“I am always looking for new ways to do things, but simplicity is always the key,” he says. “Someone once called my menus ‘unstructured’, which I consider a compliment. My aim is to compile simple menus that include whatever I find fresh that day.”

And that is exactly what Riffel did at a Compass Group Southern Africa (Compass Group SA) event, attended by 160 guests, to announce its ground-breaking Supercare acquisition in Johannesburg last month.

Riffel prepared a selection of canapés that included cheese and curry samoosas with salsa, prawn toast and chicken liver peri peri. For his main, he prepared beef fillet with bone marrow, potato croquette, carrot honey purée and bordelaise jus. Finally, he served a selection of desserts with crepe suzette, ice cream and steamed pudding.

When he is not cooking he is involved in training the youth, one the reason behind why Compass Group SA says it partnered with him. “It is a partnership that brings with it several benefits, including state-of-the-art menus, a new dimension to our staff recruitment, a new level of training and development, and an on-going celebrity presence,” says Monwabisi Kalawe, chairman of Compass Group SA.

Kalawe says Compass Group SA’s decision to partner with Riffel had been prompted by the company strategy that continuously aimed to raise eating to new levels. “Riffel knows how to excite people’s appetites – it is a talent that we expect to be emulated by the team of Compass Group SA chefs whose job it is to produce food that promotes satisfaction and wellness,” says Kalawe