JAN HENDRIK
Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen’s journey to becoming one of the first South African chefs to obtain a Michelin star has captured the imaginations of foodies around the world. To be taken up in the Michelin firmament is arguably the culinary world’s highest honour. But to venture to France and to receive this accolade in Michelin territory, is a rare feat.
1982 – 1996
Jan Hendrik is born in Middelburg, Mpumalanga. In 1991 he opens his first JAN restaurant in the woods on his family’s farm, with paintings hanging in the trees and a Persian rug across the forest floor. Three guests arrive on opening night: his mother, father and sister. They don’t enjoy the meal and refuse to pay. In 1996 he launches his first food society at high school, called the Green Peppers.
1997-2001
Over weekends and school holidays, he works at more than 200 functions for a Johannesburg catering company, from potato salads and jaffles to fine dining in the boardrooms of Sandton. He completes a Diploma in Culinary Arts and Pastry in Stellenbosch and works at hotels and restaurants around Cape Town.
2004-2006
He establishes the Jan Hendrik Group, a creative and photography studio, and hires his first employee, Marissa. After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Design and Photography, he begins a food photography internship at Elle magazine, where he also develops recipes and styles food.
2009-2012
After a year in Paris, he moves to Monaco to work as a private yacht chef, where he writes, photographs and styles his first cookbook, The French Affair, a bestseller and winner at the International Gourmand book awards. In 2012 the group is rebranded to JAN, and he launches his first lifestyle newsletter to 5,500 subscribers, featuring his mother’s chocolate mousse as the brand’s very first recipe.
2013-2016
Restaurant JAN opens in a renovated garage on Rue Lascaris in Nice’s Old Port, with two front-of-house staff and two chefs. Within 36 hours, the New York Times hails it a must-visit restaurant on the French Riviera. His second bestselling cookbook, JAN, A Breath of French Air, follows in 2015, and Restaurant JAN receives 1 Michelin star in 2016.
2017-2019
Production begins on JAN the Journal, a collectable biannual food and lifestyle publication, with Volume 1 self-published in early 2018. JAN Innovation Studio opens in Cape Town, housing South Africa’s largest cookbook collection, sourced from across the country. In 2019, JAN Season 1, his first TV show, wins a SAFTA, and Vogue France selects Restaurant JAN as one of the top 10 restaurants on the Riviera.
2021
Restaurant Klein JAN opens in the Kalahari, his first restaurant on home soil. JAN the Journal Volume 6 and JAN Season 3 celebrate the people and places he discovers there. JAN Online launches the JAN Homeware range and other boutique products, Klein JAN receives the La Liste Hidden Gem award in Paris, and the Klein JAN Cookbook is published as a tribute to the Kalahari.
2022
Restaurant JAN and Klein JAN both join the World’s 50 Best Discovery list, and the JAN Group opens JAN Franschhoek, a seasonal dining experience in South Africa’s Cape Winelands.
2023
Restaurant JAN is named the second-best restaurant in Nice by Time Out. Klein JAN is included on the La Liste Top Restaurants 2024 list, receives a two-star rating and the Lexus Style Award from Eat Out, a three-plate rating from JHP Gourmet Guide, and the Gourmet Guide Haute Performance Award. Jan Hendrik becomes an ambassador for WWF-SA and is named first in the African Food Network’s 100 Most Influential People in the African Food Industry 2023.
2024
Jan Hendrik is invited by the Ambassador of South Africa to France, Mr Nathi Mthethwa, to be a South African business panellist at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris during the 30th Commemoration of South Africa’s democracy. Klein JAN receives its second three-plate rating from JHP Gourmet Guide, and Le Bistrot de JAN, a playful and accessible take on the tradition of a bistro, opens next door to Restaurant JAN in Nice.
2025
Within a month and a half of opening, Le Bistrot de JAN is listed as one of Le Figaro’s 35 Tables to Watch. JAN Franschhoek is awarded two Luxe stars at the Luxe Restaurant Awards 2025 and included on Condé Nast’s 2025 Hot List of Best New Restaurants, and Klein JAN is awarded three Luxe stars. Restaurant JAN receives its Michelin star for the 10th consecutive year, celebrating a decade as part of the French Michelin brigade. Jan Hendrik’s culinary partnership with the Palace of the Lost City at Sun City Resort launches with a breakfast offering highlighting South Africa’s diverse heritage ingredients, the JAN Voyage Cookbook is published in mid October, and the inaugural JAN Collection launches with chefwear-inspired fashion designed with local artists Superella, Michael Taylor and Studio JANA + KOOS. After four years and numerous awards, Jan Hendrik and the Tswalu team decide to bring the unique Klein JAN experience to an end, and Le Bistrot de JAN Cape Town opens at the V&A Waterfront’s InterContinental Table Bay in December.
