsa, potato wedges and seasoned rice. He used a limited amount of seasoning — salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon, garlic, cappers and butter. His philosophy? He believes in blending simplicity with creativity and allowing the fresh herbs and fresh dressing to do the talking for his dishes.

When he was finished plating the dishes, he and his chefs began to gather the plates for my dining experience in the garden. In the garden because not only was I able to feast, but also interview Thamae about his culinary journey. In between bites, he shared his passion for cooking, travelling and inspiring youths who are interested in the restaurant industry.

Thamae is not only a chef and founder of his own catering service, he is also the the director of the South African Chefs Association, a nonprofit that supports the development of chef skills and celebrates culinary professionals with the hope of transforming the industry. He earned the title in 2023 and was reelected, and will serve until 2027. He is also an assessor during chef competitions.

“I got experience in competition and the development of young people, skills development, training, mentoring and other things. We represent all caterers, we represent all chefs, seniors, juniors, all levels, and then in the country we represent them as an association,” said Thamae.

While Thamae hopes to uplift young chefs, he is also invested in supporting young entrepreneurs and the local economy. The local coffee that he sells from his shop is called Monate Coffee by Tumi Khobane. The brand translates to “delicious coffee” in Sotho. His coffee company is called Sip&Smile by TM Innovations. Upoon meeting Khobane’s mom, she told him that her daughter made coffee, and he wanted to try it.

“Since then, I’ve never looked back. I’ve been using her product every month. I buy coffee from her. That is our number one coffee, people love it and they will continue using it,” said Thamae. I’ve tasted the coffee and the frothy milk foam topped with a generous amount of cocoa powder, and it was the perfect pick-me-up.

As Thamae shared his culinary experiences, he also continued to explain the dishes prepared for me. The presentation of the plate is important for the culinary visionary. The dishes before me were colorful and ranged from grains to protein, and were savoury and sweet. Between the buttery fish and slight crunch of the potato wedges, I had a hard time selecting a favourite dish.

“The most important thing is taste, and then obviously you eat with your eyes, so as soon as you see these foods you definitely want to eat them, so presentation plays a very important role,” said Thamae.

He uses innovative ingredients to the highest standard. Using innovative and sustainable ingredients helps ensure he is following the latest trends in the industry while also following safety protocols and diversifying his ingredients.

“A lot of chefs in South Africa are getting versatile. Now we are using sustainable ingredients and sustainable products, for instance what I did on this menu. I used sorghum, I used millet — those are indigenous South African foods that we grow up eating,” said Thamae.

Despite his accomplishments and knowledge of the industry, the chef says he is still learning.

“Truly speaking, I am still learning to date. It hasn’t been an easy journey, especially for the past eight years. During this time I have been self-employed, and run my company full time. I’m there day to day running my own business, creating permanent jobs for local people,” said Thamae.

However, having the opportunity to travel to locations such as Dubai and Mauritius has allowed him to continue to grow his professional portfolio.

“One thing that I appreciate a lot is since I have been self-employed, is that I managed to travel, I’ve travelled the world. I've judged competitions internationally,” said Thamae.

His priorities as an assessor, business owner and cooking mentor include ensuring customer satisfaction.

“We prioritise our clients and we make sure that we understand their requirements, especially on diet. If a client isn’t eating certain meats, we know how to play around to make it look better,” said Thamae.

His clients enjoy a wide variety of dishes that Thamae and his team prepare, such as finger platters and traditional foods, but the focus remains on tailoring the menu based on the event type and the client’s palate preference. The chef is also committed to consistency in his brand to uphold the quality of his catering service.

“We try by all means to remain consistent in all dishes that we create, even in how our food looks, how we present ourselves, how we do our setups, how we do everything – it must be consistent, our work must always look similar, nice and clean and well presented,” said Thamae.

Not only does he cook meals for beloved clients, but also for the dedicated staff of nurses and doctors who enjoy quality and tailored meals during their shifts.

“We also serve private doctors here, we serve staff as well. So even doctors when they want special dietary meals, we specialise in this. We love what we are doing,” said Thamae.

Although I am not a chef, I am a foodie. I even asked the humble chef my own personal question: How does a beginner cook improve their skills in the kitchen?

“Try a dish until you perfect it, you try it again and again until you get it right, and the most important thing is you need to remain consistent — consistency plays a critical role,” said Thamae.

As a seasoned chef with 30 years in the industry, the chef conducts himself in a professional manner, taking pride in his chef’s jacket, taking it everywhere that he goes. He shared some advice for young chefs desiring to break into the culinary industry.

“If you get an opportunity to travel abroad, never stop learning, find yourself a mentor, someone who you look up to, and youtalk to them and ask advice on how they got successful,” said Thamae.

Mahlomla Thamae is not only a decorated chef, he enjoys exploring in the kitchen while inspiring the next generation of chefs.

“I love to inspire. I also love to motivate and mentor the young generation of upcoming chefs,” said Chef Thamae. DM