born & bread IN NAMIBIA

Chef Stephaan Coetzee nourishes Namibia with beautiful bread and superb service. At his Windhoek artisan bakery-cum-café, Le Pain, he celebrates his country’s unique ingredients, food culture and history, one lovely loaf at a time.

Stephaan explains that he was born and raised in Windhoek, and it is the Namibian landscape that first defined him. “I think my country’s climate, soil, crops, history and diverse cultures all contributed to the sense of self that I currently hold. This, in turn, is central to my culinary style,” he muses.

But the land of his birth is not Stephaan’s only food influence. “I was trained at the Institute of Culinary Arts in Stellenbosch and have worked at Tylney Hall Hotel in the UK; in South Africa, with Markus Färbinger at île de païn; and also with fellow Namibian chef David Higgs