We are excited to share our news with you!

Owner/chefs of the Avontuur Estate Restaurant Melanie Paltoglou and Zunia Boucher-Myers have been nominated by Margaret Hirsch in the Women in Business Achiever Cape Regional Competition!!

Here is a little bit of info on these two ladies; 

Both Melanie and Zunia are originally from Johannesburg.

Melanie is a qualified midwife and owned a bustling restaurant in Observatory for seven years. She has been responsible for the opening Straightway Head Hotel and Willowbrook Lodge, managed the Burgundy in Hermanus, was executive chef at Erinvale golf club and sous chef at Erinvale hotel, and  is hands on with front of house, cheffing and training and mentoring of the staff at Avontuur.

Zunia is a fine artist and photographer with a passion for people and desserts! She has worked as the pastry chef at the Peninsula Bay hotel as well as the pastry chef at Erinvale golf course and hotel, managed the Rose Terrace at Vergelegen and worked as a chef in the film industry catering for 300 people a day in Namibia.
Her passion for people and information sees her sourcing the best speakers for the Business Breakfast Club which runs monthly and has been running for twelve years. Her love for photography is self evident in the images that are on social media and their website.

Our chefs journey began in 1999 when they met and became friends and soon after started working together. Melanie as the executive chef at Erinvale golf club and later Zunia as the pastry chef.

Not long after, the late Tony Taberer approached Melanie to come and look at Avontuur to see if it was possible to create a restaurant on the estate.

And as they say in the movies, the rest is history.

With a 20K loan from Melanie’s Mother the two started out with a skeleton staff and a great deal of grit and determination.

With dedicated staff, some of whom have been with them from day one and a loyal patronage they will celebrate fifteen years of partnership in  November, with many happy memories, some tears and many friends forged along the way!

We hope you will join them at the Margaret Hirsch Gala dinner to celebrate. 🙂