A Table in the Corner

Winshaw is a name with deep roots and a fabulous story in the growth and development of the wine industry in Stellenbosch. It is also the site of the best steak and chips I've eaten in absolute ages. On the Baden Powell Road edge of Stellenbosch, Winshaw Eatery is the 'tasting' room for the Winshaw brothers' wine and pasture-reared beef farm. You can even collect a tray of eggs...

Where do I even begin with this one? Holly Rey is a complete legend. (She's my niece.) I would say 'rockstar' to coin another worn phrase, but rock is not her genre and my niece is so much more than a recording artist and entertainer. As the first woman in 20 years to win a SAMA Best Song Award for the smash hit 'Deeper' (Brenda Fassie won for 'Vulindlela' in 199...

I've been following Di Bibby on Insta since some time in 2017. Her 'Cake Friday' segment is a particular favourite, and I would sometimes dip into her blog 'Bibby's Kitchen' for inspiration when I was still shooting food. On a recent trip to the 'Mother City' to launch her latest book, Di very kindly agreed to sit down and record an episode for A Table in th...

For Adam Mason, making wine is an expression of life. The experiences and moments that combine to define a life are equally central to creating or 'raising' a great wine. He should know. From the vineyards of the Loire Valley by way of Klein Constantia, to his own brands - Raised by Wolves and Yardstick - Adam’s wines are the journal of a fascinating journey. This chat was so illuminatin...

Meet the Durban couple who opened the city's first Napoli-style pizza place. Doughed Wood-fired Dining on the Florida Road strip offers wnderful 72-hour fermented sourdough pizza bases with a variety of both traditional and whimsical local toppings. I chatted to them  about their obsession with Italy and it's rustic food traditions, discovering their reputation for making insane canoli a...

Set in Durban's Yacht Mole, surrounded masts that dance on the tides, 9th Avenue Waterside occupies an iconic location in the east coast city. It has a long heritage in fine dining to live up to, and by all accounts it is doing so with Chef Theo Chiloane at the helm. Technical precision and immaculate presentation are the hallmarks of this internationally experience chef, who manages to bring...

Ndu Mncwabe is a legend. He is the much-loved proprietor of Authentiq in Durban's Florida Road, and was a contestant way back on Season 3 of Masterchef SA. We chatted about operating venues in Durban, bringing African flavours and inspiration to local menus and a bunch of other stuff. He's a natural host and very easy to engage with on his favourite topic - the hospitality game. www.rwm2...

Amy Gardiner is a peach! Her brand, Humble Coffee, is a touchstone for quality and inclusivity in its Durban home, much loved both by her wholesale and coffee shop customers. A social entrepreneur at heart, Amy also has an instinctive understanding of building strong brands. She has worked hard on her roasting and trading skills, while creating a wonderful team to drive the Humble Coffee promise a...

Brian Green is the creative mind behind 44 Stanley, the iconic urban renewal development in Jozi. We met at a friend’s birthday lunch recently, and our chat about renting space to restaurants and the role of eateries and other creative businesses in reviving urban spaces turned into a podcast. Brian’s Group 44 outfit also did Victoria Yards in Johannesburg and more recently developed a building in...

Food tours are a great way to discover the pulse of a city when you travel. That's how Rupesh Kassen has always immersed himself in the cities he's travelled to. So when he moved to Cape Town and started exploring the food and culture of the 'Mother City', it seemed an obvious gap in the local tourism market that he could step into. With a background as a chef and a long stint...

Barely a week after we recorded this chat, Chef Anwar Abdullatief’s restaurant was named African Restaurant of the Year at the Luxe Restaurant Awards. A stunning achievement for an talented chef who never really intended to open a restaurant. Tired of fine diner kitchens, he thought he’d do something with food products. Somehow, along the way he found himself opening the excellent Barakat at Time...

He's been on my list of people to chat to since the very first show, but I finally got to sit down with Bertus Basson for a conversation that was totally not kak. We first met when I shot a portrait of a young chef who was shaking up the restaurant scene in Cape Town back in 2008. We've known each other 16 years and he is a friend I respect and admire even though we don't see each o...

