In Cape Town, a culinary sea change

“WE’RE food crazy at the moment; it’s an explosion,” says Bruce Robertson, his words tumbling over one another in an enthusiastic rush to explain what’s happening on the Cape Town and Cape Province restaurant scene.

Robertson is the executive chef at One.waterfront, in the Cape Grace Hotel. He vibrates with edge-of-the-seat excitement, and it’s easy to see why he is one of the leaders of a culinary revolution that began blazing across South Africa three years ago.

Traditionally, South Africans have been meat-and-potato eaters and the bigger the portions, the better the meal. In this warm-weather country, braais -- barbecues with generous chunks of meat and boerewors sausages -- are the staple summer dinner. The national snack is biltong, an air-dried jerky of beef or antelope consumed by the ton. When I visited here six years ago, restaurant meals were disappointing.

But just as the country has had a political and, more recently, a viticultural awakening, it is also becoming food savvy.

“Capetonians are growing more educated about cuisine,” Robertson says. “They’ve gotten out in the world, and they’re watching international cooking shows, and they’re putting pressure on their hometown chefs to put something creative and innovative on the plates in front of them when they dine out.”

Those hometown chefs have plenty to work with. South Africa’s warm climate, long growing season and varied landscape produce a variety of fresh ingredients and ensure a steady supply of vegetables and fruit from temperate to tropical, apples to litchis.

Cape Town straddles a peninsula between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Seafood is abundant, and it’s a special treat here -- Namibian oysters grown in cold Atlantic waters, cultivated South African abalone, Cape salmon and snoek, a barracuda-like white fish I saw in four forms at the city’s Kalk Bay Fish Market: fresh, salted, oak-smoked and the marinated and dried biltong.

Lamb from South Africa’s northern Karroo region is legendary, ostrich is a popular indigenous low-fat meat, and there is, as Robertson says, “a mind-blowing list of antelope,” including springbok and kudu.

The diversity of cultures spices up the variety of native ingredients. Historically, the city has been a fusion of cultures. It was settled more than 300 years ago by the Dutch and French. Then, slaves from Malaysia and India brought their cuisines and combined them with African ingredients, such as pumpkin and raisins, to create the popular local Cape Malay cuisine.

In the current swirl of culinary creativity, the fusion is being taken a step further, melding fresh seasonal African ingredients, traditional soul food and Cape Malay and Asian spices with French technique.

“We are a rainbow nation, and I steal from all of them,” says Peter Pankhurst of the Savoy Cabbage Restaurant and Champagne Bar in downtown Cape Town.

The results are unique and delicious, as one look at the menu at One.waterfront reveals -- roasted guinea fowl in a Thai fondant, scallops with goat cheese samosas and creme brulee with Amarula, a Baileys-like liqueur made from a native African nut. Rural African meelie meal -- ground corn -- replaces polenta. Robertson serves Malay waterblommetjies -- water lilies -- alongside confit of local smoked duck wrapped in crepes.

Cape Town’s food revolution has transformed not only the top restaurants but also a range of other eateries, including gourmet lunchtime delis such as Melissa’s, which serves innovative fresh, regional foods by the ounce.

For two weeks in February I dined my way from waterfront through wine country, casual through upmarket, and came away with an opinionated list of favorites:

Baia Seafood

I had the best seafood of my visit at this restaurant on the downtown Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. I usually shy away from rotating restaurants and those with spectacular views because the food often takes second place -- Baia overlooks the harbor and flat-topped Table Mountain -- but its reputation persuaded me to give it a try.

The excellent wine list, cuisine and service shattered preconceptions. The Madagascar prawns in Malay curry sauce were divine.

Cape Malay Restaurant

CAPE MALAY is a Western Cape specialty, a cuisine dating to the 17th century. Rich in spices -- turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, garlic -- it is slightly sweet and rarely hot. Because it was traditionally made by the city’s Muslims, it contains no pork or wine.

I headed to the Cape Malay Restaurant at the Cellars-Hohenort winery estate in the Cape Town suburbs, which offers a fixed menu of six courses that change regularly and include most classical dishes such as bobotie, a casserole with curried mincemeat, raisins and chutney, and denningvleis, a sweet-sour lamb stew served with saffron rice, almonds, raisins and mashed potatoes. Or there might be masala fish with a spiced crust or waterblommetjiebredie, water lily and lamb stew.

