A taste of Yank thanks to Chef Charity’s ‘Digginn’

The Ivy Park-based chef is the brains behind The Digginn, an eatery that fuses the influences of the US with those of South Africa. The 28-year-old chef spent a year in the US, working in restaurants in Boston and Vermont, honing her skills.

“I had an amazing time abroad and I learned a lot about the cuisine,” she said.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, she returned to South Africa and tried to find her feet. At the time she was unemployed and had a choice to either start the search for a new job or start her own business. “It was a no-brainer because with the current economic climate, it’s difficult to find work anywhere. I decided that I would give my full attention to starting the eatery,” she explained.

The Digginn was founded in September last year and it has been difficult but worth all the blood, sweat and tears.

Chef Charity added that although things are going well, she thinks it could have been better under different circumstances. She currently has two people helping at the eatery and she would like to create more employment opportunities. “Our best seller is the tacos, something that most of us usually only see in the movies. We have brought that to Polokwane and the response has been great. We have, however, not neglected the South African favourites because we are South African after all,” she added.

She added that for people to make a success in the culinary industry, it requires passion and hard work because it takes long hours and one must be able to work in a team. Charity shared that she has no plans of returning to the US because she wants to give her full attention to her growing culinary baby, The Digginn.

More about her on social media @The_Digginnplk.