“I started to dig deep and it was all there, this arsenal of ideas I had collected over 18 years of travel”
It's safe to say that Jared Melamed is not a traditional pastry chef. For one thing, he is completely self-taught. For another, he has travelled the world as a professional diver. (He was also deported from Australia, but we'll get to that later.)
But despite the unconventional path he has taken to master his craft, there can be no doubt that he has done just that – mastered it. Under the banner of his business La Tarte in Johannesburg, Jared and his team are producing world-class, French-style pastries, desserts and baked goods that are in high demand.
Now 36, Jared took the first step on this journey almost 18 years ago, albeit unwittingly at
