Eating My Way Around the Cape (For Research, Obviously)
By Jay Burgesson-Carter
There are some places in the world that do not just feed you. They quietly ruin you for everywhere else. You come home and suddenly your local favourites are on very thin ice.
Africa has always been one of those places for me. Partly because of my family heritage, and partly because food there is never just food. It is about generosity, culture, time and properly enjoying yourself. So while my recent trip to South Africa was technically a holiday, it will surprise absolutely no one that it ended up being mostly about eating. I did manage to see a mountain, briefly, between meals.
“I went for a break. I came back with about twelve new food obsessions, a very full camera roll and a slightly annoyed executive chef with my wild new ideas.”
At The Ripe Avocado, our whole world is built around cultures colliding in the best possible way.
My West African roots, our Spanish head chef, and our London base mean we live in that lovely space where ideas get borrowed, improved and occasionally argued over, always loudly, usually over lunch. South Africa feels very much the same. Confident, creative, and very serious about ingredients without being remotely boring about it.
Where the Ingredients Are in Charge
What really hits you in the Cape is how much the food makes sense. Menus follow the seasons. Chefs cook what is growing nearby or coming out of the sea that morning. Farm to table here is not a marketing line, it is just how things work. And once you get used to that, it is hard to unsee everywhere else.
“You can taste when a menu has been designed around ingredients rather than ego.”
Nowhere shows this better than Babylonstoren. It is not just a beautiful place to eat, it is a reminder of how good things get when you stop overcomplicating them. Walk the gardens, eat the produce, wonder why everyone does not do it like this, then seriously consider cancelling your return flight (oh and be sure to take a hat and a fan, it’s a hot one!)
My Little Black Book of the Cape
This trip quickly turned into what I like to call very serious research. A notebook full of brilliant meals, some dangerous levels of wine tasting, and a few places I am still thinking about weeks later. My waistband is also still thinking about them.
My favourite restaurant in Franschhoek, and not a close call. Beautiful, confident cooking that knows exactly what it is doing. Everything is precise without being fussy. The kind of place you leave already planning your return, and possibly checking availability before you have even paid the bill.
“This is what happens when a kitchen has absolute clarity.”
I spent New Year’s here, which is a fairly strong endorsement in itself. The menu was generous, celebratory and perfectly judged. The sort of evening that quietly turns into a very late night and a very slow morning and plenty of rennie for good measure.
If you care about ingredients, seasonality and letting produce do the talking, this place should be on your list. A big inspiration for how we think about food at The Ripe Avocado. Also a dangerous place to visit if you are prone to redesigning your own garden afterwards.
Possibly the best seafood I had on the trip, served in a setting that makes you consider extending your holiday and ignoring your emails just a little bit longer.
A masterclass in how food and wine should get along. No showing off, just very good decisions all round, and a creeping sense that you the final bottle might not be necessary, but is absolutely wanted!
My standout vineyard. Beautiful wines, beautiful surroundings, and the dangerous feeling that buying “just one bottle” is a sensible and responsible choice. Oh and it’s all about this fizz, which is quite literally me!
This might be the best food I have ever eaten in Cape Town. Bold, original, and completely sure of itself. The kind of place that reminds you that South Africa is not following global food trends. It is busy setting its own. I left both full and slightly emotional.
“Some meals are great. Some meals stay with you. This one moved in.”
Bringing it back to London
I do not travel to copy. I travel to sharpen my taste. And occasionally to remind myself how high the bar can really be.
Trips like this remind me why we care so much about ingredients, about simplicity done properly, and about creating experiences rather than just serving plates of food.
“Good food when you travel does not make you want to imitate. It makes you want to raise your game.”
Back in London, that inspiration always finds its way into what we do at The Ripe Avocado. Into the way we think about flavour, menus, produce and the overall experience. Usually accompanied by a lot of enthusiastic storytelling in the kitchen.
Because the best food is not about showing off. It is about making people very, very happy.
And right now, South Africa is doing what it always has - better than most.