From fishing village to gastronomic heaven: tables turn for Wolfgat

[February 23, 2019]  By Wendell Roelf

PATERNOSTER, South Africa (Reuters) - In a small fishing village on South Africa’s rugged west coast, restaurateur Kobus van der Merwe is struggling to process his meteoric rise to gastronomic stardom.

He recently got back from Paris, where four days ago his 20-cover Wolfgat was named Restaurant of the Year at the inaugural World Restaurant Awards, also winning the remote location prize.

"In our category, which was for the off-map destination... there are restaurants that we literally hero-worship and we were like, this is insane," the food-journalist-turned-chef told Reuters TV on Friday in his first interview with foreign media since returning home.

Others on that shortlist included Japanese wild dining sensation Tokuyamazushi.
 

Of both prizes, he added: "We never dreamed of making the shortlist, let alone winning."

Situated in Paternoster, about 160 km (100 miles) northwest of Cape Town, Wolfgat's speciality is seafood.

Van der Merwe's seven-course tasting menu pays homage to the region's long-gone indigenous inhabitants, and his signature dishes are flavored and supplemented with ingredients foraged locally, such as seaweed and succulent plants.

They include Rooibos tea-smoked yellowtail with dune spinach and buttermilk rusk, and freshly baked bread served with bokkom (salted dry fish) butter and infused herbs.

A staff member prepares a lunch dish at Wolfgat restaurant in Paternoster outside Cape Town, South Africa February 22, 2019. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham

Guests at the 130-year-old whitewashed restaurant, nestled above Wolfgat cave within hearing distance of crashing waves, pay 850 rand ($60), or 1400 rand including drinks.

Van der Merwe, who took the plunge into full-time cooking before completing his culinary studies, said he had no wish to expand or replicate Wolfgat in an urban setting.

"We certainly don't aspire to be in the city because the west coast is our muse and I can't see Wolfgat existing anywhere else," he said.

His clientele is split evenly between foreign tourists visiting the village and well-heeled South Africans.

But those who make the two-hour drive from Cape Town had better be sure of their reservations before they set out - because he's fully booked for the next three months.

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; writing by John Stonestreet)

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