MY KITCHEN FAMILY
“ I’LL NEVER FORGET THE EXCITEMENT, THE SMELL, THE SOUND. IT’S WHAT KEEPS ME GOING BACK” – CLAIRE GUNN
Claire Gunn’s love affair with the kitchen started with her first visit to the Spur. “I sat watching the grill on Dean Street in Newlands and was mesmerised by the flames licking at the blue tiles. Orders were going in and men were sweating and grilling, then a plate would magically appear on the pass and I’d be like ‘Is it mine, is it mine?’ I’ll never forget the excitement, the smell, the sound. It’s what keeps me going back into the kitchen.”
Spend time talking to Claire about her work and you’ll realise this is not just her job, this is her passion, and she is endlessly thrilled (and slightly disbelieving) that she gets to spend her days combining her two great loves: food and photography. She’s only been doing the latter professionally for the past seven years and is entirely self-taught – hard to believe considering she’s the official photographer for some of the country’s best restaurants.
The spark that was lit in the Newlands Spur became a fire when Claire was in her late teens. “When Food Network arrived in SA I started watching Rick Stein and Keith Floyd and
