Alex van As

Coming Up

A Head Chef role at Jabulani Safari until 2022 put Alex van As inside a form of hospitality where the kitchen serves a small, closely observed audience. In Hoedspruit, South Africa, the lodge table is part of the safari setting, so the work depends on restraint, timing and a clear sense of place rather than excess. The craft is in making the meal feel specific without overworking the moment. Continuity matters in a kitchen with defined dietary structures and guest-led service. Since 2022, Alex has been Executive Chef of Jabulani Safari, with the work developing inside the lodge’s own requirements: South African cuisine, kosher cuisine operations, plant-based vegan meals, and personalised attention for guests. The role is less about imposing a signature from outside than building fluency in the house’s daily constraints.

Where They Are Now

Kosher cuisine operations at Jabulani Safari in Hoedspruit, South Africa, include separate dairy and meat kosher kitchens, and that structure sets the terms for organisation. In Alex van As’s work, those requirements sit alongside South African cuisine rather than apart from it. The cooking has to hold order and pleasure together: clean separation, careful planning, and plates that still carry brightness, texture and generosity. Plant-based vegan meals form a defined part of the kitchen’s output. In those menus, Alex incorporates nutritional protein sources such as nuts, seeds and legumes, with fresh local vegetables carrying much of the colour and lift. The standard he states is direct: “No matter what I cook I enjoy it and will always try and make it as special and as beautiful as possible.” Plant-rich cooking here is built from familiar working materials. Seeds bring crunch, legumes bring substance, nuts add richness, and vegetables bring colour, seasonality and lift. Within the kosher structure, the personalised dishes and the vegan menus, the through-line is attention to form as well as flavour. The lodge kitchen language moves between local vegetables, kosher structure and individually tailored plates without treating those demands as separate crafts. Separation, preparation, balance and presentation become part of the hospitality, not background administration.

In Their Words “Working with my hands gives me great joy, whether it is cooking at work or at home. I have the freedom to be creative and learn new techniques as I go along.” “No matter what I cook I enjoy it and will always try and make it as special and as beautiful as possible.”

Honors

Plant-rich cooking entered a wider trade context in 2024, when van As presented a Food for Change dish for Relais & Châteaux and Slow Food’s Plant the Future campaign: grapefruit confit, sweet potatoes, steamed quinoa, grapefruit chutney, carrot ribbons, baby beetroot, steamed patty pans, toasted pumpkin seeds and pistachio puree. The plate sets bitter citrus against earth-sweet roots, with grain, seed and puree carrying texture and weight, and places his work within an international campaign focused on plant-rich food.