South African Restaurant Crowned Best in the World

The World Restaurant Awards held its first-ever ceremony in Paris on Feb. 18. With a gender-balanced panel of judges from around the world, the new awards were designed to recognize fresh talent and intended to reflect the eateries and trends most captivating chefs, sommeliers, foragers, and food writers right now.

Wolfgat, a South African restaurant that seats 20 diners a night, and the lone nominee from Africa, won two awards—best Off-Map Destination and Restaurant of the Year, a prize that many speculated would go to industry favorite Noma.  Located in Paternoster, one of South Africa’s oldest fishing villages, and about a two hour drive from Cape Town, the restaurant has only six staff members and sources most of its ingredients locally.

Wolfgat’s chef Kobus Van der Merwe, who only started cooking at the age of 30, delights in the concept of local products to the extreme and makes his own bread and butter.

Wolfgat – whose staff, mostly female, and with no formal training – opened two years ago in a 130-year-old cottage in a cave on Paternoster Beach on the west coast, 150 km from Cape Town.

“I don’t feel like I deserve it, it’s my collaborators, who go out every day to pick herbs, succulent plants and spinach that should be here,” the 38-year-old chef told AFP.

‘’.. It’s their baby. I look forward to celebrating with them with a tall glass of South African sparkling wine.’‘

View this post on Instagram

Meet the Wolfgat family: this is the head and heart of our kitchen, and mother of the family, Rochelle Karolus. She's not only our most formidable multitasker but also an expert at smoking fish, has mad plating skills and is basically always one step ahead of the rest. Born and raised in Paternoster, Rochelle first joined the team as waitress at Oep ve Koep in 2010. 🙌 #Wolfgat #Paternoster

A post shared by Wolfgat (@wolfgat) on Feb 3, 2019 at 3:15am PST

A post shared by Wolfgat (@wolfgat) on Feb 3, 2019 at 3:15am PST
Wolfgat is located on an idyllic beach providing local mussels and oysters, but also plants and aromatic herbs growing in the dunes, such as bear garlic, spinach and native plants such as soutslaai. It is also awarded in the “Off-Map destination” category (outside the major tourist routes).

The restaurant, which serves a seven-course tasting menu for 850 rand ($60), can only feed 20 people at one sitting.

Kobus Van der Merwe, who is a former journalist, said that his philosophy was “to interfere as little as possible with the products and to serve them pure, raw and unprocessed. “

The jury chose from 36 countries including France, Australia and Zimbabwe, selecting winners in 18 categories ranging from “house specialty” or “no reservation”, street food, cosmopolitan fusion cuisine, smaller budgets, or other anecdotes as chef of the year without tattoos won by the great French multistar chef Alain Ducasse.

Votes were cast by a 100-member jury, with 50/50 gender parity composed of famous leaders such as Elena Arzak, Alex Atala, Massimo Bottura, David Chang, Hélène Darroze, and René Redzepi, as well as journalists and influencers.

February 20, 2019