Bertus Basson

After being born in Cape Town in 1979, Bertus was brought up in Polokwane, Nelspruit and Witbank.^[5] He began to help his mother with cooking in the kitchen at a young age.^[6] Growing up, Basson also worked as a waiter at Spur Steak Ranches, as well as at a liquor store and a toy store.^[7]

Bertus Basson began working in the culinary career when he was 17 years old.^[8] He moved to London at the age of 19 to work at the Michelin starred restaurant Chez Bruce.^[9] Basson began his first catering business, All Things Culinary, in 2005.^[10] In 2007, Bertus was named Unilever Chef of the Year,^[11] before establishing his first restaurant, Overture in November.^[9] Overture has been awarded distinguished accolades from both the Eat Out Guide and Rossouws Restaurant Guide while under his leadership.^[12][13]

Basson appeared as a judge on Season 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the national cooking show The Ultimate Braai Master on SABC 3.^[14] He also appears as a guest on the lifestyle TV show Top Billing as well as the daily talk show Expresso.^[15][16]

Basson was crowned with "Chef of the Year" at the 2019 South African EatOut Awards for his work at Eike and Overture.^[17]

Bertus Basson has two books to his name:

• Homegrown (2017, Jacana Media; ISBN 9781928247081)^[23]
• Being Bertus Basson (2018, Jacana Media; ISBN 9781431426416)^[24]