Chef brings skills home to Komani
Passion, talent and dedication have open more door for Songezo Mabuto who is known in the culinary world as Chefsongz.
The 29-year-old Komaniborn chef comes from Mlungisi Township and matriculated from Kwa-Komani Comprehensive School.
His love for baking started in 2020, when the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, when he started to learn about baking and sharpened his skills by binge watching YouTube videos.
His effort and talent started to get recognition as he began to attract clients who were interested in his cake designs.
He enrolled at Capsicum Culinary Studio in Gqeberha in 2022, where he graduated with his diploma as an advanced professional chef.
“I also had a privilege to be placed at a five-star hotel to gain experience and skills and then I decided to come back home (Komani) after finishing my studies to run my business full time,” Mabuto said.
He added that his business grew tremendously after returning home where he started to make all kinds of cakes such as wedding, birthday and novelty cakes.
“I took that decision so confidently because I already had lots of customers so I was so certain that it would succeed.
“The people of Komani are supportive especially when you deliver the best service and product.
“I’m also a private chef. “I cook in the comfort of your home and I also run a catering business,” he said.
He added that standing on his own feet was not an easy road as there were times where he had to redo a failed cake due to load-shedding issues and deal with multiple clients’ requests where some of the decorations requested were not available in Komani.
“Luckily I have a backup generator to help me with production especially when I have lots of orders to make for the weekend,” he said.
In a female-dominated industry, Chefsongz said, he took the fact that women dominate as an opportunity to show that males can also make cakes and can also be more creative within the cake industry.
Mabuto listed his passion, dedication and attention to detail, skills that he learnt from both YouTube and culinary school, as playing a huge difference in his experience as a cake baker.
“I went to culinary school already knowing some of the techniques I learned from YouTube videos then when I was taught, I progressed to advanced levels,” he said.
He added that culinary school helped him a lot regarding how to manage the business and he had acquired skills and techniques that he needed to introduce to his business to be a successful entrepreneur and keep his business afloat.
When asked how he deals with unsatisfied clients, he said: “What I always do to unsatisfied customers is to apologise and offer alternatives or redo the order to the customer’s satisfaction.
“When taking a customer’s order, I always try to be 100% accurate with their details.”
Chefsongz sees himself having a baking supplies and a cake studio in town where he will supply local bakers and also introduce baking classes for people who would like to run their own cake business.