Executive Chef – Saskia Nel
Starting her career by working in large hotels in the Northern Drakensberg, Johannesburg and Kwa-Zulu Natal, Chef Saskia moved on to work in restaurants and her journey took her to Franschhoek where she joined the Leeu Collection. In 2019, Saskia was welcomed to the Ernie Els Wines team as the Executive Chef. Saskia has a deep fondness for the very essence of cooking and believes that “fresh, homemade food is always best”. She enjoys getting back to the basics and building dishes from scratch, like making her own pasta and ice cream, in particular. Saskia always adds “a little extra love” to all her dishes by making use of fresh, locally-sourced seasonal ingredients and presenting them in a generous farm-to-table style.