Kerry Kilpin

The Path

Silwood Kitchen provided the training ground, and Kerry Kilpin’s later roles show how that foundation translated into estate-based cooking. At Bistro Sixteen82 in Steenberg, Cape Town (2014–2018), she held the Head Chef post across several years, then moved to Head Chef at Catharina's Restaurant in Steenberg, Cape Town (2018–2019), before becoming Executive Chef at Steenberg, Cape Town. The progression is compact, but it tracks a kitchen career defined by consistency, familiarity with place, and responsibility across more than one dining room on the same property.

The Work Today

As Executive Chef at Steenberg Hotel & Spa in Cape Town, South Africa, Kerry Kilpin’s cooking is tied closely to the farm setting around her. The landscape is part of the work: the air, the open space, and the sense of rootedness all sit behind a menu that has to serve a hotel audience without losing its local footing. Her own words make that clear: “I love the absolute beauty of the farm. Being a farm girl at heart, it’s as close as I can get to my home roots of growing up on a farm.” In practical terms, that means a kitchen that keeps the setting visible on the plate. The balance she describes is a familiar one in hotel dining: local ingredients where possible, a low carbon footprint where possible, and a 5-star menu that has to work for both local and international clients. That asks for restraint as much as polish. The cooking has to read as refined, but also stay attached to the place that produces it.

Signature

Kerry's signature dishes include eggs Benedict, beef tataki, and Warm Brioche Bambaloni. Read together, they point to a kitchen that moves between breakfast service, precision-led contemporary plates, and a richer, more indulgent finish.

In Their Words “I like to use local ingredients and keep a low carbon footprint where possible while still producing a 5-star menu that appeals to both local and international clients.”