Paul Eaton's love of food began about the same time he had grown to counter height. He spent much time in the kitchen as a child learning from his family, a family which includes four Executive chefs!
Paul loved taking in all the aromas and found the kitchen to be a therapeutic place where he found the opportunity to allow his creativity and passion for food to overflow into the dishes he prepared.
His journey to hone skills that matched his passion for food included enrolling at The International Hotel School for a Diploma in Hotel Management, studying Professional cookery and a 6 month in house stint training at the Victoria & Alfred Hotel at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
Paul says, 'This training fuelled my passion even more and I found the Hotel environment very constrictive and limited. This was purely because I was not the Head Chef YET and rightly so I had still many lessons to learn and a lot still to achieve. After my studies I did freelance chefing which was a lot of fun we basically brought a dinner party to your home providing gourmet in house delights for overseas visitors who booked luxury villas in Parts of the Cape like Camps Bay and Fresnaye. Cooking for the super wealthy was a lot of fun but had a lot of challenges. Most of them having been very well travelled, and had dined in some of the world's finest restaurants meant the quality and standard of the dishes we prepared had to always be world class. This is where the learning of attention to detail and other vital lessons were learnt. I could be as creative as I liked had an unlimited budget and worked in some of the most extravagant kitchens I have ever seen...a dream situation for a chef.'
After four wonderful years in the Cape Paul moved back home to Kwa-Zulu Natal with his wife Samantha and opened Eatons on Eighty. This successful venture saw a new restaurant grow from the ground up and peaked as the venue of choice in Pietermaritburg for sophisticated palates. Eatons on Eighty achieved a variety of accolades including Eat Out top 800 restaurants in South Africa 2008, 2009 & 2010, BOE Private Banking & Moet & Chandon Circle of Excellence and was also part of the top 80 Restaurants in South Africa and KZN top 10.
Ever looking onwards and upwards, this ambitious couple wanted to broaden their horizons. Paul and Sam decided to explore Southern Africa some more and try something totally different and something that most people are not privileged enough to experience. Paul joined the & Beyond family as The Executive Chef for Phinda Mountain, Rock & Zuka Lodges basically everything in the South of this 25 000 Hectare Private Game Reserve. Sam became a Camp Manager at Mountain Lodge where they were based.
'We specialised in Pan African Cuisine and with my Fusion food background there was just an explosion of new found passion. I love the bush and cooking for 80 guests under the open stars on open flames with lions calling in the distance is one of the most memorable experiences. The Bush Dinners, Bush Breakfasts, canapés on top of mountain peaks there was no limits to what could be achieved. Preparing dishes out of an old anthill to name few, this was really once in life time stuff that I was learning. When the birth of our son Oliver took place bush life became complicated and when he was six months old we parted ways with the & Beyond family and moved back home and bought our first home in Hilton which is located on the outskirts of the Natal Midlands a place we have always held dear to our hearts and wanted to settle down in one day.' Paul shared.
Eat In With Eatons has evolved from this couples eagerness to push the envelope, to try something different, something unique. Eat In With Eatons, includes; a demo kitchen for fun interactive cooking lessons and demos for the young and old, outside dining facilities for hot summer nights, two private dining facilities one being our home dining room and another larger dining room linked to the demo kitchen. Bespoke evenings for book clubs, private romantic dinners, corporate dinner parties, supper clubs, wine evenings and theme parties... there are no limits and to top off this list, a tree house dining area is in the pipeline.
Eat In With Eatons will harness this plethora of experience as they welcome many loyal customers and new ones into their home and share this new stage of their exciting culinary adventure.
