Tinashe worked as Sommelier at the Oyster Box Hotel in Durban from April 2014, and is now the Sommelier at one of the world's top restaurants, at The Test Kitchen, with rock-star chef Luke Dale-Roberts, in Cape Town.
Tinashe was in TeamZIM which participated in the World Blind Wine Tasting Championships in 2017 and again in 2018
His first opportunity arose in the hospitality industry at the Roundhouse Restaurant in Camps Bay. He was fortunate enough to be one of the lucky ones of 50 candidates who had applied to work in this new establishment. His next move was to work at the Showroom Restaurant for 6 months, which then unfortunately closed down. Luckily he was able to start as a Wine Steward at the One & Only Hotel in Cape Town which had just opened.
Says Tinashe ‘Stepping into the One & Only was a real eye opener, they had a huge collection of wines and great clientele, more so, there were a few serious professionals and mentors available who ignited and stoked my curiosity into making wine a fully-fledged career.Working at the hotel was very encouraging because I was working with established Sommeliers, such as Andre Bekker, Eric Botha and Luvo Ntezo, but it also meant I was always going to be in the shadows, so the best I could do was drain these guys of information.’
To further his knowledge, Tinashe enrolled with the Cape Wine Academy in 2010 where he successfully completed his South African Wine and Certificate Wine courses and in 2013 his Wines of the World and Wine & Food courses.
The Cape Legends Inter Hotel Challenge, launched in 2013, which seeks to promote growth in the hospitality industry, especially in hotels was again the right event in Tinashe’s career and he was the chosen candidate from the One & Only Hotel. Tinashe then walked off with the winning Wine Steward title in 2013.
‘It is a competition that allowed me to showcase what I had learned throughout the years, it was more of a confidence booster which in the end saw me being the winner of the Wine Steward category. Ever since I won, it has been a life changing experience, recognition and exposure has been coming. Promotion or opportunities may or may not come but the experience and achievement in the competition is priceless’.