A Table in the Corner

In this episode of A Table in the Corner, I sit down with chef and restaurateur Liam Tomlin. It was supposed to be a chat about the milestone ten years of Chef’s Warehouse at Beau Constantia, but we leapt into meatier matters. I also discovered that Thali is ten this year too, having opened within weeks of Beau.
What follows is less a conversation about individual restaurants and more a look at the extraordinary influence Liam has had on Cape Town’s dining landscape over the past two decades. From a tiny cookery school and deli in a house off Buitensingel Street, Chef’s Warehouse has grown into a group of nine restaurants spanning Cape Town, the Winelands and even Hamburg, Germany. Along the way, Liam has helped shape not only restaurants, but a generation of chefs. 
We talk about the people who have passed through his kitchens, including chefs such as John van Zyl, Jason Kosmas, Ivor Jones and many others who have gone on to lead some of South Africa’s most respected restaurants. Liam reflects on mentorship, partnership and why giving talented chefs room to grow has been central to the success of the Chef’s Warehouse group. 
The conversation also explores the realities of running restaurants in 2026. We discuss rising costs, winter trading, the pressures facing hospitality businesses around the world and why maintaining quality has become more challenging than ever. Liam shares his thoughts on restaurant specials, staff retention, customer expectations and the constant balancing act required to keep great restaurants alive. 
We also touched on his years in Australia, the evolution of Cape Town as a global food destination and his latest project: a boutique hotel that will add yet another chapter to an already remarkable career. 
If you've ever wondered how Chef’s Warehouse became one of the defining restaurant groups in South Africa, or how a single chef’s influence can ripple through an entire dining scene, this is a conversation well worth hearing.

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

In this episode of A Table in the Corner, the tables are turned as I sit down with my friend, collaborator and occasional culinary guinea pig, Jonathan Warncke. Best known as chairman of the South African Podcasters Guild, Jonathan has recently stepped into the food world as my co-host on Table for Two, our new YouTube series exploring some of Cape Town’s most interesting restaurants. 
We talk about the origins of the show, why a self-confessed fussy eater who had never tasted oysters, prawns or mussels agreed to become the audience proxy on a food programme, and what happens when curiosity collides with a tasting menu. Jonathan reflects on his first encounters with ingredients he’d spent a lifetime avoiding, and why some experiences have changed his mind while others have only confirmed his suspicions. 
The conversation also wanders through his years living in Japan, his love of restaurants despite his selective palate, the surprising nuances of taste, and the strange experience of being recognised in public only weeks after Table for Two launched. Along the way we discuss food media, restaurant culture, the future of our growing collection of video projects and why great hospitality is about far more than what lands on the plate. 
If you've watched Table for Two and wondered who the guy in the red glasses is, this is your chance to find out.

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

In this episode of A Table in the Corner, I sit down with restaurateur Ricky Simon, the driving force behind Cape Town favourites Three Wise Monkeys, Una Más and the soon-to-opened Ora in Sea Point.
Ricky grew up in the restaurant business. His father introduced the Mongolian barbecue concept to South Africa in the late 1980s, and some of Ricky’s earliest memories are of restaurant kitchens, dining rooms and the rhythms of hospitality. That upbringing shaped the way he thinks about food, service and the experience of eating out.
Our conversation explores what makes a restaurant work beyond the food on the plate. We talk about location, atmosphere, community and why some restaurants become institutions while others disappear within a few years. Ricky shares his philosophy of creating smaller, more intimate spaces, building long-term relationships with staff and guests, and designing restaurants that people genuinely want to return to.
We also discuss the evolution of Three Wise Monkeys, the lessons learned from a decade of trading in Sea Point and the thinking behind Ora, his new Mediterranean-inspired project that draws influence from across the countries that touch the Mediterranean rather than following a single culinary tradition.
Along the way, we chat about family businesses, staff retention, restaurant culture and the realities of a profession that demands long hours, personal sacrifice and a genuine love of looking after people.
It’s a conversation about hospitality as craft, restaurants as places of memory and why the best operators are often thinking about much more than what’s on the menu. 

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

In this episode of A Table in the Corner, I sit down with charcutier Richard Bosman to talk about Hunt & Gather, the new biltong project he has developed with Jerome Gluckman.
Richard has spent years working with cured meats, preservation and the science behind flavour. With Hunt & Gather, he turns that knowledge towards one of South Africa’s most iconic foods, asking what biltong might look like if it were made with fewer shortcuts and a much cleaner ingredient list.
We talk about grass-fed beef from the Eastern Cape, probiotic cultures, polyphenols extracted from fruit and why so much packaged biltong contains ingredients most people would not expect to find there. Richard explains how the product is designed to retain the flavour and texture of traditional biltong while avoiding chemical preservatives, gluten and the batch-pack approach common in commercial production.
The conversation also reaches back to Ötzi the Iceman, early forms of preserved meat and the long human history of drying, curing and carrying protein. From there, we get into mould, shelf life, Worcester sauce made from scratch and the practical challenge of taking a cleaner, more considered biltong to market.
It’s a conversation about craft, chemistry, curiosity and a South African staple being rethought by someone who understands preservation from the inside. 

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

In this episode of A Table in the Corner, I sit down with Alex Windebank of Farro, the small, open-kitchen restaurant just off Dunkley Square that recently had to close when the building’s utilities were cut due to unpaid municipal debt by the landlord. Fully booked services had to be cancelled overnight, income dried up like the taps, and there was no clear timeline for reopening.
We get into what that actually meant on the ground. Not the headline, but the day-to-day reality of a small, owner-run restaurant operating on tight margins. Staff to consider, guests to manage, debts still due. It’s a sharp reminder of how exposed independent restaurants are to forces outside their control.
Alex also traces the path that brought him and Eloise here, from London kitchens to Johannesburg, and eventually to Farro in Cape Town. It’s a business built from scratch, without backing, shaped by hard decisions about how and where to operate.
At its core, Farro is a partnership. Alex cooking simply and precisely, Eloise running the room, both present and hands-on. And when things went wrong, it was the wider restaurant community that stepped in, offering support in practical ways that kept them going.
A conversation about resilience, risk and what it takes to keep a small restaurant alive.

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