Chico's & Driftwood Bar at Wild Coast Sun

Executive Chef Georgina Hill

“You can’t achieve anything alone – I need my team beside me,”

The 43-year-old chef has had a love of food since she first drove along gravel roads on her quad bike at 4am, aged 15, to her weekend job at a Polokwane hotel. After school, Hill accepted an offer to work in hospitality on the Isle of Man and later completed a diploma in gourmet cooking and catering while working at a pub. She and husband Jackie relocated back to South Africa after the birth of their first child. She started at Sun International’s Wild Coast Sun last year, after more than 10 years as Executive Chef at fellow Sun International property, Golden Valley, in Worcester.

A practising vegetarian, Hill is fully on-board with vegan and gluten-free dietary requirements, although she says she has tried all types of meat and is perfectly comfortable cooking everything from a slow braised lamb shank to a mutton curry. Diners can expect to see more vegetarian, gluten-free and vegan dishes popping up on the resort’s buffet and menus – although Wild Coast Sun is frequented by many regulars who also love their curries and meat. “We have been refining the menus slowly and changing things up. Many of the chefs have been here a long time so I am focused on upskilling the team. We try to use what is locally produced so that ingredients don’t have to be brought in from Johannesburg.”

“As a chef you are never too old to learn – so keep trying new things – sometimes they flop but almost everything can be rescued. Make sure you have fun cooking because you can taste the love in the food.”