November 30, 2023

EP 18: Dieuveil Malonga: On elevating African gastronomy at the Meza Malonga Lab, being the youngest chef on Top Chef France, and cooking for A$AP Rocky.

1 hour 5 minutes

In this episode, I sit with Chef extraordinaire, Dieuveil Malonga, to discuss his mission of elevating Afro fusion cuisine on the global scene. Chef Malonga is one of the senior exponents of Afro-fusion cuisine, a subtle mélange of tradition and modernity, a culinary bridge between African flavors and Western cooking. His gastronomy career started at three different prestigious Michelin starred restaurants in Germany—Schote, Life, and Aqua, and now his ambition is to write a new story of gastronomy which has its roots in Africa.

His work is increasingly receiving global recognition and he is frequently seen being the leading Chef for celebrities’ events including A$AP Rocky & Rick Owens. He was recently was the leading chef for Kamala Harris’s Vice President birthday dinner in October.

He was the honoree chef during UNESCO's Africa Week 2017 in Paris and was one of the 10 global finalists of the Basque Culinary World Prize 2018 for his "contribution to making positive changes to society through gastronomy with Chefs in Africa.
Dieuveil Malonga was on the Forbes 30 under 30 list twice.

He now runs the Meza Malonga Lab, which is more than a restaurant. They are storytellers of the history of the people and lands behind each ingredient. With Maasai, Bantu, Zulu influences and beyond, Dieuveil Malonga’s cuisine reveals the splendor, uniqueness and complementarity of African nations. Their curated gastronomic experiences are an invitation to a journey without borders throughout Africa.

My personal spin for Dieuveil is that he is someone I have so much respect for, because his level of excellence is out of this world. Yet he is increasingly humble and I really love that he elevates his team and everyone he works with.

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