2026
Le Bistrot de JAN Cape Town is named Bistro of the Year and JAN Franschhoek is awarded two Luxe stars at the 2026 Luxe Restaurant Awards.
“My heritage informs everything I do, most especially my work as a chef. But through every journey I’ve ever undertaken, I’ve always believed in being honest with myself, being curious, mindful of the impact my actions have on others, and in surrounding myself with great people.”
– JAN HENDRIK VAN DER WESTHUIZEN
THE JAN FAMILY
We believe in things that last.
Not the loud, the fast, or the obvious,
but the considered, the patient, and the true.
JAN is not built on trends.
It is built on memory, craft, and time.
We cook with respect for place.
We tell stories slowly.
We choose materials that age, and ideas that deepen.
We are guided by intuition rather than noise.
By curiosity rather than scale.
By quality rather than quantity.
JAN is a table, not a stage.
An invitation, not an announcement.
We value hands that know their work.
Fields that shape flavour.
Silence as much as sound.
Everything we make is edited.
Nothing is accidental.
Nothing exists without reason.
We believe restraint is a form of generosity.
That understatement carries confidence.
That the most meaningful experiences do not ask for attention.
JAN exists to be returned to,
year after year,
season after season,
life after life.
Quietly.
Enduringly.
To preserve the beauty in the world by inspiring people to slow down, taking the time to see things in a new light, and to be more curious.
We will achieve this by encouraging and educating people to cook responsibly – from scratch using real, seasonal ingredients while leaving minimal waste behind – to value quality over quantity, and to take another look at the things we may take for granted.
Creating a better world by inspiring others to be kinder to themselves and others by living mindful and fulfilling lives through great food and experiences.
Authenticity. Curiosity. Heritage. Sustainability.
Restaurant JAN, an intimate 24-seater restaurant in Nice’s Vieux Port area, is a source of great pride to many South Africans, as this is where Jan Hendrik became his home country’s first Michelin-star chef. Today, JAN continues to enchant locals and visitors alike with its innovative fusion of classic, honest South African flair elevated to haute cuisine status.
Across the street from Restaurant JAN, Maria is a cheese room named after Jan Hendrik’s beloved Ouma, who passed away at the age of 91. Opened in 2017, this tour du fromage offers 91 plates of cheese, condiments and homemade preserves, an interlude for guests before they return to the table.
Le Bistrot de JAN is the playful younger sibling of Restaurant JAN, a relaxed take on the French bistro with a smaller menu and à la carte dishes, free from the formality of a tasting menu. Opened next door to Restaurant JAN in Nice in 2024, it now has a second home at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
Set in a charming 19th-century farmhouse among the lavender fields of La Motte Wine Estate, JAN Franschhoek is a limited-time seasonal dining experience celebrating Jan Hendrik’s love of South African cuisine. Guests share a communal table for a seasonal tasting menu, and the restaurant was awarded two Luxe stars in both 2025 and 2026.
JAN the Journal is Jan Hendrik’s biannual publication, part lifestyle magazine and part coffee-table cookbook. Each issue runs to around 300 pages, filled with more than 50 tried-and-tested recipes and stories on everything from ingredients and travel to the finer things in life, chronicling the creative journey of Jan Hendrik and his team.
JAN Voyage is Jan Hendrik’s culinary and lifestyle retreat in Apricale, a medieval hilltop village in Italy’s Ligurian Nervia Valley with over 1,000 years of history. Guests stay in a renovated historic building and enjoy masterclasses, sommelier-hosted wine tastings, daily wellness sessions and a visit to Restaurant JAN.
The JAN Foundation works to create positive change for vulnerable people, particularly elderly communities, through donations, grants and fundraising events. Its first project was in partnership with SAVF Evanna Old Age Home, and a recent fundraising event raised R100,000 for Rusoord Centurion.
Jan Hendrik’s love of wine was born on long summer afternoons in Stellenbosch, and it lives on in the JAN range of red and white blends. The JAN Shiraz Grenache Mourvèdre was named one of the Top 10 in Wine Magazine’s 2025 Signature Red Blend Report, and the JAN White Blend was awarded 4.5 stars in the 2025 Platter’s Wine Guide.
The JAN Collection, launched in 2025, brings chefwear-inspired fashion garments designed in collaboration with local artists Superella, Michael Taylor and Studio JANA + KOOS.