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Carlotta Sabbalini is fantastic - she's a real entrepreneur who's built a food business on the back of a lasagne recipe she learned from her grandmother, Nonna Santina. Along the way she's tried new things, added elements to the business and learned a whole lot of skills that are really vital for a small business operator. I've been wanting to talk to someone whose built a cottage industry based on family recipes and Carlotta just happened to message me and ask if she could join me on the show. That took some chutspa, and it's exactly the kind of thing you need to do as a small operator in the food space. Loved this chat and learned a lot from Carlotta despite the wonderfully rich Italian accent.
Italy At Your Door on Instagram
T-shirts and Merch by Italy at Your Door
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It started with a dream and a little Piaggio three-wheeled scooter with a pizza oven in the back, but Mario Gaito has built a business that delivers delicious Napoli-style pizza to selected deli and supermarket chillers around Cape Town. It's a great story that features one of my favourite things - wood-fired pizza ovens. We could have gone on and on chatting - this was one of my favourite episodes so far. However we were recording in a very loud place and had to call it a day eventually. I really look forward to my next encounter with Mario and on of his delicious pizzas - perhaps at the OZCF Market.
Pizza Proper Instagram
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This was a conversation full of laughs with Chef Amori Burger of Upper Union restaurant. Her warm, engaging, fun personality permeates a restaurant which have quickly become an institution in Cape Town and a firm favourite among a legion of very happy customers. We sat down for a chat against the backdrop of their beautiful upstairs cocktail bar and spoke of Sunday lunches, bold flavours, the perfect bite and testing all the wines and cocktails to make sure they're up to scratch for guests. It was a hoot.
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Loubie Rusch knows a hell of a lot about local plants. How to grow them. What you can and can't eat. How to cook or prepare them for consumption. She also knows a lot about local food systems and how connection to the land preserves indigenous food plants and the environment at large. We got into a whole bunch of converging topics in the food security space and yet, after over an hour there was so much we left untouched. It's not the usual food fare for this show, but we started to unpack some compelling matters around access to land, farming methods, food ways and retail markets. All of it is fascinating, but just the tip of the iceberg. There's a whole avenue of the local food story that I've barely explored, but there are some pearls in here that might help take a few steps towards a better understanding of the hidden cost of Big Food.
Local Wild Food Hub - Loubie's Books
Sustainability Institute
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In this episode, I chat to Durban chef, photographer and knife-maker Sebastian Amadeo Nico. He's deeply connected to the food world through his father, Marco Nico of Ciao Italia fame, but his path has been somewhat winding - from working in his dad's kitchen at La Storia in the Westville Hotel, to mastering food photography which started out as a bit of a hobby inspired by his mom Kerryne. Along the way he's built motorcycles and taught himself the art of crafting knives - a combination of heat and heavy tools balanced with delicate precision. The knives he shows off on his instagram profile tend to be drawn from the Japanese culinary tradition and are becoming more and more sought-after, as commissions from chefs and collectors narrow the time he has available to create a stock of standard blades for sale. Influenced by Durban's culinary legends like his father Marco and the great Martin Lombard, Sebastian's early lessons in restaurants shaped his unique artistic path. While he continues to earn a living as a photographer, he's about to partner with another craftsman, Darkwing Blades, to meet demand for his blades… another chapter is about to begin .
Seb Steelworks
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With 100 episodes of A Table in the Corner in the bag, I felt it might be time to do a biographical insert for episode 101. Some of my guests have asked when the spotlight would fall on me. A few of our regular listeners have also asked via Instagram DMs when I'm going to be interviewed. Jonathan Warncke recently invited me onto his industry-focused podcast 'How to Start a Podcast in South Africa', and I cajoled him into being the guest host on my show - to turn the tables on A Table in the Corner. Turns out there was a lot to cram in, but I kept the edit under 40 minutes. So here's some background on how I came to host a podcast on the local food scene.
Yours truly on 'How to make a Podcast in South Africa'
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George Jardine needs very little introduction if you've followed the Western Cape Restaurant scene for any length of time. There was a stretch when he was repeatedly named the best chef in South Africa and his restaurants have been in the local honour rolls regularly over the past two decades. I consider him a friend - even though it took ages for him to agree to appear on the show. Our chat ranged from his early career and getting going in cooking to his current role as the Culinary Director of Valor Hospitality for Africa and the Middle East. There's also a loaded question or two about the local restaurant scene and current dining trends. I never got him to break out in song, but it was a really great chat.
Culinary director - fireman - for these guys.Send us a text
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Ayesha Bibi (Juwaley) runs a superb little patisserie business out of Makers Landing at the Ocean Cruise Terminal in the V&A Waterfront. We sat down for a chat about her journey from studying film and environmental science at University to being an accomplished pastry chef. After studying at Capsicum Culinary Studio in Cape Town, she joined the kitchen at The One & Only Hotel, where she worked for six years before lighting out on her own. I was keen to understand how one runs an online business based on such a delicate and perishable product as cakes and baked treats, and our chat touched on that and other matters related to running a little business out of the Makers Landing food incubator.
The Charming Chef online
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David Higgs made his bones in the local dining scene in the mid- to late-‘naughties’ when he helmed the multi-award winning Rust en Vrede restaurant in the Western Cape Winelands. Then he packed up and went to Jo'burg and chatter around this lively, entertaining and gifted chef got a bit quiet for a while. Then the buzz started about The Saxon's kitchen and he was in the awards lists again. In 2016, along with partner Gary Kyriacou, David opened Marble restaurant in Rosebank with its impressive wood-fired grill. It was all about live-fire cooking and a hell of a vibe - the toast of Johannesburg. Now he's opened Marble Cape Town. In the middle of a busy season, with one foot in the Mother City and the other in eGoli, David found some time to sit down for a chat about restaurants and the partners' baby; Pantry.
