A great article in the SLOW MAGAZINE about our Executive Chef, Cobus Louw, and his passions and influences in creating an exciting menu that best compliments the SLOW in the City attitude.

Article taken from SLOW Magazine Pages 40-43

Text: Julie Graham

Images: © SLOW in the City

SLOW in the City has recently welcomed a brand new member to the team, Chef Cobus Louw, who is sure to take the culinary experience of all SLOW patrons to new heights.

Described as being “the best of your home, the best of your office, and the best space to connect and create”, SLOW in the City, located in the Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel building in Sandton, is designed to provide all the services one would need to conduct business meetings, enjoy meals with friends or colleagues, work in a private, relaxed space, or simply unwind and refresh. It is a library, mailroom, shower, study, boardroom, lounge, and dining room in one, and is a wonderful space to meet and connect with like-minded individuals.

A recent addition to the SLOW in the City team, SLOW caught up with new Executive Chef, Cobus Louw, to chat about his exciting menu that complements the philosophy of SLOW in the City: “Welcome to a calmer world, a place to celebrate pleasure over pressure, quality over quantity, mindfulness over mindlessness. SLOW is the equivalent of a long, deep breath.”

Having always had a passion for cooking, Namibian-born Louw specialised in the culinary arts at The Swiss Hotel School in Randburg, Johannesburg. After graduating, Louw went on to work as the personal chef for Ghana’s first family before heading to Dubai where he worked at Kcal for several years. “Kcal was something really challenging and being creative took on a different meaning to me. I was not allowed to cook with cream, butter, sugars, and normal flours. This brought out a different side of my passion and creativity. It was one amazing learning experience, and I believe that it only had the best impact on my career as a chef.”

Louw began his role as Executive Chef at SLOW in the City in August 2016, and his goals for this new venture include: developing the venue as a high profile food destination; offering guests a sophisticated, modern food experience; and driving a well-managed and passionate chef brigade that is confident and proud of the dishes they create. Staying true to the philosophy of SLOW in the City, Louw remarks that he wants all the dishes on the new menu to have “clean flavours that represent calmness, colour that represents happiness and joy, and fresh ingredients that represent health”.

“All our guests are well travelled and highly educated, powerful, and successful. Saying that, it [cooking for them] is a challenge that I love to take on; I focus on thinking outside the box and creating dishes with a wow factor. I feel that people around the world are much more educated about food now than in the past. Food channels and so forth are so advanced that you could basically have a full cooking class in the comfort of your home.

People are more aware of what they eat and what food delivers in terms of nutrition. I believe in keeping it real and using the creative part in designing a well plated dish with components that work great individually and perfectly as one.”

Focused on food that is fresh, colourful, and full of flavour, Louw looks to the seasons to ensure the ingredients he cooks with are the freshest locally sourced ingredients he can find.

A few of Louw’s signature dishes that SLOW in the City guests can look forward to include: Siri Lankan beef bunny chow presented with a modern, sophisticated twist; deconstructed Beef Wellington; and seared fillet of salmon on spring vegetables and cauliflower purée topped with a poached egg yolk and micro herbs. Louw’s creations are sure to excite taste buds and take guests on a thrilling culinary adventure. “I want them to experience a journey which starts as soon as they sit down to eat at my table. The food is important and the experience my guests have makes it even more special.”

Louw’s culinary passion and ambition to make SLOW in the City a dining hotspot will surely raise the bar at SLOW even higher, ensuring guests experience SLOW cooking at its best.