When four of the Mount Nelson Hotel’s five senior chefs were retrenched in August 2020, they repackaged their skills in individual ventures from the City Bowl and Claremont to Table View and Strandfontein. The landmark Cape Town hotel reopened its food and beverage offerings this week, operating with a reduced staff component. Business Insider South Africa had reported in August that with few overseas guests, the Mount Nelson Hotel would likely retrench more than half its 251 staff. It quoted a hotel letter, dated June 29, stating that a formal retrenchment process to let go of 154 employees was under consideration. Before the axe fell in August, says Dion Vengatass, “Sven (Adams) was production, Llew (Llewellyn Hurter) was breakfast and lunch, Craig (Hibbert) was pastry, while I was chef du cuisine in the main kitchen.” The four worked closely with executive chef Rudi Liebenberg.