Former Ottolenghi Executive Chef Calvin Von Niebel is the Head Chef at the 25,500-hectare private Arkaba Conservancy in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges. South African-born Calvin was previously the Executive and Development Chef for the British-based Ottolenghi group, with responsibility across restaurants ROVI and NOPI, the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen and various delis in London, all with their own, unique identities.
Having completed a Bachelor of Food Science at London’s South Bank University and a diploma in Culinary Arts at Westminster Kingsway College, Calvin was classically trained in British gastropubs and restaurants prior to joining the Ottolenghi group where he worked for the past ten years.

Under the mentorship of former NOPI Head Chef, Ramel Scully, Palestinian chef, Co-founder of Ottolenghi and food writer, Sami Tamimi, and Ottolenghi Chef, Founder and Cookery Writer, Yotam Ottolenghi, Calvin’s style of cooking has found a unique voice that combines his South African heritage with his experience of living and cooking in Asia.

Hailing from Durban originally – which has a strong Indian influence – Calvin gained an early appreciation of heat and spices in food. Calvin credits both of his grandmothers for their influence in his cooking – his English granny for her recipes, preserves and jams, and his Kenyan born grandmother who had a great love for African-Indian food. Calvin’s love of spices was incorporated into his repertoire as he lived in Thailand for nearly two years and travelled through various countries in Asia, spending a lot of time in local food markets and restaurants.
During lockdown, Calvin established his own vegetable garden at his London home and also played an integral role in developing the Ottolenghi kitchen garden in Wolves Lane, a 1.2 hectare glasshouse site in Wood Green, North London, which provides produce to Ottolenghi restaurant ROVI. Calvin moved to Australia in 2022 to take up his position at Arkaba Homestead and Conservancy.