Martin Kobald “Chef MLK”

Martin Kobald, Austrian-born chef extraordinaire; began his culinary career in his home country, after completing his training with outstanding achievement.

Kobald honed and developed his food and beverage skills as he worked his way up from Trainee Chef to Chef de Partie, Sous Chef, and finally, head of operations of various Austrian hotels and restaurants. 

In 1988, Kobald immigrated to South Africa, where he was recruited by Southern Sun as a Chef de Partie.  He soon went on to become the Group Executive Head Chef for Holiday in Garden Court based at Southern Sun head office; and managed the official opening of no less than 14 Holiday Inn Garden Courts nationwide. Kobald was then appointed Executive Head Chef of the Johannesburg Sun before becoming the Food and Beverage Project Manager for Southern Sun / Garden Court and Sandton Holiday Inn Garden Court.

In 1995 his entrepreneurial dream was realised when he established an Austrian delicatessen, Kobald’s Catering. Based on the success of this initiative, he then bought the picturesque 33 High Street Restaurant & Bar, where for the next five years, Kobald delighted Gauteng restaurant-goers with his traditional Austrian and international fare.

Following his foray in the restaurant business, Kobald went on to start Nucleus Conference and Function Venues; before joining Fedics as an independent consultant in 2004. A year later he accepted a permanent position as National Executive Chef of the organisation.

Further to his business successes, Kobald is also actively involved with the South African Chefs Association (SACA) since 1988; having served as Chairman for the Gauteng region between 1993 and 1999. Following this, he was appointed to the Board of Directors, and was responsible for managing the portfolio of overseas promotions.

Kobald spent the next two years promoting South African cuisine across the globe, reaching countries as widespread as Thailand, United States, United Emirates, China, Australia, Germany, Russia and Canada.  In 2002, he was elected Vice President of SACA, and in October 2003 he took over the reigns as President of the 30-year-old Association; a position he held for six years.

Kobald currently holds the title of Honorary President of the South African Chefs Association (SACA). He also serves as the Global Chairman of the Marketing and Communications Committee of the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) and currently actively running for the WACS presidium for the period 2012 - 2016.

Kobald currently is the convener of the Bidvest-World Chefs Tour Against Hunger with over 260 Chefs from over 45 countries raised over 8 million Rand with translates in being able to feed over 500 children everyday over 5 years. The total rand value for media awareness raised nationally and globally reaches far beyond 30 million and still counting.

In addition to this, Kobald has accepted the new title of National Corporate Executive Chef for Royal Mnandi on a consultative basis; allowing for further scope and development of his own personal brand, MLK Consulting. He also recently became the face of Salton & Salton Elite Appliances South Africa, WEBER South Africa & Roast n’ Grind - Gourmet Coffee Roasters.

Kobald has participated in a number of local and international competitions. Some of his other sizzling career achievements include leading a South African culinary promotion in Cairo and Taipei, as well as managing the logistics for the South African National Culinary Team, which competed in the world-renowned ScotHot Competition in the late 1990s. Most recently, he held the position as Team Manager for the team which won double gold in the International Hotel & Gastro Competition in Austria in 2005, winning second place overall.