It seems that winning MasterChef SA a year ago was only the beginning of a Gqeberha-born foodie’s culinary journey, as he spent the past few months building a brand, travelling the world, and sampling what some of the best restaurants have to offer.
Meanwhile, back home, “The Roasted Dad”, Shawn Godfrey, 35, is starting to find the balance between his newfound fame as a chef, a promotion to CEO of his lighting company, and home life with his wife, Lianne, and their three young children.
“I would be lying if I said I always manage to strike that perfect balance, and it often is a challenge. Ultimately, it is about prioritising correctly.
“There’s a time to be a CEO and there’s a time to be creative and concoct a new recipe, and then there’s a time to just spend with the family or relax,” the Harvest Christian School alumni said.
Godfrey was born and bred in the Bay, but moved to Cape Town 10 years ago for business.
His passion for cooking stems from baking with his mother from as young as six years old, and that passion steadily grew and came to the fore when he won season four of MasterChef.
Over the past year, he became a brand ambassador for Pick n Pay, featured in adverts and catalogues for a well-known homeware and décor franchise, and collaborated with a string of luxury car, clothing and other brands.
“The win enabled me to do what I love most — travel to extraordinary locations across SA and beyond.
“I made a promise to my wife that if I won MasterChef, I’d take the family on an overseas trip, and so we travelled across the Greek islands with our kids.
“I’ve eaten at Beyond, Wolfgat, Le Chêne, Chorus and am still looking forward to eating at Dusk and others in the near future.
“I also travelled to Copenhagen, eating at a few Michelin Star restaurants which made my foodie dream come true.”
He said a standout culinary experience in Copenhagen was a visit to Restaurent Alouette, where everything from the exceptional service, graffiti covered walls and “a beer for the bathroom” added to a night to remember.
His long list of collaborations included designing a MasterChef-inspired menu for OR Tambo-based Lift Airlines, which their business class passengers have enjoyed for the last week.
The airline will also launch a new Roasted menu, with Godfrey’s help, in May.
At the same time, Godfrey is a private chef at events in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and building the Roasted Dad brand, while running and growing LED Lighting SA (LLSA) with his fellow directors.
“I was appointed CEO during the airing of the show and the company has since grown from R82m to R147m.
“Ultimately, my focus going forward will be on food consultancy and private exclusive cheffing events,” Godfrey said.
Helping him along his way to balancing his busy life he praised his business partner, Cornel Neethling, and their team at LLSA, the Institute of Culinary Arts in Stellenbosch where he often hires students to help with his cheffing endeavours, and his wife for running things in the background.
“Right now I’m looking forward to travelling to Bali in a few months for some downtime and to experience the island’s food scene,” Godfrey said.
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