Chateau Gateaux is launching their newest cake next week – Chocolate Nostalgia – and we can’t wait to taste it! Everyone thinks their mom makes the best chocolate cake, however nothing could beat this silky smooth, homestyle moist chocolate cake, layered with a creamy rich chocolate mousse, sprinkled with chocolate biscuit crumble and drizzled with dark chocolate ganache. Delicious!
Chateau Gateaux is celebrating a huge milestone this year – its 20th birthday!
Chateau Gateaux was conceptualised when Ilan Lipschitz was working in a coffee shop in 1997. He noticed that many Foodservice outlets were buying baked goods from the coffee shop he worked at – there was no supplier at the time of frozen cakes, so Ilan was inspired to start a company that did just that. The first Chateau Gateaux cake was made (incidentally on his birthday) on 30 July 1997 from a premises he rented which was originally a panel beating shop that he had converted into a small production kitchen in grubby Sydney Road, Durban. From here, he supplied the Foodservice Sector – mainly restaurants and hotels – in Durban and surrounds.
Ilan trained and worked in Israel and France as a pastry chef before moving to South Africa and starting the company. He says he was inspired by his mom, who was an excellent home baker. Ilan has always been very hands on in the kitchen at Chateau Gateaux, creating his gastronomical delights. In recent years he has become more involved with the development team. Ilan and his team come up with new recipes and create their own trends – they are pioneers in the industry.
Malcolm Lyle is also a director and co-owner of Chateau Gateaux – he looks after the sales, marketing, finance and HR departments. He comes from a corporate environment where he worked on brands like Robertson’s at Unilever. He was looking for a smaller company to invest in where he could create employment for people and make a difference. A friend told him about Chateau Gateaux – he liked what he saw and the rest is history! That was nine years ago and it seems to have been a very happy union between them.
According to Ilan and Malcolm, they are complete opposites, often disagree but never fight and work well as a team. They are not just business partners, but good friends and their families are close.
Although most of us only know Chateau Gateaux for their patisseries, their main focus is to supply to the Food Hospitality Industry. They also supply desserts for restaurant chains like Ocean Basket, Nando’s and Spur to name a few. They now have four patisseries in KZN plus five in Johannesburg and Pretoria with the tenth Patisserie due to open in Ballito at the Lifestyle Centre in August and plans to open in Pietermaritzburg, along with the Western Cape, in the pipeline. They are also exploring export opportunities.
They recently partnered with Uber Eats, making their product even more convenient! You can order your cake through the Uber Eats app and the cake gets delivered to your door in a flash – what more could you ask for? Cake delivered to your doorstep! This service is only available in Johannesburg, for now at least!
Malcolm and Ilan are pictured below holding Chateau Gateaux’s very first cake (the Mozart) and one of their newest cakes (Baked Chocolate Cheese Cake).
Mum’s Mail wishes Chateau Gateaux a very Happy 20th Birthday and congratulations on your latest addition to the already fabulous selection of scrummy cakes!
Chateau Gateaux Patisseries:
KZN
· Durban North
· Gateway
· Morningside
· Pavilion
· Ballito Lifestyle Centre
GAUTENG
· Bryanston – Riverside Shopping Centre
· Cresta Shoping Centre
· Illovo – Thrupps Illovo Centre
PRETORIA
· Glenfair Boulevard
· Menlyn
By Sarah Mackintosh.
