News

American Express has long been synonymous with dining and its “Amex for Foodies” world dining series provides Nedbank’s American Express Cardmembers access to leading international chefs.  As part of this series, Nedbank recently hosted an exclusive two-night culinary event for Nedbank’s American Express Cardmembers, featuring renowned chef Fatmata Binta hosted by chef Wandile Mabaso at his Bryanston restaurant, Les Créatifs.

The event and Amex for Foodies is part of a broader series of exclusive experiences for American Express Card Members, including Card Members from licensed issuers that are part of the American Express network in select cities around the world. Through these collaborations with leading banks, the benefits, services, and experiences that American Express offers are extended to more people globally.

“American Express is dedicated to offering access to extraordinary Cardmember events across the world – from beachside lounges to pop-up bar experiences – and we were delighted that Nedbank brought such incredible culinary talent to South Africa.  In partnership with Nedbank and the talents of chefs Fatmata Binta and Wandile Mabaso, we provided Nedbank’s American Express Cardmembers a flavour of what it means to be an American Express customer,” said Vivi Galani, Global Head of Product and Marketing for American Express Network Services.

Chef Fatmata is a Fulani, now one of the largest nomadic groups in the world, a proud remnant of humanity’s nomadic past. In harmony with her nomadic ancestry, Chef Fatmata has not set herself up in her own restaurant as most celebrity chefs do. She travels the world investigating other cuisines and meeting her peers, while spreading the message about the Fulani culinary tradition. Her approach of combining this traditional cuisine with a fine dining experience saw her being awarded the Best Chef Rising Star accolade for 2021 and then the highly prestigious Basque Nobel Culinary World Prize for 2022.

"We were delighted to introduce our American Express Cardmembers to Fatmata Binta – an amazing chef who is at the forefront of an emerging trend in global cuisine—reinterpreting a vanishing cuisine for the 21st Century,” says Buli Ndlovu, Executive Head: Retail and Business Banking Marketing at Nedbank. “Chef Fatmata’s advocacy for the Fulani way of life and the cuisine embedded in it echoes Chef Wandile’s drive to fuse the ancient cuisines of France and Africa into something new and extraordinary.”

Who better to host Chef Fatmata than Chef Wandile Mabaso? Chef Wandile is a product of more than two decades of international travels and work experience, culminating in being part of the winning duo of two Michelin stars at Le Meurice Alain Ducasse in Paris in 2016. Here in his native South Africa, he is a superstar, and was named one of the country’s top chefs in 2022. Like Chef Fatmata, he is focused on marrying traditional African flavours with international cuisine.