About

Working in restaurants from a young age fueled a growing passion for food and business. After studying Consumer science- specializing in hospitality, food science, and business marketing, this uniquely broad qualification led me to take opportunities in restaurant management, then event management, then FMCG marketing, and eventually landing me where I belonged: Technical food and product development in a corporate restaurant chain, with an exciting brand.

I was lucky enough to work at a big brand in South Africa: Nando’s Peri Peri, which gave me insight into working with the “Big guys” there, both the heady competition and the large scale suppliers we had to wrangle. The business was at a stage where we had the freedom and flexibility to innovate and grab opportunities head-on. And I was involved in these roll-outs from the bottom down and ground up- it was priceless exposure and experience.

When the US business really took off and I took the leap to move to Washington D.C, I knew this was the opportunity for me to use my varied skills in a holistic way. Small restaurant chains really need people who can adapt and wear many hats, there are no safe zones or 9-5 routines. From developing food safety systems, to navigating strategic product innovation and the detailed roll-out process, to working with suppliers to develop products and technical specifications, to food safety audits, it all had to be done. This challenge was just what I needed and I flew, ending my time there as Corporate culinary director. With this eclectic background in creative, technical and leading strategy development, I thrive at the intersection of business objectives, creativity, detail and purposeful change.

Sage Against the Tagine specializes in helping small to medium restaurants and chains to set up  and monitor processes, adapt their creative product development to align with strategic objectives and to assist in menu roll-out from a marketing and culinary perspective.