From the South African braai to Japanese Yakiniku, Chef Jaycee Ferreira is a true master of flame. You can find him at the helm in the kitchen of a restaurant that brings two cultures together under one roof: East City Grill & Yakiniku (think South African steakhouse with Asian sensibility). 

Tableside Grill 

Yakiniku (“yaki” means to grill and “niku” is meat) is an interactive and meat-centric Japanese-style grill house. While South Africans often like to think that we know all there is to know about fire cooking, my recent visit to Yakiniku proved there is so much more to explore. So, in an issue that celebrates coming together, what better time to celebrate a restaurant that brings together two cultures over the art of fire cooking. The large black tables house a gas grill in the centre, complete with some suction to ensure no smoke fills your table. 

On The Menu  

Sourced from the Swartland in small batches, the free-range wagyu delivers on buttery tenderness due to its superior marbling. The grilling experience starts with your waiter filling the table with two trays of thinly sliced wagyu, butterflied prawns (if choosing the Experience Menu) and accompaniments. You’ll find bowls of top-tier rice, kimchi, pickled cucumber, a variety of seasonings (including matcha, yuzu and plum seasonings) and bespoke umami-loaded sauces. Then the fun starts: season and grill, dip in sauce and place onto your rice-loaded salad leaf. Finally, dig in and savour the depth of flavour! 

Beyond the Grill 

Don’t miss out on their bento boxes (three-layered containers with snacks and their great dessert options, which include flavours like Japanese whiskey, miso caramel and matcha, to name a few. The flavourful fire journey reignited my curiosity for experience-focused dining. It’s evident that the restaurant transforms the classic Japanese style of cooking into a refined experience that honours both heritage and craft. 

Words: Liezl Vermeulen 
Photographs: Supplied  

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Forget the fluff and fanfare that often comes with fine dining. The partnership that produces these premium plates makes it accessible. Step into COY with Liezl Vermeulen, a dining destination where you’ll find echoes of African flavours. 

At first glance, COY looks like a small restaurant, with Table Mountain towering behind it and huge yachts swaying at its feet. The elegant black wooden frame stands at the Cape Town harbour’s edge at the V&A Waterfront. Inside, co-head chefs Geoffrey Abrahams and Teenola Govender-Abrahams (affectionately known as G&T) have curated a taste of the African continent, dishing up premium plates that draw inspiration from the shorelines of our continent. 

Two Head Chefs  

Teenola tends to answer the questions first – quickly and confidently. Next to her sits her co-head chef (and husband of six months), Geoffrey, who pauses and gives each question the same amount of consideration before answering with carefully chosen words. 

This isn’t surprising. When your job is to dish up premium plates in one of Africa’s most visited destinations, the margin for error is small. Their countless days of research, months of curating and planning, and years of industry experience make them keenly connected to their work and confident in their choices. At COY, everything is deeply considered, meticulously tested and planned to a G&T.

Two Stories  

Hailing from KZN, Teenola grew up with a Durban-Indian mom who loved to feed people. 

“My mom’s a wonderful and instinctual cook,” she says, smiling, while expressing her frustration that there are no written recipes to capture her mother’s cooking. Her mom is adamant that once she’s retired, she’scoming to Cape Town to cook staff lunches at COY. She wants to teach everyone about their culture and how they cook, making it evident that sharing is what underpins her cooking. For Teenola, Monday and Tuesday meant fasting from meat, while Sundays brought big family breakfasts with spicy beans and pork sausages. 

Growing up in Cape Town, Geoffrey was part of a busy, creative household where extramurals were king. For his mom, cooking was born out of necessity rather than an affinity for it. (Her creative outlet and career wasmusic rather than cooking.) Now, as an adult, he says he appreciates his mom’s cooking so much more, understands it so much more. “The one thing I’ll never, ever, ever be able to recreate” he says, and Teenola is already nodding in agreement with him, “is her Christmas lunch. No one can touch it, and we don’t try.”  

For him, his heritage is more vague, not because it isn’t as distinct and colourful, but because previous generations have been less forthcoming with stories. What he does have are fond memories of big Saturday morning breakfasts and the important Sunday lunches after church that marked the weekly family catch-up.  

Today, G&T have blended the two different traditions into their household and their approach to fine dining.   

Read more about G&T’s approach to fine dining when you subscribe to My Kitchen Magazine today! 

Words: Liezl Vermeulen 
Photography: Zhann Solomons  

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 Starting from different places, Zola and Onezwa have arrived on the same stage, each standing tall in her own spotlight. Neither feels like they’ve arrived yet. They’re both teachers and students on their journeys of food discovery and self-discovery.

In 2022, Zola and Onezwa’s paths crossed for the first time — on MasterChef SA as a judge and contestant respectively. Their interaction was limited, as judges and contestants were mostly separated. Since then, Onezwahas forged her own path, garnering immense online success, while Zola has steadily kept her fan following growing and well fed. This year, the two met again, now on a more level playing field: bookshelves nationwide.  

