An academy creating greatness

Silver Spoon Hospitality Academy was founded in 2016 and is located in the Old Power Station in Windhoek. It was founded by well-known hotelier Tom Mutavdzic who has been in the hospitality and trade industry for more than 50 years. His love for the industry began from working alongside his parents when he was younger.

Mutavdzic has been fully trained in international food and beverages and never thought of another career apart from the hospitality trade.

One of his major challenges during his career, was finding well trained staff, especially in the smaller towns. “You had to spend a lot of time training your staff and getting them to understand to prepare ahead,” said Mutavdzic.

Internationally recognised

The academy focuses on the upliftment of the hospitality and trade industry through education. What makes Silver Spoon stand out is the fact that they experiment with different Namibian cuisines alongside their students.

This is not only a great achievement for the academy, but for the country, seeing as they are creating true Namibian dishes with Namibian ingredients.

They are affiliated to the Chef MLK School of Cooking in Johannesburg, South Africa to ensure students are educated to international standards.

The academy is a member of the Namibian Chef Association and the Hospitality Association of Namibia.

Silver Spoon is internationally accredited by City & Guild of London and locally by Namibia Qualifications Authority and Namibia Training Authority. Their courses are based on the City & Guild curriculum. The City & Guild diploma is internationally recognised, as well as acknowledged by World Chefs.

The academy not only focuses on teaching cooking skills, but students are also trained in other aspects of the industry, including how to serve guests.

He explained that it is important to acquire front-of-house skills, and learning how to deal with customers directly.

Talented staff

The academy is proud of its experienced and dedicated team, which ensures top education standards.

The staff at the academy include Elke Mutavdzic, the school administrator and bookkeeper, as well as Terry Jenkinson. He started his career in 1990 as a chef at ML Sultan Hotel School.

He represented South Africa in the World Pastry Cup in Lyon, France in 1995, as well as trained and accompanied the Namibia Young Chef team to Abu Dhabi in 2017 to compete in the Alan Thong Young Chef Competition.

He was also the mentor for Namibia at the World Young Chef Olympiad in India 2018, and he is a registered facilitator and qualified assessor.

Nicky Nolan has a hotel management diploma and post graduate certificate in education, and she is also a registered facilitator and qualified assessor.

She obtained her education in 1994 at Birnam Business College, Technicon Witwatersrand and UNISA. She has worked in the hospitality and catering industry for 11 years.

Graduates from the academy are recognised as internationally qualified chefs, who can get jobs on cruise ships in different countries, or take up positions as private chefs as well and work their way up in kitchens around the world.

Graduates can introduce Namibian style cuisine to the world.