A Table in the Corner

In this episode of A Table in the Corner, Russel sits down with Korean-born chef Sepial Shim, whose quiet, wandering path through Cape Town’s food world has taken her from cooking school to markets, pop ups and now a tiny sixteen seat restaurant in Woodstock called 'In the Meantime'.
She reflects on arriving in South Africa more than two decades ago and training as an urban designer, only to discover that cooking offered a different way of expressing meaning without words. What followed was an unconventional journey: studying at Silwood alongside her son, opening a small restaurant in Salt River, building a cult following for Korean fried chicken at the Oranjezicht market, and experimenting with fermentation as both craft and philosophy.
The conversation moves between those phases and the thinking behind Sepial’s latest project: a deliberately small restaurant where she cooks each dish herself and serves guests directly. We talk about the tension between creativity and business, the financial cost of pursuing fermentation as a passion project, and the decision to trade scale for focus in the limited years she still plans to cook professionally.
Along the way Shim reflects on Korean food traditions, Cape Town’s evolving dining culture and the quiet satisfaction of watching diners recognise the care behind something as subtle as a clear beef short-rib broth.
This is a thoughtful, candid conversation about wandering, learning and choosing to cook in a way that makes sense for one’s life, told by a chef who understands that sometimes the most meaningful work happens in small rooms. 

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, Russel sits down with Aidan Zieff, head chef of Ouzeri, one of Cape Town’s most quietly influential restaurants. Aidan reflects on a fast-moving early career that took him from local fine dining kitchens through Copenhagen stages at 108 and Noma, before returning home with a sharpened sense of discipline, flavour and restraint.
The conversation traces his path from formal, highly structured kitchens into a looser, more generous style of cooking that still demands precision. We talk about what Aidan carried back from Scandinavia, how that experience recalibrated his approach to simplicity, and why Ouzeri’s food works not because it is casual, but because it is exact where it matters. He explains the balance between tradition and instinct, how flavours are tested and rejected without sentiment, and why some dishes only work when they look imperfect.
We also discuss creative freedom, the pressure of cooking for chefs, and the challenge of running a small brigade while maintaining consistency in a room that never really empties. This is a candid conversation about taste, confidence and letting go of formality without losing standards, told by a chef who understands that generosity on the plate is usually the result of serious discipline behind the scenes.
Learn more about Ouzeri here
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Message me here with comments or guest suggestions.
Treat yourself - order direct from Zuney Wagyu

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, Russel sits down with Andrew Kai, chef and co-founder behind Tomson, Max Bagels and One Park, to talk about building small, culture-driven food businesses in a city increasingly dominated by scale.
Andrew reflects on his early years in London kitchens, the discipline of classical brigade systems, and the dislocation of returning home to a very different restaurant landscape. The conversation moves through markets, pop ups and tight spaces before landing on Tomson, a 27 square metre Hong Kong style Cantonese shop that feels both deeply personal and entirely of the moment.
We talk about cooking from heritage rather than trend, the difference between translation and dilution when presenting so called ethnic food, and why rice, greens and a properly roasted duck can say more than a tasting menu. Andrew speaks about sourcing Chinese ingredients in South Africa, resisting the pressure to soften flavours for comfort, and creating rooms that feel human rather than staged. 
This is a grounded, honest discussion about identity, independence and keeping restaurants small enough to matter, told by an operator who understands that community, not capital, is what ultimately sustains a room.
Read what food writer Richard Holmes has to say in his Time Out review of Tomson here
Every booking is a first impression. Make a good one with Novel
Message me here with comments or guest suggestions.
Treat yourself - order direct from Zuney Wagyu

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 Special Thursday episode of A Table in the Corner, Russel sits down with brother and sister team Danillo and Chiara Turilli, the operators behind Lello’s Deli, to talk about inheritance, identity and building something deeply personal in a city that is moving as quickly as Cape Town is right now.
Raised within a family restaurant business run by their father, the Turillis describe themselves as restaurant babies who tried, unsuccessfully, to escape hospitality. Danillo left for fashion photography in Hamburg. Chiara moved into food styling and corporate work. Yet both found themselves drawn back to the rhythms of service, family recipes and the particular weight of Italian food culture.
The conversation traces the evolution from Scarpetta, their father’s final and most personal restaurant, to Lello’s original De Waterkant deli and now its move to Sea Point. We talk about counter service in a culture that resists it, charging properly for ingredients whose price reflects their authenticity, and refusing to dilute tradition for comfort. Mortadella is the real thing. Amatriciana is made with guanciale. Coffee is served the Italian way.
They speak candidly about legacy, grief and closing their father’s restaurant after his passing, choosing instead to carry forward the parts that mattered to them. There is no master plan here, only instinct shaped by upbringing: seasonal tomatoes jarred for winter, pizza al taglio sold by weight, pasta made the way their family remembers it.
This is a conversation about diaspora, stubbornness and the responsibility of doing things properly, told by two operators who understand that authenticity is not a marketing position but a lived inheritance.
Thumbnail image by Soh Bang
Contact me with thoughts or suggestions for the show on [email protected]

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, Russel travels to Boschendal to sit down with Travis Finch, head chef of Arum, to talk about cooking inside one of the Cape’s most ambitious agricultural ecosystems. Travis reflects on a career shaped by formative years with Peter Tempelhoff’s team and long stints abroad, before returning home to cook at the intersection of land, produce and restraint.
The conversation centres on what it means to cook on a regenerative farm at scale, with direct access to gardens, livestock and orchards, and how that proximity reshapes menu thinking, waste, seasonality and responsibility. Travis talks about breaking down formality without lowering standards, working with whole animals and vegetables alike, and designing food that reflects abundance rather than excess.
We also explore the realities of running a restaurant across breakfast, lunch and dinner, collaborating with farming teams, and feeding produce back into the wider restaurant group. This is a thoughtful, grounded discussion about provenance, process and pace, told by a chef who understands that the future of cooking is inseparable from how the land beneath it is treated.
Learn more about Arum at Boschendal here
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Every booking is a first impression. Make a good one with Novel
Message me here with comments or guest suggestions.
Treat yourself - order direct from Zuney Wagyu

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