A Table in the Corner

Carlotta Sabbalini is fantastic - she's a real entrepreneur who's built a food business on the back of a lasagne recipe she learned from her grandmother, Nonna Santina. Along the way she's tried new things, added elements to the business and learned a whole lot of skills that are really vital for a small business operator. I've been wanting to talk to someone whose built a cott...

It started with a dream and a little Piaggio three-wheeled scooter with a pizza oven in the back, but Mario Gaito has built a business that delivers delicious Napoli-style pizza to selected deli and supermarket chillers around Cape Town. It's a great story that features one of my favourite things - wood-fired pizza ovens. We could have gone on and on chatting - this was one of my favourite ep...

This was a conversation full of laughs with Chef Amori Burger of Upper Union restaurant. Her warm, engaging, fun personality permeates a restaurant which has quickly become an institution in Cape Town and a firm favourite among a legion of very happy customers. We sat down for a chat against the backdrop of their beautiful upstairs cocktail bar and spoke of Sunday lunches, bold flavours, the perfe...

Loubie Rusch knows a hell of a lot about local plants. How to grow them. What you can and can't eat. How to cook or prepare them for consumption. She also knows a lot about local food systems and how connection to the land preserves indigenous food plants and the environment at large. We got into a whole bunch of converging topics in the food security space and yet, after over an hour there w...

In this episode, I chat to Durban chef, photographer and knife-maker Sebastian Amadeo Nico.  He's deeply connected to the food world through his father, Marco Nico of Ciao Italia fame, but his path has been somewhat winding - from working in his dad's kitchen at La Storia in the Westville Hotel, to mastering food photography which started out as a bit of a hobby inspired by his mom Kerry...

In this episode of A Table in the Corner, I sit down with chef Strone Henry, the creative force behind Kos Gangsta and the much-missed SideWing. We trace his journey from learning to cook at home, through SA Chefs Academy and food styling for magazines, to building one of Cape Town's most talked-about street food brands from his parents' kitchen with nothing more than a fryer, social med...

With 100 episodes of A Table in the Corner in the bag, I felt it might be time to do a  biographical insert for episode 101. Some of my guests have asked when the spotlight would fall on me. A few of our regular listeners have also asked via Instagram DMs when I'm going to be interviewed. Jonathan Warncke recently invited me onto his industry-focused podcast 'How to Start a Podcast in So...

George Jardine needs very little introduction if you've followed the Western Cape Restaurant scene for any length of time. There was a stretch when he was repeatedly named the best chef in South Africa and his restaurants have been in the local honour rolls regularly over the past two decades. I consider him a friend - even though it took ages for him to agree to appear on the show. Our chat...

www.rwm2012.com On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay

Ayesha Bibi (Juwaley) runs a superb little patisserie business out of Makers Landing at the Ocean Cruise Terminal in the V&A Waterfront. We sat down for a chat about her journey from studying film and environmental science at University to being an accomplished pastry chef. After studying at Capsicum Culinary Studio in Cape Town, she joined the kitchen at The One & Only Hotel, where she wo...

David Higgs made his bones in the local dining scene in the mid- to late-‘naughties’ when he helmed the multi-award winning Rust en Vrede restaurant in the Western Cape Winelands. Then he packed up and went to Jo'burg and chatter around this lively, entertaining and gifted chef got a bit quiet for a while. Then the buzz started about The Saxon's kitchen and he was in the awards lists aga...

William Jardine is a young chef who, at 22, is a line chef (or chef de partie) in a prestigious Edinburgh restaurant. The Kitchin was the first establishment in Scotland to receive a Michelin Star and focuses on working with the very best in Scottish produce. It is one of Scotland’s most celebrated eateries. As the son of George and Louise Jardine, William is no stranger to award-winning restauran...

In this episode, I chat to Andrew Nel of Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants, an ethical butchery with branches in the Woodstock, Gardens and Claremont suburbs of Cape Town. FFMM was founded by Andy Fenner and his wife Nicole to honour the practice of nose-to-tail eating, in which they emphasised sustainable practices by sourcing whole animals and using every part with respect. Andrew joined the busines...

