EMILY'S RESTAURANT - The Premier Restaurant for South African Cuisine - Cape Town - Waterfront

Peter Veldsman was born in Ladismith, a small town in the Western Cape Province; know for its world famous apricots, sweet Muscat wines and the purest brandy in South Africa. He comes from wine farming stock and loved his Scottish grandmother above all.
He started his professional career at the first experimental kitchen in South Africa which later became the first Cordon Bleu School. After studies in Germany he returned to the Cape and was appointed food editor of SARIE magazine, a position he held for almost two decades. During this time he represented South Africa on numerous occasions at special food shows and dinner promotions all over the world. He made front page news in Germany when, for dramatic impact, he made two young chefs ride two ostriches at the opening night of a two week long fine dining promotion. That opening night also launched the South African tenor, Deon van der Walt, on what was to become an extra -
ordinary career which only ended by his untimely death a few years ago.

In 1981 Peter founded the South African Cookery Club and gave food demonstrations on a regular basis at his home. This was a huge success and soon a number of Cape Town professional chefs came to attend and also to present classes. When his first assistant, Paul Taylor, immigrated to America, Johan Odendaal, at that stage just graduated from Stellenbosch University, came as a replacement. Today Johan is Executive Chef of Emily’s and a partner in V&O, Peter is one of the founders of the South African branch of the Chaine des Rotisseurs and was a former Bailli (Chairman) of the society. He is also a former Chairman of The Culinary Circle of South Africa.
In 1988 he was awarded an honorary Cordon Bleu. In 1990 he became the first recipient of the Galliova Award as South Africa's best food writer (magazines) and again in 1996 (news papers). In 1993 he received the prestigious Gold Medal of the S.A. Brandy Foundation and in December 1997 a Muniment from the S.A. Agricultural Union. He is included in the `Who's Who of the World' since 2004.

He is the author of ten books. His book, "Flavours of South Africa" (Afrikaans: "Kos van die Eeu") appeared in December 1998. This monumental work traces South Africa's food history during the 20th Century and has an introduction going back 2500 years into African development. The book was one of South Africa's best selling books during 1999. He has also contributed to 16 other cookery books including Woman's World Celebration Cookbook (SABC), The Cookery Year (Reader's Digest), Encore (Cancer Association), Treat the Troops (Southern Cross Fund), Heart à la Carte (Heart Foundation) and Sea Food Specialities.
Peter has produced a number thirteen-part television series and has made numerous appearances on various TV-channels on his own or with Johan Odendaal.

Peter Veldsman has always taken South African produce to heart. Some of the articles he published were taken over by International magazines in Europe and the United States. He introduced the brown Kalahari truffle for the first time in print as a culinary delight; published the first potjiekos article which led to a number of books on the subject by among others Dine van Zyl. He represented South African food interests frequently at various international venues such as The Inter-Continental Hotels in Hamburg, Hanover and Paris. During 1994 the Hilton Hotel in Singapore invited him (and Ton Hun among others) to join forces with Patrick John, the hotel’s Executive Chef, to compete in the annual Singaporean Top 100 Restaurant Competition. The Hilton team won the first prize. Peter’s Carpaccio of South African Abalone was voted best dish of the competition.

During 1992 he was approached by a mother with a dyslectic son to open a small eatery in the back streets of Cape Town where a few other young handicapped youngsters would join in order to give them an opportunity to learn and obtain skills in a fairly protected environment. One professional trained chef, Pierre de Witt, joined and Emily’s opened its doors. A few months down the line and the youngsters could not cope and left. As fate would have it, Johan Odendaal arrived back from Norway where he worked as chef to the South African Ambassador in Oslo and rejoined Peter as Emily’s chef. The rest is history. One success followed after the other, including Top 10 awards, wine awards, international awards and finally, by invitation, the relocation to he Waterfront. At the time Lannice Snyman, then editor of Eat Out and now the publisher of the magazine awarded Peter and Johan the accolade of ”bravest restaurateurs” as everybody thought that they would not make it in Cape Town’s most expensive address.

Six years later, hoe later, hoe kwater, and approaching his seventieth birthday, Peter Veldsman is still a dominant force in the world of wine and food. This was recognized when The South African Chefs Association elected him as a Fellow.