City eateries think ‘inside the box’

WITH the Covid-19 pandemic forcing the closure of restaurants, “dark” kitchens and delis, vouchers and grocery boxes have become the next best thing.

Den Anker, a popular eatery in Cape Town has had to “think inside of the box to give loyal patrons their fix and the chance to pay it forward to the communities hit hardest by the pandemic”.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty around when the restaurant industry will fully open again, so we wanted to do something that would help us stay in touch with our local diners and would allow us to bring staff members that have been forced to stay home, back into the operation,” said general manager Rejeanne Vlietman.

Vlietman said the restaurant was offering DIY meal kits to help recreate some of its most popular menu items at home. The meal kits will also help some of Cape Town’s most vulnerable communities during the pandemic.

“We are running a soup kitchen from the restaurant, which feeds 8 000 people a week. To help fund this initiative, diners that order the meal kit have the option to donate R10 when they make their payment online, which will pay for four meals at the soup kitchen.”

Eat Out, the online site which profiles eateries, has launched a Restaurant Relief Fund to raise funds for businesses within the food and restaurant industry who are feeding the needy or helping out food schemes.

FYN is offering two experiences for diners. The first is an “experience” menu which includes pickled daikon and Japanese rice bran cucumbers, gamefish tataki, perlemoen and seared wagyu beef, finished with a range of dessert treats for about R600 per person.

And a cheaper option, with fewer courses at R295 per person.

The Test Kitchen is also offering some fine dining at home with their gourmet hampers ranging from R1 200 to R5 000.