Themba Bawuti, Sous Chef at La Mouette restaurant in Sea Point, became was the fifth cheftestant to be eliminated from Top Chef SA on Tuesday (9 August).
Here's a recap of the episode by the show:
Episode 5
Time caught up with Themba during the Elimination Challenge as he tried to recreate judge Neill Anthony’s chicken dish and honeycomb dessert.
This week the chefestants were lulled into a false sense of security by a role reversal. Instead of the usual Quickfire Challenge, two of the judges, Neill Anthony and Lesego Semenya, each cooked a delectable dish for them to enjoy.
Neill whipped up a chicken dish that he’s previously cooked for the likes of Kylie Minogue and Sir Elton John. This was followed by a rustic honeycomb desert. Lesgeo meanwhile made his Kota-inspired pie that the British High Commission named the official pie of the visiting British football fans for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
With the tables turned there was light-hearted banter in the Top Chef South Africa kitchen but that quickly changed when the Elimination Challenge was revealed. The catch was that the cheftestants now had to recreate either Neill or Lesego’s dish with no recipe and the judges deciding who would make which dish.
The guest judge, Top Billing presenter Jonathan Boyton-Lee told the cheftestants he likes to think of a meal as an experience as they set out to wow him and the judges.
With cooking in full swing, there was a mix-up between Kim Clement and Ayabonga Gope’s prepared pie doughs which were both resting in the fridge. Ayabonga rolled out and used Kim’s dough much to her frustration. The cheftestants chopped, fried, puréeed and baked until the last minute of the challenge, with Phillip Nel the only one working far in advance.
At the Judges’ Table it was Phillip and Ayabonga who came out joint tops in the Elimination Challenge, while Kim, Themba and Sachin Gosai landed in the bottom three. But it was Themba, a Pretoria-born chef, who had two elements of his dish missing who was asked to pack his knives and leave.
Nine remain.