Liam Tomlin’s Little Black Book of Cape Town

At his first Chefs Warehouse & Canteen on Bree Street, Liam Tomlin changed the way Cape Town thought of tapas. The year was 2014; the tiny space with communal tables had an immediacy that came from a new set menu every day and a no-reservations policy with queues outside the door daily. His mentorship of young chefs in those early days has grown into a celebrated restaurant group. Chef Ivor Jones is his partner at Chefs Warehouse Beau Constantia, David Schneider at Maison, and Red Room, then there’s Chefs Warehouse Tintswalo, Thali, Cantina in Stellenbosch, and the newest sibling overseas, Chefs Warehouse in Hamburg. After a globe-trotting career that’s taken him from Dublin to Sydney before settling in Cape Town, we asked Liam what he’s loved about living here for the past 23 years.

Dining out in Cape Town

We are spoilt with so many fine-dining restaurants: Fyn, Salsify, La Colombe Group, Mertia, Dusk, besides our own restaurants. One that really stood out for me this year was Salon with the very talented Carla Schulze. I have watched her grow from a young student under the tuition of Jackie Cameron to working alongside Luke Dale Roberts for many years before eventually opening Salon and showing off her incredible talent. Unfortunately, if you want to experience Carla’s food for now you are going to have to detour to the Kalahari [Salon closed in March and the team will be opening at Tswalu later this year].

I have been a big fan of Nobu ever since my first experience in London, Park Lane, over 25 years ago, so Nobu is a favourite date-night destination. I had the privilege of working with Chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s team, especially his head chef Mark Edwards, on the British Airways Culinary Council for 12 years. I highly recommend watching the recently released Nobu documentary that explores the life and empire of the man himself.

Dining well doesn’t have to take hours and cost a lot. It can also be a half-dozen freshly shucked oysters in Kalk Bay with a crisp white wine. Or a great charcuterie platter at your favourite vineyard with a bottle of their best shiraz. And one of PJ Vadas’s pasteis de nata with a double espresso can also be very fine.

We often grab lunch on Bree Street, there are so many cool spots. Yatai Ramen Bar (owned by our neighbours, the Pan group) does a great bowl of ramen. Nish Nush for shawarma, Tomson for some Cantonese food. At Clarke’s you’ll find one of the best burgers in Cape Town: with the brioche, bacon, cheese, fries and the pickled cucumber, they are addictive. And they do a mean peanut shake too.

Hudsons burgers are also incredible and the vibe is brilliant. I have been lucky enough to be invited to design a burger for Hudsons with a percentage of every sale going to the guest chef’s preferred charity.

Marble is a very glamorous room, think London, New York. And what David Higgs doesn’t know about steak isn’t worth knowing.

Ember & Oak in the heritage cottages at Constantia Uitsig serves a great selection of global tapas with wines from the estate, operated by the very talented Tim and Judy Pick.

Cape Town institutions

I love restaurants that are institutions in whatever city around the world. Cape Town has lots of these diamonds, but Willoughby & Co is one of my favourites. I have been going there for years now and I would like to consider myself as one of the regulars. The best thing you can do in Willoughby’s is befriend Sam (the chef) and Clint, Steve or Phil, the managers, to jump the queue. I am very privileged that Sam always offers to create dishes for us, so we rarely order off the menu.

At Mano’s on a Friday lunch, you will bump into your lawyer, next-door neighbour, accountant, financial advisor and half of Cape Town, and be hosted by the charismatic Mano. This is another Cape Town institution with good, honest, no-frills food but an atmosphere you cannot design. It is something built over years and that’s what makes it so brilliant.

Every single time I have been to Nelson’s Eye, Steve and his wife Luda are there and my steak is cooked to perfection. It’s always packed to the rafters, so book in advance.

A Tavola is a treat after a Kingsbury appointment with one of my doctors, but it is also a favourite for myself and my Chefs Warehouse partners to meet and catch up. The food is incredible, generous and always consistent; the winelist is outstanding and great value.

Neighbourhood vibes

When we first arrived in Cape Town we lived in De Waterkant for several years, which I have always enjoyed. If you are in the area you must dine at The Melting Pot. Johnny van Zyl, the chef-owner, was the first chef that I ever employed in South Africa, and he cooks a great mix of street food from around the world.

Now we live in Higgovale within walking distance of some great local restaurants. Bacini’s on Kloof is my local and the reason I can become a very lazy cook; I love their margherita pizza and the Baggio. Then there’s Our Local, Saigon, Black Sheep, and the Mount Nelson Hotel for afternoon drinks on the terrace.

