It’s comeback time for the original Chefs Warehouse & Canteen, diagonally across the street from where it all began in 2014, when Liam and Jan Tomlin first brought their creativity, energy and restaurant panache to a small heritage space on Bree Street.
The new version – in partnership with David Schneider, the Tomlins’ partner in Chefs Warehouse at Maison and The Red Room by Chefs Warehouse at Mount Nelson, a Belmond Hotel – is a grown-up Chefs Warehouse & Canteen, with the same down-to-earth heart and style of food, plus more space to share the Tomlins’ passions for food, art, wine and design.
“It’s nostalgic, but better,” explains Liam, who couldn’t be more excited about the revival of the restaurant that created a following for the ‘Tapas for 2’ format in Cape Town and led to a string of Chefs Warehouse restaurants throughout Cape Town. Besides being the go-to place for beloved dishes like pea risotto, bone marrow and lemon posset, it was a jewel of an edgy urban space and a magnet for Cape Town’s creatives and food lovers of all kinds; it very much contributed to making Bree Street the restaurant street it is today.
“The original has a deeply personal and special place in our hearts,” says Liam. “We loved the compact size and the social vibe it created, but it also limited us in terms of seating and overall decor. In this newly imagined space, we can play more with art, lighting… we even have space for two wine cellars and a good part of my cookbook collection.”
This cookbook collection is more like a technicolour library visible through a large window overlooking the dining room, with hundreds of jacket-free colour-co-ordinated cookbooks that have inspired him throughout the years.
From gyoza to bouillabaisse
Sharing dishes, flavours and conversation has always been what Chefs Warehouse & Canteen was all about, and the beloved format of Tapas for 2 returns with a four course menu for R800 per person, along with the option of ordering individual plates from an à la carte menu.
Dishes like venison tataki, pork gyoza, roast pork belly with lentil ragout, duck breast with fesujin sauce, and bouillabaisse are back, among other old favourites, and a frequently changing Tapas for 2 format will keep the menu as fresh and full of surprises as it was 10 years ago when the concept first launched. Like nearly all of the Tomlins’ restaurants, the fixtures are oysters (currently served with Vietnamese dressing, risotto (currently pea with smoked pork shoulder croquettes), and lemon posset.
The wine selection is impressive, with Liam bringing over much of his own personal collection to fill two well-stocked wine cellars that sandwich the dining room.
New Big City look
Chefs Warehouse & Canteen is on the ground floor of 91 Bree Street, a triple-storey building that has been entirely renovated by the Tomlins since its previous iteration as The Bailey. The new look is rustic exposed brickwork and concrete, steel, black tiling and sexy modern lighting, featuring a number of artworks by Paul du Toit, who was a close friend. This includes the large rectangular black and white graphic du Toit-inspired table with its red leather chairs – the perfect spot for sharing Tapas for 2.
A variety of seating means that just like the food, there’s something for everybody. At the centre of the restaurant is a long wood table with barstools taking a cue from the original Chefs Warehouse & Canteen with its communal dining, complete with the old uncomfortable stools! Other seating includes simple contemporary white round and rectangular wood-topped tables with both plain and leather upholstered bench and chair seating.
On the landing next to the bar are two other seating areas: the Paul du Toit family table, and several banquettes under a bank of smoky mirrors. Outside on the Bree Street pavement, there are long tables for urban dining and people-watching.
An open steel staircase with wood treads connects Chefs Warehouse & Canteen to the floor above, which will be home to Merchant Bar & Grill (opening 13 August). The staircase has created a light-filled atrium with dramatic views of the restaurants from above and below. A highlight is the chandelier suspended from above. A series of butchery-inspired ceramic works created by Cape Town-based Ceramic Matters has been refashioned into a large illuminated double-volume chandelier with hanging cleaver, leg of lamb, tube of tomato paste, garlic and chicken feet – as well as comical items like a paintbrush and a rat.
The piece is indicative of the passion and respect that Tomlin and Schneider have for the culinary arts and the old trades of butchery and fishmongery. It’s also an invitation to explore the new concept loading upstairs: Merchant Bar & Grill is an old-school modern restaurant featuring the best local producers, complete with a larder stocked with house-made charcuterie and other preserves, along with an extensive selection of cheeses. Some of these products will also be on the menu at Chefs Warehouse & Canteen.
On the second and top floor is Room 91, Chefs Warehouse’s self-contained private events space overlooking Bree Street. It’s an easily adaptable multi-level indoor-outdoor space that can be used for anything from cocktail parties to launches to meetings to wedding receptions and sit-down lunches and dinners. The key attraction, besides the vibrant CBD setting, is that it’s a space for events where Chefs Warehouse food is served.
Head chef Adrian Hadlow is the youngest of the three generations of chefs steering the helm at 91 Bree Street, and together, Liam, Schneider and Hadlow make a formidable team.
“Chefs Warehouse & Canteen was what made us in Cape Town when we first came here,” says the Dublin-born Liam. “This restaurant now also feels so natural, so much an expression of our love for food and dining experiences that are high quality, exciting, fun and unstuffy… but also what we think diners are looking for today. It’s like the best of past, present and future.”
Chefs Warehouse & Canteen is now open from noon for lunch service – trading lunch and dinner from a Monday to a Saturday. Merchant Bar & Grill opens on 13 August from 18h00 for dinner service (the bar opens from 17h00) – trading from a Tuesday to a Saturday, exclusively for dinner.
