A Table in the Corner

I read a fantastic article in Daily Maverick by Kit Heathcock about Zuney Burgers in Kloof Street. It also touched on the wagyu industry and an interesting trend in farm-to-consumer eateries that are popping up. I have an abiding love for burgers, have written about them and eaten probably more than my fair share. I reached out to Kit to strike up a conversation about her story and burgers in gene...

Chef Liam Tomlin is about to open a revamped Chefs Warehouse & Canteen at 91 Bree Street in the CBD along with Chef David Schneider. Also in that gorgeous old building, they're opening Merchant - a restaurant dedicated to the suppliers and producers of fine local ingredients. I've been waiting for a chance and a reason to sit down with Liam Tomlin for a chat. And while we did discuss...

One of the joys of running our restaurant 'The Table at de Meye' was my regular visits to Dalewood nearby to collect cheese for the weekend menu. I've always loved their cheeses - especially the 'Huegenot'. Theirs is a singular farming philosophy which has attracted global attention and numerous awards. All their cheese is made with milk from a herd of Jersey cows pastured...

Regular listeners will have picked up my abiding interest in the 'regenerative agriculture' movement. While science is teaching us more and more about the world and providing the tools to understand it better, it seems we are returning to more traditional ways of producing food. This is true of the great undertaking that is Babylonstoren, where natural farming methods lead and very cleve...

Babylonstoren is a fascinating project that has grown immensely since I last visited. There is just so much going on there. The return to mixed farming, the use of regenerative farming techniques in the fields and beds is incredible. There's so much happening, that the content couldn't be limited to just one episode. In the first of a couple of chats with key people on the farm, I spoke...

Following on from a couple of conversations about the nitty-gritty of running restaurants, I called on a couple of my favourite local operators to get their view of the world. Kenneth McClarty has been running Olympia Café in Kalk Bay since 1997, so he knows something about keeping a ship afloat. Charmaine Lilje of Chardonnay Deli is a spring chicken by comparison, but the accumulative experience...

El Burro holds a place in many Capetonian hearts. The Tacquerias are doing great, but Nic and Rene Haarhoff decided a few years ago that managing big 150-seater restaurants demanded too much time and energy that they should be investing into raising their two sons. The big El Burros - especially the Greenpoint one - are sorely missed by many, but the ethos of hand-making everything from scratch an...

Despite his youthful good looks , Richard Key knocks the oats out of anyone else I know for restaurant industry wisdom and knowledge. Whenever we see each other, the topic turns to 'the game' immediately. He knows so much, and I've leaned often on his knowledge to sense-check ideas for projects I've worked on. As much as he and his wife Gillian love restaurants and the hospital...

Readers of Daily Maverick who read the lifestyle content, especially the food section edited by Tony Jackman, will recognise my guest on this episode from her byline. An American who's lived in Cape Town for 30 years, Ilana Sharlin Stone is a great food writer whose portfolio includes work for Saveur , Life and Thyme ,  Los Angeles Times , and many others. After starting out as a writer, Ilan...

Much of the content on this show is focused on established restaurants and other food businesses or their proprietors. Ever since I chatted to Chef Pete Ayub way back on Episode 17, I've been thinking about chatting to a young person who's just getting going in the industry. Debs Ayub very kindly talked one of the students at Sense of Taste Chef School into chatting to me on the show. Me...

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...