User:CarlMonnig/sandbox

Early Life
Reuben Riffel was born in Franschhoek, South Africa, on 23 December 1974. He is the second child of three, and grew up in an area called Groendal, a valley in Franschhoek.

Reuben grew up in a loving family, where cooking and eating well, played an important role.

His mother was intermittently involved in the restaurant industry and his father was involved in the building and construction industry. She occasionally brought home some morsels from the restaurants she worked in and this is where Reuben first developed his palate for good food.

Reuben attended high school in Paarl. He recalls that he liked working with his hands.

Career
Riffel worked briefly in the building trade, but soon migrated to the hospitality industry where his first job was that of a waiter at Chamonix Restaurant. He soon migrated to barman, but one day the kitchen had two no-shows and he was moved to the kitchen to assist. He left Charmonix to work with his uncle in a nightclub, but very soon decided that the environment was not one in which he wanted to remain and then went back to Charmonix, in 1994 at the age of twenty.

Under the guidance of Christoph Dehosse, he learnt about food preparation. When Christoph moved on and was replaced by Richard Carstens, Riffel was made Sous Chef, where he learnt the art of preparing vegetables and sauces and running a tight kitchen. His career began with humility and was forged in the principles of hard work as he earnestly learnt from his mentors, being both women in his life, in the early days and the remarkable chef he worked with at the restaurant. As life would have it, one day Richard failed to show up to work one day and he was forced to step into the role of Executive Chef without warning. This task was one which would firmly shape one of his biggest career milestones and decision points, as the patrons expressed their satisfaction at the meals they indulged. When Richard never returned to Chamonix, he simply stepped up and filled the gap and was officially made Executive Chef.

He recalls that the penny only dropped when a French tourist complimented the meal prepared by Reuben as “the best meal he ever had”. The feeling that he experienced at that moment made him realize that being a chef was what he wanted to do.

Riffel did not go through any formal channels or study to be a chef, but applied a combination of natural ability and talent as well as learning from his family and the renowned chefs he worked with, and his success today can be attributed to this.

He worked in a few restaurants following this and was reunited with Richard, his mentor at Monneaux, where he continued to grow his skills in the kitchen and experiment with various textures and ingredients. He also traveled a bit overseas and these experiences where also brought back into the kitchen and he began to believe in his palate and instincts for creating memorable food.

After honing his skills for three years at Monneaux, Reuben took up an opportunity to move to Cambridge, England to run a startup restaurant, Bruno’s Brasserie. The restaurant, even though located in a not so affluent suburb, began attracting a great following with the creation of extraordinary dishes Reuben served to his customers.

In 2004, he was offered an opportunity by friends to return to Franschhoek to open a restaurant, aptly named "Reuben’s". Within six months, the restaurant was a success and this was cemented by Reuben winning Chef of the year and restaurant of the year at the Eat Out Restaurant awards. This catapulted the reputation of the establishment and Reuben alike and the first Reuben’s is renowned in Franschhoek as a culinary landmark and still attracts a great following of international and local patrons. Reuben Riffel became a well-known name locally and abroad.

He continued to see opportunities to bring the offering of his food to a broader market and in 2009; a second Reuben’s was opened at a five star boutique hotel in the Robertson wine valley, The Robertson Small Hotel. The following year, the opportunity arose to take over Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, Maze, post its demise, at the One&Only hotel in Cape Town. Reuben’s at the One&Only was thus established with Reuben himself being the Executive Chef. Due to the status of the hotel, his restaurant serves the crème da la crème of local and international guests who both stay at the hotel or have dinner there.

2013 was a remarkable year as well in Reuben’s career that saw him opening two new restaurants, namely Abalone House, a five star guesthouse in Paternoster, Abalone House and a bistro style offering named Racine, at the Chamonix Wine Estate in Franschhoek, where his culinary career began.

Riffel’s philosophy is to keep things uncomplicated, bringing out the natural flavors of each ingredient, and to strive for perfect balance in the finished dish but do this with uncomplicated dishes. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 2012, he admitted to, at that point, having over 250 cookbooks as he continues to learn, experiment and create new and flavorful dishes.

Reuben continues to be hands on and involved in all restaurants and thus splits his time between establishments.

Television
Reuben has been involved in numerous TV appearances and cooking shows. In 2011, he visited New York City where he was filmed for his appearances on both The Martha Stewart Show and The Today Show .

In June 2012, he was a guest judge on the second season of the M-Net television cooking competition, MasterChef South Africa, a reality television competition to find South Africa's best amateur chef.

In 2013, Reuben also hosted his first Afrikaans cooking show in 2013 namely ‘5 Sterre met Reuben’ (5 Stars with Reuben), in which he taught viewers how to make five-star dishes from home.

In 2014 he replaced Andrew Atkinson as a permanent judge on MasterChef South Africa, beginning with its third season. Reuben, together with Pete Goffe-Wood and Benny Masekwameng comprised the judging panel and hosted the third season as well as a Celebrity MasterChef season in 2015.

Riffel is the face of Robertsons Herbs and Spices and presents television adverts featuring different recipes using Robertsons Herbs and Spices. Reuben is a brand ambassador for Samsung Home Appliances in South Africa.

Books
He has published three best-selling cookbooks with Quivertree Publications : “Food is time travel” is a collection of Reuben’s favourite recipes from around the world. This cookbook is a celebration of his signature style that balances robust flavours with fine sophistication. This cookbook is a collection of Reuben’s favourite South African feasts and focus on easy-to-follow recipes and local ingredients. This cookbook is a reflection if the quintessential South African cooking style. Reuben takes the reader on a road-trip through his past growing up in Franschhoek as well as his travels.
 * Reuben Cooks: Food is time travel (2008) ISBN 9780980265156
 * Reuben Cooks Local (2011) ISBN 9780986981357
 * Braai: Reuben on Fire (2013) ISBN 9780987028457

Accolades
Reuben’s work and original cooking earned him the SA Chef of the Year Award in 2004. In the same year, his Franschhoek-based restaurant was awarded the Eat Out Restaurant of the Year Award. His restaurant was awarded the Eat Out Johnnie Walker Restaurant Award: Top 10 Restaurants in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2007, Reuben was awarded the distinguished Unilever Chef of the Year award.

Personal Life
Reuben is married to wife Maryke who he met while working at Monneaux. They have two small children. He lives in Franschhoek, South Africa and has a special love for cars. He may be seen driving around the town in a red vintage Mercedez Benz.

Charities and Social Activities
Reuben supports numerous local charities and events. These include his collaboration with renowned chefs Margot Janse, Neil Jewell and Duncan Doherty in 2012 as part of the Celebrity Chefs Challenge Dinner. The event raised funds for the Peninsula School’s Feeding Association to assist in fighting hunger in schools. Reuben is involved with the Peninsula School Feeding Association (PFSA), Hope Through Action, Hospice and Pinotage Youth Development Academy (PYDA). He is also one of Paarl School’s ambassadors, a school for neurally disabled children.

Notable charity events hosted in 2015 by Reuben include the Chef Reuben Riffel Charity Golf Day in support of the Franschhoek Hospice and the Stop Hunger Now South Africa charity dinner.