The chef uncovers Cape Town’s food scene
Come for the cricket and stay for the food and wine, says chef Neil Perry, who’s enamoured of Cape Town’s vibrant dining scene, local delicacies and historic vineyards.
WHENEVER I visit South Africa, it feels like I’m there for the first time; there are always new experiences to be had. The country is full of wonderful people, stunning cities, the most breathtaking game lodges, incredible wildlife and exquisite flora. Everyone should visit at least once.
Maybe you’re heading there for the cricket (the Qantas One Day International Tour of South Africa is on this month) but if not, put the country on your bucket list now. And while you’re there, eat, eat, eat! Here’s where I like to wine and dine in Cape Town.
CHEFS WAREHOUSE & CANTEEN
This terrific restaurant is the work of Irish chef Liam Tomlin, who was part owner of the great Sydney establishment Banc until it closed in the early 2000s. Chefs Warehouse & Canteen (92 Bree Street, Cape Town; chefswarehouse.co.za) is on the city’s food street. The tapas-style meals, which change daily, consist of eight dishes and incorporate only the best produce, such as the perfectly cooked piece of Cape salmon served with corn and basil that I devoured. They don’t take bookings so if you miss out on a table, put your name on the list and grab a drink at Tomlin’s bar, No Reservations, directly underneath the restaurant.
ELLERMAN HOUSE
A great spot to base yourself, Ellerman House (180 Kloof Road, Bantry Bay; ellerman.co.za) is a small hotel with 13 rooms and two villas. Just 15 minutes’ drive from the heart of Cape Town, it has sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean. Chef Veronica Canha-Hibbert presides over the dining room, where the menu is updated every day, and helps with the guest pantry, dubbed a “guilty pleasure” for the luscious cakes and treats that guests can help themselves to. I enjoyed Canha-Hibbert’s tuna tataki with avocado, snow peas and chilli-and-sweet-soy dressing. It was so lovely and fresh, with beautifully balanced flavours. I decided to leave the grilled ostrich for another time and try the kingklip, a local fish, which was cooked
in a laksa sauce and served with spicy sambal – complemented by Kevin Arnold Shiraz, an absolutely cracking drop from Waterford Estate in Stellenbosch, South Africa’s most famous wine region.
TRUTH COFFEE ROASTING
This place takes its coffee seriously: double shots are standard and it even has a barista school. Truth Coffee Roasting (36 Buitenkant Street, Cape Town; truthcoffee. com) is almost more Sydney’s Newtown or Melbourne’s Fitzroy than it is Cape Town – it leans a little to the hipster side, somehow reminding me of the voodoo scene in the James Bond film
Live and Let Die. The coffee is great, as are the eggs and pastries, and the lunch burger isn’t half-bad either.
JASON BAKERY
Situated in the City Bowl area, Jason Bakery (185 Bree Street, Cape Town; jasonbakery. com) serves good coffee and phenomenal breakfasts. The owners, siblings Jason and Brigitte Lilley, also run Bardough by Jason (33 Loop Street, Cape Town) and a cool crowd hangs out at both. Their premises are small and usually packed – but rest assured, the bacon croissants are worth the wait.
THE TEST KITCHEN
Luke Dale-Roberts’ The Test Kitchen (375 Albert Road, Woodstock; thetestkitchen.co.za) is a must. Housed in The Old Biscuit Mill in the formerly industrial area of Woodstock, the cutting-edge establishment is widely considered the best in the country, making a regular appearance on S. Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
Dale-Roberts likes to incorporate South African ingredients into his dishes. I loved the lamb teriyaki with rosemary glaze and soft polenta, sage and amasi velouté (amasi, a local delicacy, is fermented milk). It was perfectly matched with Sterhuis Merlot. Note that the place has been undergoing a refurbishment and is expected to reopen in early October. Be sure to book ahead, as the restaurant is very small.
CARNE SA
This is a very good steakhouse. I visited the original Carne SA (70 Keerom Street, Cape Town; carne-sa.com), which became so popular that there are now three restaurants in the city. Expect to find any number of steaks, from the massive fiorentina to fillets and sirloin. I opted for the hanger, one of my favourite cuts, and it was tender and juicy and had a deep beef flavour. It required only a lick of hot English mustard – not that choice was lacking, as there’s a long list of delicious sauces, condiments and sides on offer.
A taste of the terroir
For a safari of the vinous kind, visit the cellar doors of the nearby Cape Winelands district.
IF YOU’RE visiting Cape Town, you have to make it to Stellenbosch and its wineries, just 50 kilometres away. These “wine farms”, as South Africans call them, are awe-inspiring. The country has a great tradition of winemaking dating back to the 1650s yet, for some reason, I’m always surprised by how much I love its wines.
I dropped into Tokara (tokara.co.za), a beautiful vineyard and olive farm that has an amazing art gallery, a deli with simple food and a really good restaurant. Richard Carstens cooks up a storm with his Franco-Japanese dish of oyster, calamari, mussel and linefish. They come together to create a flawless assembly of little tastes of seafood. The bobotie-spiced springbok was another triumph. What to drink with such brilliant food? The 2013 Tokara Director’s Reserve White, a wooded blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon, was the ideal companion.
While you’re in Stellenbosch, check out Terroir, at Kleine Zalze vineyard (kleinezalze.co.za), often named one of the country’s top 10 restaurants. Indochine at Delaire Graff Estate (delaire.co.za) is also worth a visit, its Asian-inspired fare offering a change of pace from the region’s Europeaninfluenced restaurants.
I also enjoyed touring Waterford Estate (waterfordestate.co.za) in the property’s safari truck. The team offered me delicious snacks (I’m a biltong convert) and, more importantly, I tasted some great wines. There’s the signature Kevin Arnold Shiraz and the chardonnay is such a well-balanced wine. I was very impressed with The Jem, a fusion of Mediterranean and Bordeaux varieties made from about eight different grapes, depending on the season. It has spicy, rich fruit flavours but isn’t too intense so it goes well with food. There’s also the small matter of the view from the vineyard – it’s really quite spectacular.