Alumnus: Lebo Phala

Reviving African cuisine one soulful dish at a time.

Lebo Phala, a dynamic chef and restaurateur based in Pretoria East, is on a culinary crusade to reconnect South Africans with the power of indigenous food. As the founder and executive chef of HL Culinary, Phala blends heritage with haute cuisine, championing traditional African ingredients and cooking methods through modern, fine dining experiences.

Born in Mohlaletse Village, Limpopo, Phala’s passion for food was ignited in her childhood kitchen, watching her late mother cook for the community. “She didn’t just feed stomachs, she fed spirits,” Phala says. That love for food, rooted in service and soul, has become the foundation of her career.

In 2019, Phala took a bold step, enrolling at Capsicum’s Pretoria campus where she earned her Diploma in Food Preparation and Cooking. By 2022, she had launched HL Culinary, a growing business that now includes a fine dining restaurant, catering division, pop-up eatery, and a line of indigenous food products like dried morogo and thelele.

Her day begins at 5am with meditation and ends with journaling culinary ideas. In between, she’s sourcing local produce, designing menus, mentoring young chefs, and preparing dishes that celebrate African food culture, like ting ya mabele with beetroot-glazed trout or slow-cooked goat stew with roasted roots.

Her dream? To open a restaurant at OR Tambo International, run a culinary retreat in Limpopo, and create an indigenous food research studio. In five years, she hopes to be a global ambassador for African cuisine.

Phala’s work is more than cooking, it’s preservation, education and empowerment. As she says: “Food is love, history and healing.”

With a cast-iron pot in hand and a vision in her heart, Lebo Phala is feeding a movement.