CNN has just announced that La Tête restaurant in Cape Town is one of the top restaurant openings for 2017 (link: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/03/foodanddrink/best-new-restaurants-for-2017/).
Farm-to-fork eatery La Tête recently opened on Bree Street and is already getting rave reviews.
Headed up by Chef Giles Edwards, who spent 10 years in the UK and worked at the iconic restaurant St. John with Fergus Henderson.
Dishes which feature are mussels with bacon and cider, roast shallots, mint and pork terrine, hake, chard and anchovy, beef and kidney pudding and ox heart with chips and horseradish. Desserts are classic offerings of salted chocolate caramel tart, poached guavas, and chocolate pots.
While in London Giles’s long held ambition was to work with Fergus Henderson in St. John in Smithfield, an establishment widely acknowledged as having kickstarted the British food renaissance.
“Fergus became my mentor,” says Giles. “At St. John I encountered a food philosophy that centered on simple ingredient based concepts. The food had to be seasonal. You served what was fresh and available that day. The menu changed often, sometimes twice a day.”
Returning to Cape Town last year he started looking for a suitable restaurant space, and in the intervening period, opened a pop-up called Salt Cellar, in Woodstock.
He found his ideal premises for La Tête in an old Lion Beer public house, located near the Foreshore, a 1930s art deco style building.
“It’s perfect for what I want to do,” says Giles. “I wanted a simple space, without distraction. The focus has to be on the food, the wine and the company.”
“I called it La Tête beecause it symbolises what we do. We use the entire animal. The head has a brain, tongue and cheek and I suppose I am giving a nod to the French, who are masters at offal.”
Giles aims to create food from the whole carcass, with nothing wasted. Beef, lamb, goat and seafood will all feature.
“Direct relationships with producers is important to me. Provenance is key.”
Opening Hours: Lunch – Tuesday to Friday 12pm to 2:30pm / Dinner – Tuesday to Saturday 6pm to 11pm
