Meet a trio of innovative chefs — all under 30 — who are igniting the Parkhurst, Joburg, restaurant scene with their ingenuity in an unpretentious 32-seater eatery, Embarc. They are head chef Aren Pollack, 24, sous chef Cameron Smook, 25, and senior chef de partie Tayla Nixon-James, 29.
During my visit, the Hispi cabbage was a dish I won’t easily forget. It is the name of a small cabbage known for its distinctive conical shape, tender texture and naturally sweet and mild flavour. This one arrived on a small plate all charred and moreish, the heady aroma of spice and chilli being the first to hit the senses, then the herbiness of oregano, thyme and sumac — that tangy and lemony wine red noble berry spice. It was the nuttiness of tahini that carried the flavours as they enveloped the brassica in deliciousness. That was the humble highlight of lunch.
Lunch itself came in waves of flavours, all served on small plates — all chef Pollack’s choices — and kicked off with a smoked burrata, a fresh creamy cheese balanced with new-season white peach, a good foil to the richness of the cheese, sugar snap peas and an unusual hibiscus dressing — startling pink in colour yet sweet, tropical and tangy.
To seafood, a surprise of calamari noodles, an indigenous idea cut into thread-like noodles, sat in a generous mound, and if you like heat this is for you. Texture came from the chopped toasted cashews and was enlivened with chef Nixon-James’s rendition of XO sauce, a spicy seafood sauce with hints of apricot. It reminded us of the favourite South African combo of sweet and savoury with pungent curry leaf masala velouté. Yummy.
In describing the trio of dishes a friend and I enjoyed on a recent lunch, it was time to meet the faces of the chefs behind the dishes — and here’s their story.
The very first dish you made?
AP: Kosher deli pickles with my grandmother.
CS: Toad in the hole.
TNJ: My school lunch, a sarmie with different veggies and cheese.
When did you realise you wanted to be a chef?
AP: I always joke as if it’s the fact that my mother is a bad cook and I was forced out of necessity!
CS: Working in a Tel Aviv shawarma shop grilling oyster mushrooms, and I had the feeling of absolute bliss.
TNJ: I started working on a yacht alongside an incredible chef who hailed from Noma restaurant in Copenhagen.
What is it about working long, unsociable hours in a hot kitchen that makes you tick?
AP: I love how every day is a clean slate and we can only do better than yesterday, and each day comes with a fresh set of possibilities, challenges and creativity.
CS: It’s chaotic, messy and addictive. Navigating the chaos in a restaurant kitchen is a new challenge every day, and that’s exciting.
TNJ: It’s the end result of a cook after one has put so much energy and love into it. It is where one gets to watch people eat something one has made and absolutely love it. Really rewarding.
How did the three of you come to work as a team at Embarc?
AP: I took time out after having worked in Choux restaurant in Amsterdam. I was bored and seeking out part-time work to keep myself fresh in the kitchen before I returned to Europe and discovered an advertisement from Embarc on social media, for a head chef position. After meeting owner chef Darren O’Donovan, I thought it could be a great opportunity to take on.
CS: Chef Aren and I are best friends, and when he took over Embarc I was so excited about what he was doing that I showed up every day until chef Darren was forced to hire me.
TNJ: I came to dinner at Embarc and loved the idea of small plates of food, so I asked chef Darren if I could do an internship with him, which soon turned into a full-time position.
It’s inspiring to know that chef O’Donovan, owner of Embarc, has left his restaurant in the hands of a trio of young talented chefs. Not a typical scenario in the South African restaurant industry, and it says so much about him. How did it come about?
AP: I think after some time the food needed a bit of a freshening up, and chef Darren was super on board with that. He wanted some more voices coming through from all aspects of the restaurant and over time felt confident to let us run the space.
CS: I think chef Darren was happy about the new energy we brought to the restaurant and the excitement of the food, most of all how much we want to improve every day. We are very driven, and I think he appreciates that.
TNJ: Food, like fashion, changes and to get young creative minds into the restaurant space gave chef Darren a new excitement in the restaurant, which got us super motivated.
To witness a trio of chefs turn Embarc restaurant around, and it has happened on a street lined with a plethora of dining-out choices. How do you do it?
AP: I think we are true to who we are and not trying to be anything else other than Embarc. We spend time with our suppliers to offer peak-season quality produce from the likes of Garden Fresh in Parktown North so we have the chance to cook with some of the best ingredients. We change our dishes frequently, and our different backgrounds in cooking have helped us create food like I believe no other restaurant is doing on this street.
CS: We’re not trying to be anyone else, and we strive to improve ourselves every single day.
TNJ: We’ve all worked abroad, so we bring global influences with South Africa flair to Embarc, which keeps our diners intrigued.
Share your individual signature dishes on the Embarc menu.
AP: My seared scallop dish with tomato beurre blanc, XO sauce and chives. It is very different; we use a lot of fermentation in our menu and this dish highlights that. The scallops are seared in brown butter and are sat on a spoonful of our powerful Chinese baby shrimp XO sauce and finished off with a fermented tomato water beurre blanc. Very punchy and full of flavour, and just how we love to cook.
CS: Everything is a team effort, but for me the dish I’m happiest with and have had the most involvement in is our sashimi dish with litchi, lime leaf and coconut.
TNJ: Our strawberry, lemon geranium with rose and lime verbena dish is what sets us apart from other restaurants. It reminds me of sitting on my granny’s couch with a cup of tea and cookies.
What has been your biggest kitchen disaster you’ve experienced, and how did you handle it?
AP: I think it was our Mother’s Day service where we had no water, no electricity and half our team was sick. It was a fully booked restaurant featuring a brand new Mother’s Day menu. We really had to dig deep for that one.
CS: When working at a previous restaurant one evening, we only had one reservation for a table for two, so we decided to send the majority of the team home. We ended up doing a full house of guests with three chefs in the kitchen and no dishwasher, and midway through the chaos I sliced my hand open and had to go to hospital for stitches.
TNJ: When I ran out of fermented tomato water just before service. It is a four-day process to make it …
What is it about working in a busy restaurant that you absolutely love — and loathe?
AP: I love the camaraderie, and that I get to work with my best friends every day. When the energy is high and the restaurant is packed, it is like no other place in the world! I hate quiet days; I get very bored …
CS: It’s never ending. There’s always something to do, which never makes it boring.
TNJ: Seeing all the different people that visit our restaurant … we get people from all walks of life — different ages, races and backgrounds all coming and experiencing what we have to offer. And, of course, working with an awesome team definitely helps.
If you could book a table for dinner anywhere in the world, what restaurant would you choose and why?
AP: Probably Straker’s in London. They are a super young team cooking unpretentious, delicious food; it is food that really inspires me.
CS: The LivingRoom at Summerhill Estate in KwaZulu-Natal. I really love what they are doing with South African ingredients and think chef Johannes Richter is incredible at what he does.
TNJ: Trinity in London because it’s an old-school classic restaurant offering real cooking, and nothing is pretentious. Straker’s would’ve been my first option, but Aren loves to steal the show!
Embarc Restaurant received the One Plate honour in the 2026 JHP Gourmet Guide and Chef Aren Pollack was named the Eat Out Woolworths Awards Rising Star in March this year.
Embarc is open Tuesday to Saturday and Sunday for lunch.
First published in Sunday Times Lifestyle.
