Capsicum Culinary Studio ignites culinary dreams with new Ruimsig campus

Big news, foodies and future chefs. Whether you’re dreaming of whipping up Michelin-starred meals or becoming the next pastry prodigy . . . Capsicum Culinary Studio is where it all begins.

Capsicum Culinary Studio (CCS) – Africa’s leading culinary training school – is spicing things up with a brand new campus in Ruimsig, opening January next year.

The studio, which this year proudly celebrates its 21st anniversary as the country’s premier chef school, has an international reputation and equips its graduates with excellent culinary and commercial skills, enabling loads of job opportunities with graduate employment rates of more than 95 percent.

Nestled on Peter Road, the Ruimsig campus will be CCS’s seventh. With schools already established in Boksburg, Cape Town, Durban, Nelson Mandela Bay, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

But this new spot is not just about ultra-modern kitchens and fancy equipment (though there’s plenty of that). It’s also close to the thriving metropolis of Johannesburg, and a stone’s throw from the Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden, the Cradle of Humankind, and the stunning Magaliesberg mountains. Add a thriving local community and thousands of tourists and it’s clear, this campus is perfectly placed for some culinary magic.

‘The opening of the new campus highlights the need for qualified culinary graduates as Africa’s food and hospitality industries experience a resurgence, driven by an increase in tourism and business travel. Ruimsig is the perfect location for a new campus for CCS given that the West Rand is home to almost 950 000 residents and growing yearly,’ says Renee Hill, MD of CCS.

She goes on to say that they are hoping to not only draw students from the area but also from other parts of the country as well as the African diaspora. The new campus will offer state-of-the-art kitchens, a Masterclass demonstration venue, an on-site café, high-speed Wi-Fi (a chef’s best friend), libraries, lounge areas, on-site accommodation, parking facilities and access to nearby wellness and leisure facilities … because balance, right?

Capsicum Culinary Studio courses offer dual international certification through City and Guilds and are nationally accredited with CATHSSETA and the QCTO,  attributing to their alumni making their mark throughout the world. They also have partnerships with The Swiss Education Group (SEG) and are members of The South African Chefs Association, and by extension The World Association of Chefs Societies, exposing learners to international standards and opportunities.

In the past two decades, over 8 000 alumni have taken the world by storm. Many of them working overseas and others who’ve established themselves as leaders within various markets. Employers range from boutique establishments and award-winning restaurants to large multi-national hotels, resorts and even cruise ships. Others have taken the entrepreneurial route and established their own hospitality-inspired businesses and consultancies.

CCS is also part of one of the most comprehensive and ambitious career platforms yet seen in South Africa – Talent Exchange – which connects job seekers in the culinary and hospitality sectors with hundreds of available positions locally and abroad. The platform allows unprecedented access to exclusive interview opportunities with South African and international businesses, thus giving their graduates and alumni significant advantages.

It will also help bridge the gap between education and industry with an innovative approach that goes beyond traditional job matching, while also offering soft skills training to enhance employability.

And that’s the dish on CCS’s new Ruimsig campus. With its world-class facilities, prime location, and a track record of producing culinary legends, this new spot is set to fire up the next generation of chefs. So, if your heart’s in the kitchen and your dreams are plated in ambition, January can’t come soon enough. Ready to turn up the heat?

• Details: Call 011-234-1896 or visit capsicumcooking.com

Alumni include:

• Chef Wandile Mabaso who was named the Chef of the Year at the Luxe Restaurant Awards in 2022. After spending over a decade overseas working in many top restaurants, he returned home to launch his acclaimed Bryanston-based restaurant, Les Créatifs.

• While studying at Capsicum, Kevin Reed entered the One&Only Reaching for Young Stars competition and was awarded Most Promising Young Chef of the Year. He won a six-month work experience stint at Winslow’s Tavern in Massachusetts in the US. He returned to Cape Town briefly before being asked to go back to Winslow’s where he is being groomed to take over as Head Chef.

• Kloof-born Isla Rechner graduated from the school’s Durban campus and worked as Group Pastry Chef for all four branches of celebrity chef Bill Granger’s Grange & Co restaurants in London. She now lives in Cape Town and runs her own business called Isla Cooks Cape Town.

• Winning a bursary to study at Capsicum Culinary Studio changed Genghis San’s life. He is currently the executive chef at AKA Lead Kitchen at the Radisson RED Rosebank. This wasn’t Chef San’s only major achievement during his stellar career. He also reached the regionals for Unilever’s Junior Chef of the Year and achieved executive chef status at the age of 24.

• Pretoria campus graduate Hendrik Pretorius worked at 5-star establishments in Dubai before being lured to Lisbon, Portugal to head up the patisserie section for one of the city’s leading restaurants. After five years, he left and opened up his own eatery called Quest.