This fascinating chat with charcutier Richard Bosman was prompted by an article about a dish he created for a story by Tony Jackman in Daily Maverick. I've known Richard for a while and always admired his artisanal charcuterie business, but reading the story reminded me that he'd be a great person to chat to on the show. While much of the discussion is about a traditional food craft, run...

After a banging season, I got a chance to sit down again with Jason Kosmas of Pot Luck Club. In our ‘post-season’ chat, we spoke about the suppliers, the team and the planning that got him through the 2023/2024 Summer at both the Biscuit Mill site and PLC Johannesburg. Reflections on the economic impacts of running restaurants are part of the conversation in this second bite at the apple talking t...

Cocktail Bar culture has a firm grip on the Cape Town hospitality scene. It's uncharted territory for many. But if you have a seasoned bartender like Courtney Cara Lawson to help identify what to order and where to go - what's a good cocktail venue and what's merely a bar - you can navigate your way to a fine evening out. I sat down for a chat with a dear friend, and learned a lot a...

Jason Bakery has a bit of a cult following in the Mother City. Jason Lilley been the baker of choice for a generation of Capetonians - from his hole-in-the-wall bakery on Bree Street, laminating croissants by hand, to his current home in Green Point, with all the gear he needs to run a modern bakery/restaurant. I chatted to him about putting his name on the door and building an intensely personal...

Kiara Scott-Farmer became the head winemaker at Brookdale Estate near Paarl at the tender age of 26. Since then she has made an impression on the industry and a number of 'wine ous' whose palates I respect. Her journey from Mitchell's Plain to this gorgeous property set against the mountains overlooking Paarl is a fascinating one. We sat down for a chat with a view over the vineyard...

Originally conceived as a community-building project to help create a safer neighbourhood, Oranjezicht City Farm became a model and a springboard for urban and sustainable farming projects in Cape Town and beyond. Under the guidance of Sheryl Ozinsky and her partner Caz Friedman, it also sprouted a few stalls which has gone on to become a wildly popular, world-class food market that welcomes as ma...

Co-founder and former owner of Darling Brew, Kevin Wood sat down to chat with me about how his brewing journey started. It's a canned history of the early days of the craft beer industry that he navigated with his wife and co-founder Philippa Wood. Darling Brew shot to prominence in the industry back when men were men and beer was nervous. He left the game in the tumult of Covid, and now runs...

Abena Danquah has joined a growing offering of African food stalls at the Neighbourgoods Food Market at the Biscuit Mill in Salt River. On the strength of her success, selling delicious Ghanaian street food, she opened her restaurant 'Ghana Jollof' in Main Road in Woodstock in December 2023, and it's pumping. We sat down to chat about her journey, the popularity of jollof, and the g...

Emma Wilson has beed a food stylist for a while. I first met her when she assisted the gifted stylist Lisa Clark, back in my days as a food photographer. We laughed our way through some reminiscences and a chat about food styling as a career, how she got started and how she would go about it if she was starting out today. The interview went by in a flash and at some stage I think we need to talk s...

Six Dogs is an iconic South African gin brand produced on a small farm that straddles the Karoo and Cape Floral biomes in the Western Cape. On this episode, I chat to Charles Bryant the founder and creative engine behind the distillery which produces gins that are as at home on the shelves of Cape Town's finest bars as they are in drinkeries in 30 countries around the  world. From the dream t...

I sat down with Luke Dale Roberts at Salon Restaurant in The Biscuit Mill and we spoke of many things. His creative drive is enormous, and the desire to explore his craft through an eclectic range of cooking techniques and styles is strong with him. It was an effortless chat with one of the greats in our restaurant universe that touched on The Test Kitchen, Fledgelings, Pot Luck Club and the evolu...

Production company owner Dale Kushner has brought authentic birria tacos to Cape Town from his seasonal home in Los Angeles.  Bigga D's food truck is kind of a side hustle that started in lockdown when the film industry shut down. Dale needed something to do, he loves cooking and was missing his favourite LA street food. We sat down to talk about food trucks and authentic flavours, and I got...

In the second episode of our chat, Errieda du Toit introduces me to her new-found obsession with live-fire cooking.  Kokkedoor Vuur en Vlam was born out of her love of gathering people around a fire and feeding them. Even though we jabbered enough to fill two episodes, there is no doubt I will be going back for more some time soon. Errieda's Instagram www.rwm2012.com On Instagram @a_table_int...