The new chef in town: Bistro Bistro’s Roy Thomson

Roy Thomson has decades of experience to back up his vision, having cooked in some of the top restaurant kitchens in England, Australia and his second home, South Africa.

Roy’s family moved to KwaZulu-Natal from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, when he was 15 years old.

“Dad said I had to go and study. While I was writing first-year BComm supplementary exams to get into second year, I thought again about what I really liked to do. And I liked working with food!” he explained.

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“The next week, I had an interview with the Holiday Inn chain and a three-year apprenticeship starting at what was then called the Jan Smuts Holiday Inn near the airport in Johannesburg.”

Roy said his reason for spending so much time in the kitchen as a child was because his mother’s cooking was so bad.
“I thought I had to be in the kitchen just to improve the family’s meals.”

It stood him in good stead. During his years of training, he was awarded apprentice of the year.

But when the call came to join the army, Roy was having none of it. The 22-year-old returned to Zimbabwe for a while, then packed a backpack and headed for London where he spent six years working as a junior chef at renowned establishments such as Maxim’s de Paris and The Ivy.

It was when Roy moved to Australia in the ’90s that he really learned to cook.

“Aussie food was just blossoming because of all the different nationalities which were growing their own food there, from Moroccan to Mediterranean,” he told Nelspruit Post.

As head chef at 44 King Street in Perth, the menu changed every week. It was high-pressured but exciting. I bought at least two new cookbooks a month.”

When Roy turned 50, he said he wanted to be closer to his family. His father was ill and he wanted to spend more time with him.

Husband-and-wife team Piet and Steph Potgieter knew of an opportunity to open up a restaurant and he jumped at the chance to go into partnership with them. As they say, the rest is history.

Along with his six-person team, Roy is hoping to put Bistro Bistro on the South African culinary map. The rag pasta and handmade gnocchi have a reputation of their own.

“In Perth, I was known for my gnocchi. It’s one of those dishes you have to actually feel. Every time you make it, it’s slightly different. You don’t want bullets that sink to the bottom of your stomach or pillows which stick to the top of your mouth, but something in-between,” he said with a smile.

What he loves about being back in the country is much more simple.

There is nothing like the smell of African rain. There is just nothing like it.”

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*Photos were taken by Location360°.