 

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For Onezwa, A Food Love Story marks a deeply personal debut cookbook rooted in culture, heritage and family legacy. For Zola, Simply More Zola is her fourth cookbook, the latest chapter in a career that has inspired South African home cooks for more than a decade. 

 Despite their different journeys, both are passionate about preserving food traditions, both believe travel expands the way we cook and eat, and both see food as a powerful vehicle for storytelling and connection. 

From discussions about umleqwa, dombolo and global food influences to the realities of navigating public scrutiny and social media fame, Zola and Onezwa reflect on what it means to honour the past while embracing the future. 

They spoke to My Kitchen about curiosity, criticism, legacy and the lasting power of food, showcasing that they’re each telling their (food) story in remarkably different ways. 

Read Onezwa & Zola’s full article when you subscribe to My Kitchen Magazine today! 

Words: Liezl Vermeulen
Photographs: Zhann Solomons  

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Experience a journey of flavour through pairing artisan cheeses with bold, Cape-inspired condiments and rare wines with Marble’s roaming cheese trolley curated by chef Karen Dudley. 

Often the experience of a wine tasting can feel out of reach, calling for a trip to the countryside hidden among valleys and vineyards. Yet in the iconic hub of the V&A Waterfront stands the marvellous Marble Cape Town, which offers more than just a quick sundowner.  

Founded by Chef David Higgs and entrepreneur Gary Kyriacou, Marble Cape Town has built a reputation around bold flavour and finesse in a way that still feels unmistakably local yet entirely elevated – now with the addition of a spectacular cheese and wine experience that is a must-try.  

Karen Dudley’s roaming cheese and wine experience 

At the centre of it all is a roaming cheese trolley curated by the culinary & creative force, Karen Dudley, who has crafted a theatrical, tableside journey through the Cape’s most favoured flavours. Alongside a wine pairing, the restaurant’s sommelier team steps in, matching cheeses, preserves, and crackers with some of South Africa’s most exceptional wines – bottles rarely available by the glass and, in some cases, not available to the public at all.  

Imagine a rich Dalewood Fromage’s Huguenot and sour fig konfyt, spread on an obsession-worthy oat cracker, paired with a 1988 Tinta Barocca Blend from Overgaauw, Cape Vintage from Stellenbosch. Or perhaps Belnori Farms’ Amboseli (a goat’s milk cheese) with guava gochujang jam, a dehydrated mango atchar crisp, and an oat cracker, paired with 2024 Muscat d’Alexandrie, L’Equinox from Citrusdal. 

The trolley is wheeled directly to the table, allowing diners to handpick their cheeses and pair them with an array of bold, Cape-inspired condiments that catch their eye. Standouts include Langbaken Karoo Crumble with cauliflower pickle and cherry mustard, a Dalewood Huguenot cheese with waterblommetjie pickle and guava gochujang jam, and Belnori Forest Phantom cheese with watermelon konfyt and green fig preserve. Sounds extraordinary, right? That’s because it is. 

How much for this Cape luxury? 

The pricing reflects the premium nature of the experience while remaining accessible for special occasions, where guests can expect the cheese trolley selection to start from around R165 – R425 depending on the selection. The curated wine and cheese pairings are offered from approximately R185 – R275 per tasting. Whether it’s casual daytime snacking, dinner plans, or a sunset moment, we recommend making a booking and saving space for cheese – lots of it. It’s cheese and wine – but not as you know it! A far more indulgent offering layered with story, seasonality, and the exceptional taste of Cape flavours waiting for you.   

Want to get a taste of the full menu at Marble Cape Town? Check it out here: 

 

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Words: Claudia Da Silva
Photography: Jan Ras Photography 

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Our Editor-in-Chief Liezl Vermeulen was invited to Arlechinno. Here’s what she made of the elevated eatery. 

It’s in the detail for me. Throughout my entire meal, I kept noticing the thoughtful planning behind the design, the tableside service and the staff’s attentive care. 

Arlecchino at a glance 

The décor drew me in even before the menu could steel my attention.  The playful harlequin theme echoes elegantly throughout the spacious eatery with its thoughtful, quality décor. Trending ruffled design, akin to a clown collar, creates large lighting displays that crowns the roof. Diamond patterns are seen on the silky sleeves of the waiters, umbrella detailing and marble mosaic floors.  

There’s a bold colour scheme of bright-green and peacock blue hues on the furniture, crockery and tabletop details. This is offset set against natural tones of wooden tables and 70’s woven cane chairs. It all comes in subtle variety that has the tasha’s touch of bespoke, high-end eatery.   

Table-side service  

There’s an element of old school charm: a drinks trolley is rolled in by a suit-and-tie’d mixologist, there’s family-style table salads and sharing platters, and – a personal highlight – the subtle theatrics of tableside service.   

