Gabriel loves his food

POLOKWANE – Gabriel Harkin (42), originally from Ireland and now Meropa Casino and Entertainment Worlds’ head chef, loves cooking and has been a chef all his life.

“Being a chef is the only job I know how to do, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else,” he says.

Coming from a family of four, Harkin says he started cooking at a very young age, and studying towards a diploma in catering was the obvious thing to do after school. On completing his diploma, he started working as a chef at a small restaurant in Ireland, where he acquired most of his cooking skills.

Gabriel moved to South Africa in 2004. “I married a beautiful South African woman in Ireland. During the period when we had only one child, she said she missed her home and family, and we decided to move to South Africa. A year after we moved back, we were blessed with another child,” Gabriel says.

“We moved to Johannesburg in 2004 and I was lucky to find a job in Linksfield at the Afrodisiac Voodoo Lounge as a chef, and later promoted to executive chef. I worked there for four and a half years. In 2010, I decided to move to Polokwane because of work opportunities. I started working at Fusion Boutique Hotel as head chef and worked there for two years. When Meropa approached me with another opportunity, I accepted and started working at Meropa last year. I am really enjoying it here, we will be changing the menu very soon and introducing new dishes,” Gabriel says.

“South Africa is a beautiful country, but I am having challenges with the language and my accent, most people struggle to communicate with me, but we try and understand each other especially in the kitchen, because there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing a person’s facial expression when they eat tasty, delicious food.”