DUBAI: For Carmen Landsberg, the kitchen has always felt like home — a place of creativity, comfort and connection. Born in the small South African town of Empangeni and raised in a family passionate about cooking, Landsberg found her love for the kitchen at an early age. 

“I enjoyed cooking from a really young age. It’s always kind of been in my family. I think I’m the only one that’s a professional chef, but we’ve always been surrounded by food — and obviously, being South African, it’s very much part of our culture,” she tells Arab News. “It’s a gathering. It’s about getting together.” 

She credits her uncle for sparking her interest: “I spent a lot of time on our family farm. I’d get tomatoes from the garden and maybe make some tomato soup from very few ingredients.” 

Now group executive chef at Brunch & Cake Global, she leads the brand’s expansion across the GCC and beyond, including the Kingdom. 

“What excites me most about Saudi Arabia is the growing appetite for unique and global food experiences,” she says. “There’s an incredible energy. People are curious, open-minded, and eager to explore new flavors and concepts. It’s a vibrant, fast-evolving landscape, and I’m proud to be part of bringing Brunch & Cake into that.”  

When you started out, what was the most common mistake you made? 

Letting the pressure get to me and not utilizing the things around me to make my life easier. Like, using the wrong utensils and equipment — trying to take shortcuts. Specific tools are there to make everything easier for you. Like having a sharp knife, using a slotted spoon to pick up a poached egg instead of just quickly grabbing anything, or not using tongs to pick up pasta out of boiling water, or using a proper pasta basket, for example.  

What’s your top tip for amateur chefs?  

Investing in a good knife is key. Your knives are everything. They are your best friend. And, more generally, don’t overcomplicate things. Less is always best, I’d say.  

What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish?  

I think citrus is probably my top one. Anything with a little bit of acidity can lighten up something that’s very heavy. If you over-season or over-salt something, adding a little bit of lemon helps. Lemon would definitely be my go-to.  

When you go out to eat, do you find yourself critiquing the food?  

I do notice things, but I don’t actively go out looking for them. I think being a chef makes you more lenient, actually. I try to let people do what they’re good at and just enjoy the experience. Do I notice things? Of course. It’s in my nature. But I don’t want to be obnoxious. I’m happy to go to a burger place and just appreciate that I’m there for a burger and enjoy that. But if someone does ask, I’ll give feedback. That’s important. If someone asks me, “How was it?” and I genuinely feel that I didn’t enjoy a specific thing, or maybe we didn’t get proper service, I’ll say something like, “Everything was amazing, but it would’ve been helpful if someone came to check on our table a bit more.” I’d approach it like that.  

What’s the most common issue that you find in other restaurants?  

I often notice that, after you’ve eaten, there are a lot of times when you just get the bill — no one comes over to ask, “Did you have a good time? Did you enjoy it?” I would say that’s a common mistake not asking for feedback. But sometimes people would rather not ask because they don’t want to hear the answer.  

What’s your favorite cuisine or dish to eat?  

I hope you’re not going to hate me for this, but I don’t actually have a favorite dish. I genuinely love all food — I promise you, I really love food. I’m not the kind of person who says, “Oh, I only love Italian.” But I will say that I do love fusion items. I love experimenting, I love combining Asian with other cuisines, like, why not have an Asian-style burger? So I’d say fusion food is probably my favorite. But more than specific dishes, I think I love specific ingredients, like butter, cream or herbs.  

What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly at home?  

I think my go-to and my “cooking something quickly” are a bit different. My go-to… I love cheese. I love anything with cheese, so, like, crackers with cheese. Even if I start cooking something that’s meant to be quick, I tend to go off track, because I just get inspired and let the flavors flow — and before I know it, an hour’s gone by. So my quick, easy, go-to is probably a little harvest board — something where I can just avoid a cooking accident.  

What customer behavior most annoys you? 

I have two that are probably tied. Number one is people leaving without giving feedback. Or people saying everything is great, then leaving a bad review, or guests not giving you the chance to make things right. We take our negative reviews really seriously. And giving negative feedback isn’t always a horrible thing — you don’t have to do it in a horrible way; it can be very constructive. 

But also, it’s when guests want to change the dishes too much. You come to have an experience, and then you change the dishes so much that they’re not even recognizable. That happens a lot. Sometimes people come in and say, “Oh, can I have that instead of this?” or “I don’t like that, can I have this instead?” And you’re, like, “But we don’t actually have that on the menu.” And sometimes that even leads to a complaint.  

What’s your favorite dish to cook ? 

Anything around the fire really brings me back home because I’m South African. Having a barbecue is something that brings people together. It’s always about everyone bringing a dish. I do have a passion for anything cooked over fire. Nothing can beat a good steak on a fire — that crust you get, the fat that renders down… nothing compares. Even with vegetables, that smokiness, the char, it really adds something. It’s a little bit of home away from home. 

What’s the most difficult dish for you to get right?  

Definitely a souffle. A souffle is one of those things that can flop in the oven depending on your mood. You could do everything right, but if you’re in a bad mood, the souffle just doesn’t souffle. It’s just one of those things I honestly try to avoid. If anyone ever asked me, “Are you going to put a souffle on the menu?” I’d be like, “No.” Even if you have everything perfect — the oven, the temperature, the ingredients — it’s just one of those things that really picks up on your energy. 

As a head chef, what are you like? Are you laid back? Strict? 

I think my team would tell you I definitely love to keep good vibes in the kitchen. We spend a lot of time with the people we work with, and it’s already such a high-pressure industry, so I definitely don’t want people coming in and not being happy in the place they work. It’s important to always provide a safe space for people. You’re constantly teaching, so you don’t want to be unapproachable. But, at the same time, having boundaries is very important. I’m not like I was maybe 10 years ago — back then I was a bit more Gordon Ramsay-style crazy. But as you get older and reach certain levels in your career, you start to realize that hitting someone over the head with a pan is probably not the best way to get a positive reaction. You have to have a good balance. That’s something I always strive for. 

Chef Carmen’s egg carbonara  

Ingredients:  

1 plain croissant 

40g grated parmesan 

40g sliced beef bacon 

3 eggs 

50g brown mushrooms, roughly chopped 

10g truffle paste 

100ml cream 

40g butter 

2ml truffle oil 

0.1g dried edible flowers 

3 sprigs of parsley  

Preparation:  

Slice the croissant lengthwise and toast until lightly golden. Set aside. 

In a heated pan, add the butter, chopped chopped mushrooms, and bacon slices. Sauté until the mushrooms are soft and the bacon is crispy. 

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until fluffy and then fold in the cream and truffle paste. 

Lower the heat and pour the egg mixture into the pan with bacon and mushrooms. Stir slowly and gently until all combined and creamy. Cook to preferred doneness. 

Once the eggs are almost at preferred doneness, season well and finish with a drizzle of truffle oil. 

Plating: 

On a plate, scatter the grated Parmesan in a wide circle, leaving the centre slightly bare. 

Place the toasted croissant in the centre of the plate and generously spoon the truffled egg mixture into the croissant, making it flow out onto the plate. 

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan, garnish with dried edible flowers, and finish with three small parsley sprigs on either side.