October is set to be an exciting month in Cape Town. This weekend sees OZCF market opening on both Saturdays and Sundays, next weekend the Gun Run, and on 16 October two new restaurants opening.
One-plated chef Dylan Laity, featured in the 2017 and 2018 JHP Gourmet Guide™, joins the Harbour House Group to launch their first fine-dining restaurant at their landmark Constantia Nek site. The Restaurant @ The Nek is his new platform to show his culinary prowess, previously at The Roundhouse in Camps Bay, having fine-tuned his fine-dining skills at the consistently-impressive Aubergine.
“We’ll be serving modern South African cuisine with definite influences from my travels abroad. There will be a good mix of seafood, vegetarian, vegan and meat courses and I’m determined to use only the best and most seasonal produce I can source,” Dylan says. Watch out for this accomplished, humble chef. The exclusive launch of the 2019 JHP Gourmet Guide™ and plating of the 25 chefs, and the announcement of the SWISS Culinary Innovation Award winner, will take place at this new restaurant end-October.
The other exciting restaurant to watch out for is Salsify, the new sibling in the Dale Roberts family, in the historic Roundhouse property perched on the hill overlooking Camps Bay. Lauded chef Luke Dale Roberts and Chef Ryan Cole who have taken the world by storm together at The Test Kitchen, are opening on 16 October with an á la carte menu. Watch out for a focus on fish, a nose-to-tail approach and the freshest produce transformed into dishes that will have the culinary community clamouring for more. Salsify (Sal-suh-fee): A root vegetable with an oyster-like flavour, popular in old French and modern British cuisine.
“I love salsify, it’s the most unassuming of vegetables, with its ugly and rather unfortunate looking exterior, but it is absolutely amazing to work with, full of taste surprises and so versatile,” says Ryan, chef and operating partner. Sandalene Dale Roberts is paying homage to the heritage of the building, again waving her magic wand to ensure that the décor and backdrop are everything that the cuisine and talented team deserve.
Don’t forget to join us daily on Instagram, jhp_gourmet_guide, as we reveal a hint for each of the 25 plated restaurants, one day at a time. Here is the first two which started the campaign off with a bang.
the gourmet guide 