Michael Cathie, a South African native and former senior director at several global corporate giants, has been appointed chief marketing officer for Southern African flame-broiled chicken chain Nando’s, according to a report in All Africa.

Since its beginnings in South Africa in 1987, Nando’s Restaurants have opened in 34 countries on five continents.

The exact number of Nando’s restaurants worldwide is hard to pinpoint because new stores keep opening, says Ryan Magee, an assistant manager at the 18th Street Nando’s in Washington, D.C.

Magee estimates there’s around 3,000 restaurants worldwide with 1,000 in Europe.

The first U.S. location opened in Washington, D.C. in July, 2008. There are now 12 Nando’s in the U.S., all in D.C., Virginia and Maryland with two or three more locations coming online in the next month or so, Magee said.

Nando’s signature dish is its peri peri flame-grilled chicken. Peri peri is the South African name for the African bird’s eye chili. The name is thought to have originated in the Portuguese-speaking Mozambican community.

The peppers are thought to have originally been brought back to Europe from Columbus’s voyage to the Americas, according to The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia. Most people believe that the Portuguese took the peppers to their colonies of Mozambique and Angola, where they were christened a Swahili word that means “pepper-pepper,” and naturally cross-pollinated. Eventually, one of the varieties made its way to Portugal, where, for some reason, it retained its African name.

Nando’s peri peri chicken is a marriage between Portuguese and South African-style food, Magee said. “It’s in between a jalapeno and habanero. It’s real different.”

Nando’s new marketing chief Cathie has a wealth of commercial experience in many areas including Europe, the Middle East and the U.S. and has worked for PepsiCo and Microsoft in senior director level positions, according to All Africa.

“I’m delighted to welcome someone of his caliber to the Nando’s family,” said Geoff Whyte, Nando’s CEO, in the report.

“Nando’s is one of the most exciting consumer brands in the world and I’m very much looking forward to taking it to new heights,” Cathie said in All Africa.

Local, South African art adorning the walls of every Nando’s restaurant is another thing that makes the chain different, Magee said. On the walls of every Nando’s is art by South African artists that is shipped out to every location.

“We have the largest South African art collection outside of South Africa,” Magee said.

But it’s the food that keeps people coming back for more.

“I can’t think of anywhere that does the flame broiled chicken quite the way we do,” he  said.