ENVI Paje names Karen De Villiers executive chef in Zanzibar

ENVI Paje, the newly opened barefoot luxury and wellness lodge on Paje Beach in Zanzibar, has appointed Karen De Villiers as executive chef. The move puts food at the center of the property's wellness positioning, with a menu built around local ingredients, seasonal flexibility and low-waste cooking.

Why it matters: - ENVI Paje is using food as part of its wellness offer, not just as a guest amenity. - Karen De Villiers is now shaping the culinary identity of the newly opened property from the start. - The appointment ties the lodge more closely to Zanzibar’s local produce, seasonal rhythms and sustainability story.

What happened: - ENVI Paje named Karen De Villiers as executive chef at the newly opened barefoot luxury and wellness lodge on Paje Beach in Zanzibar. - General Manager Daniel Morariu said having De Villiers shape the kitchen from the beginning was central to defining the property’s identity. - ENVI Paje said bookings are available at the lodge’s booking site. - The brand invited readers to follow @envipaje for more information.

The details: - De Villiers trained in both savoury cooking and patisserie. - Her cooking approach is rooted in childhood memories of watching her grandmother make wedding cakes and picking vegetables from her father’s garden. - De Villiers said she wants to understand how flavours work together and aims to create meals that leave guests satisfied. - Zanzibar’s ingredients drive the menu, including tropical fruit, seafood and spices. - The kitchen uses a flexible menu that changes with the seasons rather than a fixed lineup. - ENVI Paje sources ingredients locally where possible. - The property said its own garden will soon bring harvests even closer to the kitchen. - The kitchen works on a no-waste basis. - Surplus ingredients are turned into pickles, preserves and jams, including watermelon and lime preserve, passionfruit skin marmalade and tomato chilli jam. - When gluten-free flour was not available on the island, De Villiers milled her own from cashew nuts, lentils and chickpeas. - Guests can take part in bread making, pickling, seashell hunting and essential-oil making. - De Villiers’ daily muffin is free from refined sugar and artificial sweeteners. - The muffin uses local ingredients including baobab, moringa and ashwagandha. - Signature dishes highlighted by the lodge include octopus salad and Mharage vegetable curry. - ENVI Paje is a beachfront collection of private-pool villas that open directly onto the sand. - The lodge’s wellness lineup includes hyperbaric oxygen, red light, PEMF, cold plunge and IV therapy, alongside traditional spa treatments.

Between the lines: - The chef appointment reinforces ENVI Lodges’ broader pitch that restoration should come from nature, place and local resources. - The culinary program appears designed to make wellness tangible through food, waste reduction and guest participation. - The emphasis on seasonal flexibility and local sourcing suggests the kitchen is built to adapt to island supply realities, not fight them.

What's next: - ENVI Paje’s own garden is expected to strengthen the kitchen’s local sourcing. - The property is also planning upcoming openings in 2027 across Saudi Arabia and Oman, according to ENVI Lodges. - The lodge’s wellness-and-dining concept will likely continue to define the guest experience as the property settles into operation. - More editorial images and the full press kit are available through the linked Google Drive folders in the original release.