Chef aims to conquer the world through cooking

FALL down seven times, stand up eight. This Japanese proverb could not better describe a Wentworth resident’s story.

Born and raised in the area, Reston Usher had a troublesome youth experience which led him to eventually dropping out of school.

A decorated chef today, he believes his culinary skills are his best foot forward from Wentworth into the world. He aims to inspire many who follow after him.

“My story started during my adolescence. Because of my environment, following the wrong people, I ended up dropping out of Fairvale Secondary School in Grade 9. I was a very naughty child, I even had a desk in the admin office and because of my ways, I got expelled.

“Needless to say, my family was disappointed, they felt as though all hope was gone for me. I started getting closure from my friends in the sense of taking drugs. I then became a heavy drug addict,” he said.

After a considerable amount of time, Reston decided that he wanted to stop his substance abuse. To do that, he moved to his aunt’s in Johannesburg.

After some time, she noticed that he had a natural liking towards making food and offered to enrol him into a culinary school in 2012. He passed the course with merit, and thus began his colourful chef career.

“After the course, we were sent out to get our 1000 hours in the industry. We did the Good Food and Wine Show, the Taste of Christmas Festival, Food Wine and Design which was aired on Top Billing.

“There were also weddings and high-end functions and during that time, one of the clients had taken a liking to me and offered me a job at various places around the country,” he said.

Reston’s humility was the secret ingredient that opened even bigger doors for him. His international experience includes working in St Helena Island, Dubai, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Following his return to the country, he decided to open his own business in Wentworth.

“We became famous for our pizza burger, it was our best seller. We had all the different things I had learnt along the way in my travels on the menu. We were really busy.

“I had the opportunity to work outside the country again, I made more money and invested it back into the business. In the midst of it all, I ended up back on drugs. I relapsed after 14 years,” he said.

The relapse lasted a year and eventually cost him his business of two years. Reston said praying was his saving grace. Today, he is reformed and ready to take his cooking to the world.

“I want to be a success story to my fellow residents. I hope to one day travel on a countrywide tour doing a documentary which will start here in Durban. In it, I will feature my former high school showcasing the diverse cultures of the city through various dishes.

“The plan is to travel with a camera crew throughout cities, out the country, through Africa and end in Europe. The name of the show will be He Came, He Cooked, He Conquered – which is almost self-explanatory because this is exactly what I aspire to do.”