A vibrant house salad is assembled and dressed table side, the Sgroppino cocktail mixed next to you, and tiramisu features madeleines that get dressed and doll(op)ed up in front of you. An applause seems fitting. 

Have a seat at our table and see our experience first-hand. 

 

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Light and decadent menu 

The menu, designed by culinary director Jill Okkers, has distinct Italian flair, following the style of the wider Mediterranean, rather than strictly following the region’s culinary rules. (By this I mean the branzino caldo, for example, marries ingredients like Ponzu and soy without screaming Asian, seamlessly blending in next to the rest of the antipasti.) 

With all-day dining, the restaurant shifts, much like a Capetonian, quite effortlessly between business and leisure, light and decadent.  

What I’ll be back for 

To start, the memorable Carpaccio Caccio e pepe (R282) combined paper-thin beef with the temperamental Pecorino-pepper pasta exquisitely. The Crema di feta (R98) – read whipped feta – is made to share and an absolute must.  

It has to be said that the seemingly simplest of plates, the Amalfi lemon bucatini pasta (R172), with smallest price tag on the pasta section was the most memorable to me, showing that the price range of the entire menu shouldn’t stop you from visiting.   

On the sweet front, I’ve seen the hype of the tiramisu – it did not disappoint, finely balancing the bitterness of coffee with a touch of dulce de leche – but it was the pannacotta (R118) that stood out most, perhaps in part because I wasn’t expecting it to shine so bright. Firstly, the contrast of frozen, bitter-sweet grapefruit and orange granita on top of the creamy pannacotta wowed my senses. Secondly, serving it in a glass means they could use less gelatine, which created a just-set texture that really melted in your mouth. The Zabaglione (R138) deserves an honorary mention here for its balance of fresh-meets-sweet and the closest taste of a cloud you could imagine. 

It all screams sophisticated, understated and timeless luxury, but perhaps even louder, it says stay a little longer.   

Words: Liezl Vermeulen
Photography: Adel Ferreira  

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From the sandy Karoo to the shores of Kalk Bay – travel through the Western Cape in a single sitting at Urchin Restaurant when visiting Hyatt Regency in Cape Town. 

Chef Marcus Gericke travelled the Western Cape province of South Africa to get to the root of its flavour, meeting the people, seeing the terroir, and experiencing heritage firsthand.  

 

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His 1 627-kilometre journey took him from the shores of Kalk Bay and Paternoster to the sandy Karoo and lush Garden Route. Finally, he ended back in Cape Town in the bright and bustling Bo-Kaap. 

Now Chef Marcus pays homage to this journey by serving up a nine-course menu that encapsulates different parts of the province. Working closely with the farmers and butchers he met along the way has resulted in a menu shaped by the stories heard and flavours tasted along the way.  

 

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“Urchin has always been about connection to source,” says Chef Marcus Gericke. “This season, we have evolved the menu to tell a deeper story of the Western Cape through dishes that hold a sense of place, memory and the people behind every ingredient.” 

What to expect  

Start off with a voorhappie of snoek, meebos (pulped apricots) and curry leaf that is inspired by his visit to Aunty Ashmita in Kalk Bay). The bread and preserves that follow take you to Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands. Then, back to shore, a Paternoster crayfish in a seemingly simple lemon-garlic sauce will remind you of the simplicity of the unspoilt West Coast.   

For mains, there’s the unmistakable taste of braaied Karoo lamb chops paired with a tomato-bredie sauce (tomato stew sauce), plus the comfort of oxtail and samp being served in new, unexpected ways.   

Naturally, it would be remis to not include some sort of milk tart for a sweet touch – and that’s just one of the various options. Then, as if you haven’t travelled enough already, you get sent home with some padkos to take back to your own home: a small taste of peppermint crisp tart, klapperys (coconut ice) and a Hertzoggie.  

There is also the Navigator, which is a more relaxed à la carte menu for those who prefer to choose their own route.  

Who’s behind the pass? 

Chef Marcus Gericke heads up the team. You’ll likely recognise the name from foodie news: He won the Global Chef Africa & Middle East 2022-23 award and also won the Fine Dining Lovers Food for Thought award for his dish Remembrance (Quail Consommé) at the 2020-2021 S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy competition. In 2024, he also added SA Chef of the Year to his string of accolades. 

Of course, there’s an entire team that also took the road trip journey with him and are hard at work to dish up nostalgia and adventure. “The spirit of the team’s Western Cape road trip lives on the walls through striking large-scale photographs of moments and landscapes captured along the journey that inspired the menu. Wines are chosen with the same consideration, deepening the expression of terroir.” 

Words: Liezl Vermeulen
Photography: Dale Herbst 

Also read: Enjoy a seaside soirée at Brunch by The Ocean

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