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Officially, Le Petit Chef is the smallest chef in the world. He measures only 58mm and moves around from city to city, bringing a “fun” dining experience to audiences using 3D table projections, props, and other immersive tricks. If you attend one of his dinners, he’ll likely pop up right in the middle of your plate, full of witty commentary, ready to take you on a journey unlike any other.
For his latest show in South Africa, How to Become the World’s Greatest Chef, Le Petit Chef has set up shop at 54 on Bath Hotel in Rosebank, where he transforms the Atrium into a six-course dinner spectacle from Wed – Sun.
At the start of each course, Le Petit Chef uses the blank table before you as his ‘canvas’, taking the opportunity to teach you about an important element of being a chef. He gives you a crash course on the history of food, demonstrates the art of plating, gets nostalgic about his childhood, shares the importance of cooking with love, demonstrates chef techniques, and even makes sure you know how to present a scrumptious dessert.
But the fun doesn’t stop there. Each of the courses is presented interactively. Using props to play into the narrative, it becomes a dinner you won’t easily forget. You may have to use a giant pizza wheel to cut your salmon and will even get a turn at using a kitchen blow torch (rest assured, Le Petit Chef is there to ensure the utmost safety precautions are taken).
There’s even a little exam that entails gooey meringue and chocolate shavings, culminating in a graduation ceremony. On a recent visit, we received top marks and had the best time during our practical. The whole table received 100% for their efforts – a true testament to Le Petit Chef’s prowess not only as a chef but as a teacher too. For your graduation ceremony, you’ll receive an edible certificate, hat, and frame to ensure you snap the best graduation photos to brag about the next day.
With these kinds of experiences, it’s easy for the food to fall to the wayside as the showmanship takes centre stage but we can happily report that this is not the case. From the deep-fried camembert served with a fresh tomato and basil chutney, to a cauliflower soup that requires your artistic touch, chicken ballotine, and Norwegian salmon cooked to perfection, the dishes were tasty and cleverly conceived.
The servers have been trained in the art of expertly presenting your meal with a welcome smile, complete with bells and whistles. A fun detail is the way they acquire different hats through the course of the evening.
Le Petit Chef’s dinners are suited to the whole family, but we think this particular one makes for a fun date night. Apparently, if the French were right about the qualities of tomatoes, your first course should act as an aphrodisiac. Incidentally, tomatoes don’t originally come from Italy and the French thought they were poisonous when they were first brought to France. All handy titbits you’ll learn along the way.
Tickets cost R1,395 p.p. with an optional (and highly recommended) wine pairing starting from R395 p.p. Don’t miss out – book your tickets before this small chef decides to move to a new location.
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