A Table in the Corner – Details, episodes & analysis

PJ Vadas once worked for Gordon Ramsay, so he swears a bit. He's also a really clever and successful restaurateur who has an easy and fun approach to what he does. Vadas Smokehouse at Spier Wine Estate is a fabulous place to visit - modelled loosely on Texas BBQ, but with a distinct local signature that PJ can't help stamping on anything he does. We had a great chat and touched on fishing, pasteis de nata, his background in fine dining, his early days interning for Marcus Farbinger at Ile de Pain and, of course, the success of his smokehouse in the winelands.

Vadas Smokehouse & Bakery
Thumbnail image by CL Thomas

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay

Heleen Meyer is a Cape Town-based food consultant who works across a wide range of disciplines to service companies in the broader food sphere. From recipe development to writing, styling and photography to video content production, she tells stories about food across a range of platforms. The former Sarie Magazine staffer has built a career advising and creating for corporates mainly in the fresh ingredient sector and has become a noted and respected voice in the arena of healthy eating. Chatting to Helen was fascinating and refreshing.

Heleen Meyer Food
Heleen Meyer on Instagram - @heleenmeyerfood

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay

Regular listeners will have picked up my abiding interest in the 'regenerative agriculture' movement. While science is teaching us more and more about the world and providing the tools to understand it better, it seems we are returning to more traditional ways of producing food. This is true of the great undertaking that is Babylonstoren, where natural farming methods lead and very clever and dedicated people like Alex Bosman - head gardener on the estate - are pushing and teaching better ways of looking after our soil and the food we eat. This was a really enlightening chat, and I hope to sit with hime some time in the future to learn more.
Babylonstoren Gardens 
Thumbnail image provided by Babylonstoren

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay

Babylonstoren is a fascinating project that has grown immensely since I last visited. There is just so much going on there. The return to mixed farming, the use of regenerative farming techniques in the fields and beds is incredible. There's so much happening, that the content couldn't be limited to just one episode. In the first of a couple of chats with key people on the farm, I spoke to executive chef Schalk Vlok about his role at Babel and the other restaurants there. So interesting how chefs are starting to think about produce and farming, and the people who produce the ingredients they work with.
Babel Restaurant
Image provided by Babylonstoren

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay

Following on from a couple of conversations about the nitty-gritty of running restaurants, I called on a couple of my favourite local operators to get their view of the world. Kenneth McClarty has been running Olympia Café in Kalk Bay since 1997, so he knows something about keeping a ship afloat. Charmaine Lilje of Chardonnay Deli is a spring chicken by comparison, but the accumulative experience of running 3 successful eateries in the 'South' heaps wisdom upon her in my eyes. We sat down on a stormy Cape morning recently for a natter about the business and the challenges of running restaurants.

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay

El Burro holds a place in many Capetonian hearts. The Tacquerias are doing great, but Nic and Rene Haarhoff decided a few years ago that managing big 150-seater restaurants demanded too much time and energy that they should be investing into raising their two sons. The big El Burros - especially the Greenpoint one - are sorely missed by many, but the ethos of hand-making everything from scratch and the warmth of their hospitality surge on in El Burro Tacquerias. There's one in Kloof Street and the other is downstairs from the original El Burro in Greenpoint, where Bao Down now reigns. I've always enjoyed chatting to Nic - he's a top chap and very knowledgeable about operating a restaurant. We sat down in the Greenpoint restaurant before service on morning to have a natter.

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay

Despite his youthful good looks , Richard Key knocks the oats out of anyone else I know for restaurant industry wisdom and knowledge. Whenever we see each other, the topic turns to 'the game' immediately. He knows so much, and I've leaned often on his knowledge to sense-check ideas for projects I've worked on. As much as he and his wife Gillian love restaurants and the hospitality industry, he is clear-eyed about its challenges. Richard has a  knack for holding complex figures and costings in his head, and is able to tell you pretty accurately at the drop of a hat what a dish is going to cost out at. I thought he'd be an interesting person to tap for a chat about the cost of operating a restaurant - inspired by a question from Barry Meeser, one of this show's listeners. Turns out Richard was the perfect person to ask. He's busy consulting to a corporate restaurant group to set up a couple of new franchise operations, and had some incredibly detailed figures at his fingertips from researching the competitive environment in which they want to operate. This is probably the most enlightening episode I've recorded so far. 

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay

Readers of Daily Maverick who read the lifestyle content, especially the food section edited by Tony Jackman, will recognise my guest on this episode from her byline. An American who's lived in Cape Town for 30 years, Ilana Sharlin Stone is a great food writer whose portfolio includes work for Saveur, Life and Thyme,  Los Angeles Times, and many others. After starting out as a writer, Ilana took herself off to study at the Culinary Institute of America and became a chef so that she could better understand and write about food. Of course that opened more doors and she started working in restaurant kitchens, ultimately moving to Cape town with her South African husband in 1994 where they opened the seminal modern Italian restaurant 'Rustica'. after closing 'Rustica' in 2000, Ilana concentrated on raising her two young children and building her writing career. Exploring more than just shiny palaces full of delicious temptation, Ilana writes about the grit and grime of restaurants, food security, sustainability and life in the trenches. We chatted about writing, restauranting and much more. I suspect we'll meet again to continue nattering about our love of food and the industry that surrounds it.

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay

Much of the content on this show is focused on established restaurants and other food businesses or their proprietors. Ever since I chatted to Chef Pete Ayub way back on Episode 17, I've been thinking about chatting to a young person who's just getting going in the industry. Debs Ayub very kindly talked one of the students at Sense of Taste Chef School into chatting to me on the show. Meet Ferdiane Barabwiriza, a second year chef student who is about to start an internship, or 'stage', at Pot Luck Club with Jason Kosmas. We spoke of her route into the industry, what she's learned so far and what she hopes to do with her qualification. Some of her answers were quite unexpected - I thought I'd be chatting to someone who has always dreamed of being a chef - instead I found a delightful and very practical young woman who saw cheffing as the path to a solid career and came to love cooking as she learned. This might be the start of a sub-series on cooking students, as I'm sure the hopes, dreams and realities of each student will produce fascinating content. 

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay

Winshaw is a name with deep roots and a fabulous story in the growth and development of the wine industry in Stellenbosch. It is also the site of the best steak and chips I've eaten in absolute ages. On the Baden Powell Road edge of Stellenbosch, Winshaw Eatery is the 'tasting' room for the Winshaw brothers' wine and pasture-reared beef farm. You can even collect a tray of eggs from their pastured egg-mobiles while you're there. Pierre Winshaw joined me for a chat about legacy, regenerative agriculture, simplicity in execution, and making do with what you have to create a family hospitality business.
Winshaw Eatery on Dineplan

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay