Lindo “Dust” Ntuli is feeding Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, one combo box at a time.
Ntuli’s gorgeous custom box, stuffed with wraps, beef, buns, prawns and mussels, looks especially enticing on social media.
Ntuli says the box was a custom order by a young lady who wanted a treat for her boyfriend.
This is not the only service on offer at The Wrenched Experience, Ntuli’s catering business.
Customers can choose from a variety of menus. There’s the Daily Run, with food starting at R40, namely deep-fried crumbed hake served with chips with the option of adding a salad for an additional R7. The menu goes all the way to R145 for a rack of sticky 800g ribs served with chips and salad.
Next, he has the Weekenders menu, which is a platters menu with items such as The Lazy Braai, starting at R330 and going all the way to R570, depending on what you want.
Lastly, he caters for small, intimate events like small weddings, corporate lunches, 50-person funerals and for people who want a buffet or a personal cook for a dinner at home.
Ntuli’s grandmother is to thank for starting him on the culinary path.
“My grandmother taught us everything, from cooking to cleaning, sewing and baking — you know, things that are the basics for any human being. So from there you catch on.”
So impressive was his baking that a friend would often buy a bucket of biscuits from him and sell them at school.
Ntuli, 33, studied catering management at the Durban University of Technology but had to drop out in his third year in 2018 due to financial difficulties. He then turned to business as he had garnered some experience.
“In the morning [at school] we would do all theory and in the afternoon it would be practical,” he says.
Armed with the knowledge he had, he started operating his business. He was finally able to register it a year ago.
Ntuli says his lecturers still contact him to ask when he will return to school, something he’s thought about but put on the back-burner for now.
“I’ve mastered a way of producing something that you can’t get or different from the norm. You won’t find it elokshini [in the township]. The food that I prepare and present is actually done elokshini, it’s actually done in my house, [but] people think I have this big restaurant. I just have enough space to be creative and productive in that manner.”
Ntuli has one permanent employee and hires waiting staff on a part-time basis. He caters to clients within a 50km radius of his home in Imbali.
Ntuli says the challenges he’s encountered include ensuring he’s compliant with operating standards.
Another issue is clients who order food at the last minute. He now requires people to place orders 24 hours before for platters and any other large orders.
Asked why he named his food business The Wrenched Experience, he says: “You know the spanner called a wrench? You can adjust it, right? So we, as the Wrenched Experience, we adjust to our customers. The customer requests and we ensure that they get what they want.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.