If she is good enough to win an award and R10k in prize money, competing for a 5-star hotel, the Taj Cape Town, she is definitely good enough for you and your support! Lyndsey Jacobs bagged the Best Dessert award back in 2019 in the Distell Inter Hotel Challenge. Her achievement was made even more special considering that 34 of the Cape’s top hotels were competing against her.
I met up with Lyndsey at her home-based bakery, Lynz Bakes, in Belhar to find out why such a genius in the kitchen isn’t more well-known in our communities.
The first thing you realize about Lyndsey is that she is incredibly humble and modest. The next thing you realize about her, is that she is a genuinely good Master Baker. She spent 5-years at the Taj as an all-round chef who found herself naturally gravitating towards specializing in pastry creations.
Her award-winning creation was a delicious Valrhona Chocolate Brownie with a Lancewood Lemon Curd.
Gordon Ramsay
Before the Taj, Lyndsey had a five-year stint at Haute Cabrière, a premier, historic wine estate in Franschhoek. “That was really where I honed my skills. My experience there was exactly like what you see on TV shows like Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen. I was challenged, taken out of my comfort zone, thrown into the deep end, and I grew massively as a chef. I think I did really well too, because the chef who trained me at Haute Cabrière took me with him when he moved on to another top wine estate.”
En nou? Wat gat nou hie aan in Belhar? “Ag you know, I’m just baking stuff for the community, like special cakes, and fancies (I learnt something new, fancies is community speak for cupcakes), and any kind of made-to-order pastries.”
And here is where I forcefully volunteer my marketing experience and we get into a passionate exchange about business sustainability, product pricing, market intelligence, market expansion strategies en al die goeters that can take a business to the next level.
I sense that she is somewhat taken aback, but she also realizes that she may have needed a nudge in this direction as I explain the purpose behind The Raven Report in that it is exactly about celebrating talented and experienced individuals like herself to inspire the next generation and others in her shoes. Lyndsey has a diploma from an accredited culinary institution and worked at some, let’s say, less glamorous places before making a name for herself as indicated above. The lesson for anyone reading this, is that nothing worthwhile comes easy, you have to put in the work to get to the next level.
NexGen
As if to underline the point about the next generation, her cute 4-year-old daughter, Hannah, sneaks her face around the door om te sien met wie praat mamma. Her sales rep husband, Cameron is out on the road for a big pharmaceutical company.
So, what now? “I’m actually re-fitting a section of the kitchen into a baker’s kitchen which will allow me to produce more products on a bigger scale,” She takes me into the kitchen and shows me the new oven and the space. It already has a distinctive baker’s vibe and I have no doubt that this is the first step to the next level, but I challenge her to make herself accountable in terms of the business.
“Okay, I hear you,” she says, with a determined look. “I will register the business within three months, and look into a proper business plan and costing model.”
“Good,” sê ek, “cos I’ll be calling you in three months to check.”
“Deal,” sê sy.
In the meantime if you have need for any of these incredible creations, please don’t hesitate to call Lyndsey on 072877 2058 #BYOH