In this week's episode of A Table in the Corner, the first for 2025,  we explore the delightful world of Grumpy & Runt, a vegan donut shop co-owned by Johke Steenkamp and Carla Gontier. This little beaut shares premises with Ditto, the oat milk ice cream spot on Kloof Street. I chat to Johke about how G&R started out, some of the challenges along the way and mostly about how they have...

I've been wanting to chat to Abigail Donnelly on the show for absolute ages. Her recipes and food styling for local magazines have delivered global cuisines and flavours to South African homes for almost two decades. From the pages of Taste magazine - mouthpiece of Woolworths Food - to the tables of the country's top eateries, hers is a powerful voice in driving how we cook, and how we u...

Chef Ollie Swart loves to cook and he really, truly loves feeding people. He even went out and got us cheese & ham croissants from Foxcroft to scoff during our chat. Ollie's Instagram Profile is a thing of pure joy - full of a happy, enthusiastic young chef enjoying the hell out of creating and sharing food. His more than 45k followers are testament to the infectious nature of his love fo...

Catherine Haddad was recently appointed as FoH manager at the iconic Bao Down restaurant. We chatted about the service industry, and making your way as a server - the hours, the work. Mostly however, we chatted about her side-hustle. Catherine makes the most delicious dumplings. Her little cottage industry operates from the tiny kitchen of her City Bowl flat and everything - pastry to filling - is...

The menu at Ember & Oak on Constantia Uitsig is a fantastic mix of globally inspired dishes prepared over live fires or in a charcoal oven. It's particularly enjoyable because Chef Tim Picks creations are served in a very casual, laid-back atmosphere, but the cooking is impeccable. I sat down to chat with Tim about his journey through some of our finest local kitchens to opening a deeply...

Absie Pantshwa is the other half of the Edge team that created a bunch of outstanding pop-up live-fire African dining experiences, crafted the menu at Boma on Bree, and operates Mlilo out of Time Out Market, Cape Town. Partnered with chef Vusi Ndlovu, she is a driving force behind a fresh way of looking at how African cooking lives in the culinary landscape. We sat down to talk about how she runs...

Vicky Gurovich has recently been promoted to Executive Sous Chef at the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town. It's been a long time coming. She was head of pastry there under Chef Rudi Liebenberg and now runs the kitchen under the steady hand of Executive Chef Luke Barry. Together they've driven innovation in the iconic 'Nellie' Hight Team Tea and have launched a Saturday Br...

They call him 'the beef guy' because he knows a lot about beef. Steven Maresh created the Local Grill Group of restaurants in Gauteng and started Beef Club where he raised both consumer and producer knowledge about raising and preparing beef products. Today he consults to beef producers on branding and marketing and works with restaurants to improve both the quality and the profitability...

Ivor Jones is one of my favourite chefs, and someone who is often mentioned on the show by his contemporaries. He's all about technique and a pin-sharp dedication to exploring, and getting, the very best out of ingredients in terms of flavour and presentation. I simply can't get to CW Beau Constantia often enough, but when I do, it's always a joy. There as so much to chat about on t...

In this episode, I sit down with one of my food heroes - Chef Chris Erasmus. He's now Group Chef of the Newmark Hotel Group , and we discuss his commitment to sustainability and the importance of sourcing from small, family-owned suppliers. We rummaged around in his culinary journey and the philosophy behind his new restaurant, Terrarium , which recently opened at the Queen Victoria Hotel in...

In this episode of A Table in the Corner, I chat with Ken Kinsey-Quick, co-founder of Banhoek Chilli Oil, about the journey from kitchen experiments to national success and the opening of a global market. A quest with his brother-in-law Adi Meintjies to develop the perfect chilli oil to use at their dinner table led to the creation of a brand that enhances flavours in food without overpowering the...

Lance Gibbons is the CEO of SA Chef Media, and along with other players in the industry like FEDHASA and SA Chefs Association, he's put together the SA Chef Conference & Expo which is happening in Cape Town on November 25 & 26. On the cards are talks by Liam Tomlin, Luke Dale-Roberts and Chris Erasmus, as well as an address by Minister of Tourism, Patricia De Lille. One of the hoped-f...