Lebogang Mpuang from the Northern Cape is one of the 14 “cheftestants” from across South Africa who will compete in kitchen challenges for Top Chef SA honours.
Lebogang has diplomas in Culinary Arts and Pastry, as well as a short course in Chocolate and Sugar work. She has worked at big hotels in South Africa, restaurants in Europe and Asia and as a private chef for high profile people, celebrities and government MEC’s, ministers and directors.
She co-owns an events and catering company as well as a food consulting and training company Blackcurrant Food Concepts. She currently works with her family on their urban farm Merakeng in the Northern Cape.
Having grown up in a big family, her earliest memory of cooking was watching her grandmother cook for her aunts and uncles.
Food was always a form of comfort and love but Lebogang’s passion for cooking came from her father, who loves cooking various cuisines and always encouraged her to learn from him and reinvent meals. His passion for agriculture guided hers and now she plans on teaching and instilling that same passion in other young people in South Africa.
Chef: Lebogang Mpuang
Handle: @b_topchefs
Bio: Lebogang has Diplomas in Culinary Arts and Pastry.
Top Chef SA
SABC 3 has launched Top Chef South Africa, a local version of the well known and hugely successful American reality TV series, Top Chef. The show is scheduled to start on SABC 3 on Tuesday, 12 July at 8pm and will see well established chefs or ‘cheftestants’ from around the country compete in various culinary challenges. The launch event brought together foodies and celebs at the Top Chef Studio in Randburg.
Top Chef South Africa, produced by Urban Brew Studios, will follow the same international format as the original show complete with fast-paced ‘Quickfire Challenges’, nail-biting ‘Elimination Challenges’ and the dreaded ‘Judges’ Table’. In each episode one or more contestants are sent home by the judges.
Head judge on Top Chef SA will be Neill Anthony, a well-known TV personality and gastronomic guru who has worked with the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Alyn Williams. His extensive food knowledge and incredible cooking skills make him hot property in the kitchen. Also sitting at the ‘Judges’ Table’ is one of the country’s most exciting chefs, Lesego Semenya who made the M&G’s Top 200 Young South Africans list last year. Not only is he a social media sensation, but he’s a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen. He’s painfully honest when it comes to his culinary critiquing, an essential ingredients for a Top Chef judge.
Lorna Maseko will host the new series. Urban Brew CEO, Trish Taylor says, “This dynamic presenter of Top Billing fame was absolutely the obvious choice to present the show. Her love for food, her refined palate, and her effortless elegance made her a perfect fit for Top Chef SA.”
Aisha Mohamed, Head of Bouquet at SABC 3 says “Top Chef South Africa is a first to market brand new offering to compliment SABC 3’s revised prime time schedule. The show provides a fast paced and very real look inside a professional kitchen and what it takes to be a ‘Top Chef’ which is a strong compliment to the high production value of the show.”
Urban Brew Studios owns the Top Chef format rights in South Africa, having acquired them from NBCUniversal International. The Emmy award-winning series first aired on Bravo in the US in 2006 and now spans across numerous territories.
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