Singita Game Reserves, Africa’s premier operator of luxury game lodges, has appointed New Zealand-born Robert Walker as Head Chef at the award-winning Singita Lebombo Lodge. 

Located on the far Eastern reaches of the Kruger National Park, bordering Mozambique, Singita Lebombo Lodge is renowned for its exceptional gourmet cuisine, where delicious riverside bush breakfasts and pool-side dinners are highlights of each day.

With an impressive career spanning some twenty years, during which he honed his skills at numerous top restaurants in Australia and New Zealand, 40-year old Walker brings a uniquely global culinary influence to the Singita table. Before joining Singita Lebombo Lodge in December 2009, he headed up the kitchen of Blues Restaurant in Cape Town, which is owned by his South African wife Roberta’s family. Here he spent a year training staff and implementing refreshing changes to the menu, before heading north to the untamed wilderness of Singita.
A farm boy at heart, Walker was born and raised on a ranch in Ashburton in Mid-Canterbury, New Zealand. Recognizing his calling early in life, he notched up years of training as a kitchen hand in local restaurants, while completing his High School diploma. In 1996 he completed his Trade Certification in Professional Cookery at the Christchurch Polytechnic. From 1996 until 2000 he trained first as Pastry Chef and then as Sous Chef at fine dining restaurant, The Chateau on the Park, in Christchurch, working under the mentorship of Chef-Patron Charles Nouvelle. In September 2000 he went on to work at the Rarotongan restaurant, at Rarotongan Beach Resort, Rarotonga Cook Islands, where he served as Sous Chef until February 2001. 

In May 2001 he accepted the position of Head Chef at the Red Centre Resort in Alice Springs, Australia where he managed the kitchens of their à la carte restaurant and three function rooms. He then served a one year tenure at Toucan Tango à la carte restaurant at the Hamilton Island resort, on Hamilton Island in Queensland, before moving to the Mansfield Hotel in Mansfield, Victoria. The next five years saw Walker expanding his culinary repertoire at other restaurants in Australia and New Zealand, notably taking up the position of Pastry Chef at Huka Lodge, Lake Taupo, New Zealand, where, amidst the great outdoors, he spent three idyllic years, preparing delectable confectionary for guests visiting this iconic riverside lodge. (2003 to 2006).
Walker cites as his major culinary influences the exotic Asian methods of seasoning, and is currently exploring traditional African recipes, introducing a twist of ‘Walker panache’ to create dishes that are quite simply ‘out of this world’. 

In the competent hands of this respected chef, guests at Singita’s Lebombo Lodge can look forward to an exceptional dining experience, with a menu showcasing his fine-dining prowess.  Augmented by an award-winning wine list, and served in one of the most spectacular wilderness settings in the world, guests are assured of an unforgettable dining experience.

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Issued by Fivestar PR

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