We have made some of our best friends in De Waal Park through our love for dogs. On a Sunday after taking our dog, Uisce, for a walk either here or in Mouille Point, we’ll treat ourselves to breakfast somewhere dog-friendly. Both Liquorice & Lime and The Blue Café are really great neighbourhood restaurants where you can feel the care and ownership. And Lily’s is very consistent with great freshly squeezed juices.

For food shopping I’ll head to the Olive Branch Deli in the Lifestyle Centre on Kloof Street. The deli is owned and run by brother and sister Omeros and Hélène Demetriou, who are always on the floor; their service is so personal and informative. If you are looking for a hard-to-get ingredient, if Olive Branch doesn’t have it, nobody will. The selection of both local and international products, especially Asian ingredients, is vast and well selected.

If someone was coming to Cape Town for just one day, I’d tell them to take a drive over Chapman’s Peak, go for a walk along Noordhoek beach, followed by a long lunch at Franck Dangereux’s The Foodbarn. Try to make that one day be on the first Thursday of the month, so in the evening you can experience First Thursdays on Bree Street.

Weekends away

I have recently discovered Le Grand Jardin in Stellenbosch and it has become very personal and a special place to us and our team. I am going to be spending many weekends away at Le Grand Jardin in the near future. Stellenbosch is a great town to visit, full of great shops, art galleries, coffee shops, wine bars and restaurants, including the most recent addition to our group, Cantina.

I spend a lot of time in Constantia, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch at our restaurants. So when visiting wine farms on the weekend, it’s always nice to drive out to Elgin and the Hemel-en-Aarde: Newton Johnson, Creation, Hamilton Russell, Paul Cluver, there are so many to choose from. It’s important to me that I can also have great food at the winery.

Grootbos Private Nature Reserve near Gansbaai is a special place where you can really immerse yourself in nature. It has the most stunning views of Walker Bay, and if you are lucky you will get to do some whale-spotting. It is also close to some great wineries, and it has great food and a stunning winelist. If you are into horseriding, they have stables with horses to suit all sizes.

Art and artists

I only really started buying and collecting art since I came to South Africa 23 years ago. Now art plays a big part in both our home and our restaurants. Ebony/Curated and Everard Read would be two of my favourite places to browse. And I enjoy visiting the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art in the Silo District at the V&A Waterfront. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon, followed by a drink in The Silo Hotel.

There are so many amazing African artists. My pieces are by Paul du Toit, Terry Kurgan, Hermann Niebuhr, Richard T Smith, John Pace, Jero Revett, Lorienne Lotz, Solomon Mugutso, Stefan Smit and Beezy Bailey, to name a few.

Jero Revett makes screenprints using octopus ink in an ancient technique called Gyotaku (from gyo meaning “fish” and taku meaning “rubbing”), from when the Japanese fishermen would record their catch by making an ink print on rice paper. Nothing he catches goes to waste. Every subject/catch is turned into a meal. The first piece of art that I bought from Jero came with the recipe that he used to cook that very octopus and a bottle of the wine that he drank with it. Probably why we have become such great friends. His art hangs in Chefs Warehouse Tintswalo Atlantic and in Merchant Restaurant.

I have a beautiful collection of four pieces by Hermann Niebuhr that hang in Chefs Warehouse, Bree Street. Two I paid for, and two we bartered for food and wine, as they all go perfectly hand-in-hand together. We are in discussion with Stefan Smit at the moment about doing a collaboration with food and art; early days but very exciting.

Other pieces I have bought at the Reach For A Dream auctions over the years. This is a charity event that the Chefs Warehouse group has been involved with for many years now. All of our head chefs and restaurant managers come together to prepare and cook the yearly fundraiser gala dinner. It is a very special evening for all of us.

Cape Town living

One of my best experiences in the Cape was doing shifts as a paramedic assistant on Saturday nights/ Sunday mornings. It really opened my eyes and mind to the other side of Cape Town that we rarely see or read about. Experiences and people that I will never forget; and I will always be grateful for the opportunity.

One of my funniest memories was watching a booze roadblock outside my restaurant, but the police didn’t actually have any breathalysers… it was a bit like an honesty bar. They made no arrests. Amazingly nobody had been drinking that night! Only in Cape Town.

Since I arrived in Cape Town, I keep threatening to do the Cape Town Cycle Tour. I love the energy this event brings to the city every year. I need to get serious and start with actually buying a bike.

What I really love about living here is that everything is on my doorstep. And Capetonians (and South Africans in general) are amazing whenever there is a crisis at pulling together and helping each other in tough times. Cape Town is becoming more and more of an international city and is being recognised as one of the leading cities in the world. To play a small part in the hospitality sector here is very rewarding and exciting.

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