Marble Restaurant
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William Jardine is a young chef who, at 22, is a line chef (or chef de partie) in a prestigious Edinburgh restaurant. The Kitchin was the first establishment in Scotland to receive a Michelin Star and focuses on working with the very best in Scottish produce. It is one of Scotland’s most celebrated eateries. As the son of George and Louise Jardine, William is no stranger to award-winning restaurants though. We sat down for a chat about how it’s going, how he got there, and what he’s planning to do with his international cheffing experience.
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In this episode, I chat to Andrew Nel of Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants, an ethical butchery with branches in the Woodstock, Gardens and Claremont suburbs of Cape Town. FFMM was founded by Andy Fenner and his wife Nicole to honour the practice of nose-to-tail eating, in which they emphasised sustainable practices by sourcing whole animals and using every part with respect. Andrew joined the business in 2017 and continues the journey, having added long table events to the FFMM calendar to foster a deeper connection between consumers and their food while promoting conscious meat consumption. By championing ethical sourcing in the heart of the city, they are the go-to supplier for an entire generation of Capetonians who want to make better choices about the provenance of their food - especially meat.
Trigger Warning: We talk about killing and eating animals quite a bit in this episode.Send us a text
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In this week's episode of A Table in the Corner, the first for 2025, we explore the delightful world of Grumpy & Runt, a vegan donut shop co-owned by Johke Steenkamp and Carla Gontier. This little beaut shares premises with Ditto, the oat milk ice cream spot on Kloof Street. I chat to Johke about how G&R started out, some of the challenges along the way and mostly about how they have intentionally built a business that celebrates inclusivity and sustainability through their artisanal donuts. Johke and Carla have crafted not just a menu of indulgent treats, but also become the centre of an alternative movement that champions delicious plant-based living in Cape Town.
Grumpy & RuntSend us a text
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I've been wanting to chat to Abigail Donnelly on the show for absolute ages. Her recipes and food styling for local magazines have delivered global cuisines and flavours to South African homes for almost two decades. From the pages of Taste magazine - mouthpiece of Woolworths Food - to the tables of the country's top eateries, hers is a powerful voice in driving how we cook, and how we understand the restaurant industry. On the first day of Abigail's well-deserved year-end leave, we sat down for a natter at her home on Cape Town's southern peninsula.
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Chef Ollie Swart loves to cook and he really, truly loves feeding people. He even went out and got us cheese & ham croissants from Foxcroft to scoff during our chat. Ollie's Instagram Profile is a thing of pure joy - full of a happy, enthusiastic young chef enjoying the hell out of creating and sharing food. His more than 45k followers are testament to the infectious nature of his love for cooking and catering. We sat down for a natter about working for the iconic Annalize Catering; menus that are more than just 'chicken a la king'; creating a retail food range; and marrying the boss's daughter - among other things. We also squeezed in a mention of his cookbook, due on-shelf this Summer '24/'25. It was funny and loud and energetic, just like Ollie.
Freestyle Cooking by chef Ollie SwartSend us a text
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Catherine Haddad was recently appointed as FoH manager at the iconic Bao Down restaurant. We chatted about the service industry, and making your way as a server - the hours, the work. Mostly however, we chatted about her side-hustle. Catherine makes the most delicious dumplings. Her little cottage industry operates from the tiny kitchen of her City Bowl flat and everything - pastry to filling - is made from scratch. The evolution of Dank Dumplings kind of overshadowed the stuff about service, but it was a great chat nonetheless.
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The menu at Ember & Oak on Constantia Uitsig is a fantastic mix of globally inspired dishes prepared over live fires or in a charcoal oven. It's particularly enjoyable because Chef Tim Picks creations are served in a very casual, laid-back atmosphere, but the cooking is impeccable. I sat down to chat with Tim about his journey through some of our finest local kitchens to opening a deeply cool little eatery in the Southern Suburbs with his wife Judy. It's likely they'll be slammed in season, but it really is worth taking a chance and seeing if they can squeeze in a table if you're in the area. Tim's menu changes regularly and there's always something delicious to tempt you to one too many small plates.
Try booking a table on Dineplan, but if the tables allocated there are full, you can always try calling to see if there's table going begging.Send us a text
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Absie Pantshwa is the other half of the Edge team that created a bunch of outstanding pop-up live-fire African dining experiences, crafted the menu at Boma on Bree, and operates Mlilo out of Time Out Market, Cape Town. Partnered with chef Vusi Ndlovu, she is a driving force behind a fresh way of looking at how African cooking lives in the culinary landscape. We sat down to talk about how she runs operations for their joint projects, but ended up spinning into a bunch of engaging thoughts on the state of play in the emerging use of African flavours, techniques and ingredients in the dining scene. There's plenty of food for thought here and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to Absie.
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Vicky Gurovich has recently been promoted to Executive Sous Chef at the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town. It's been a long time coming. She was head of pastry there under Chef Rudi Liebenberg and now runs the kitchen under the steady hand of Executive Chef Luke Barry. Together they've driven innovation in the iconic 'Nellie' Hight Team Tea and have launched a Saturday Braai experience for guests, as well as an extension of the Planet Bar serving a Mediterranean-inspired menu driven by local produce. We chatted about the revered hotel's commitment to working with sustainable local supplier and the importance of this 125-year-old institution's footprint on the culinary landscape of cape Town. Small wonder the 'Pink Lady' was recently named the best hotel in Africa and currently sits at number 28 on the World's Best Hotels list. It was so good to sit and natter with Vicky.
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