Africa Cafe

NO culinary style has gone unexamined in Cape Town’s culinary transformation. Since the end of apartheid there has been growing interest in the traditional soul food of the country’s -- and the continent’s -- blacks. It is a simple but tasty cuisine. A well-known restaurant for this cuisine is the Africa Cafe in a restored 18th century home downtown.

Singers and dancers moved through the seven dining rooms, each with a different African ethnic theme. Because it was a balmy night, a friend and I asked for a table on the rooftop terrace. First, we were brought a bowl in which to wash our hands, a traditional practice. Meals are served African communal-feast-style. Tapas-sized portions of Pan African cuisine are brought in leisurely succession and you can eat as much as you want. Some favorites were Malawi mbatata balls, sweet potato and cheese rolled in sesame seeds; Tunisian briouats, potatoes and garlic in phyllo pastry; Ethiopian sik sik wat, lamb in a mild berbere (spicy chile seasoning) and paprika sauce; and South African ithanga, pumpkin and cinnamon fritters.

The restaurant was started years ago by locals Portia and Jason de Smidt in the suburb Observatory, then moved downtown. Although Africa Cafe is popular with tourists, the food is so good it continues to attract Capetonians.

Marco’s African Place

NEARBY is the more earthy Marco’s African Place. Home-style traditional African cooking is chef Marco Radebe’s specialty. And he books great bands -- a township jazz group played the night I went. I indulged in delicious ulwimi, steamed ox tongue in mustard sauce, and sampled my friends’ Xhosa samp (hominy grits) and beans and crocodile tail.

The crowd is mixed urban black and white -- a rare sight as little as a decade ago -- and the music keeps everyone on their feet until late into the night.

Moyo

AT the forefront of the Pan-African cuisine trend is Moyo, a funky-chic extravaganza of food and entertainment that pulses from beneath a massive Bedouin tent. It serves up a good buffet of dishes from around the continent -- tagines from North Africa, Egyptian dukkah dips with flatbreads, Kenyan curries -- while a Congolese trio sings in French and Swahili.

Outside, fires blaze in 44-gallon drums. Diners who booked early get to eat in treehouses or stroll with drinks through a landscape that could be described only as Mad Max meets Cirque du Soleil. Waitresses paint patrons’ faces with traditional white dots as gumboot dancers in white miner’s helmets and jumpsuits stomp between the tables. Cape Town’s Moyo is the third in a chain that started in Johannesburg and is very popular with South Africans.

Catharina’s Restaurant

YOU cannot talk about cuisine in Cape Town without including the wine lands that surround the city. Some of the country’s best eateries -- cafes to top-toque establishments -- are set in quiet villages and on wine estates.

Chef Garth Almazan of Catharina’s Restaurant, a shy Capetonian clearly more comfortable beside a stove than a linen-clad table, has cooked for former President Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki. The restaurant is within the Steenberg Estate in the Constantia wine-growing area just south of the city.

Garth created what was the best dinner during my visit: fresh crayfish with a mild Malay curry for an appetizer and a rack of Karroo lamb with a wild mushroom flan for a main course.

Le Quartier Francais

THE French have cornered the market on outstanding cuisine in the village of Franschhoek, settled by French Huguenots in the late 17th century. The town (where Bastille Day is celebrated annually) is Franco-cutesy with leafy sidewalk cafes and Provencal colors, but the food is serious, especially at Le Quartier Francais.

Dutch-born Margot Janse has no formal training as a chef, yet she has received accolades as one of the world’s best. For a decade, she has been at the helm of a 20-woman cooking team, which has created such gems as lightly smoked warthog loin, orange-glazed ostrich filet and appetizers such as foie gras parfait with a pickled cherry and radish salad. Le Quartier Francais has a luxury inn, the Tasting Room, and a casual bistro called Ici, which serves a landmark lamb burger with marinated tomatoes, pickled cucumber and avocado cream.

Reuben’s

ACROSS the street from Le Quartier is Reuben’s, a chic new establishment run by 30-year-old Reuben Riffel. He won South Africa’s 2005 Eating Out magazine’s chef of the year award, an achievement for a restaurant that has been open only eight months. Reuben’s marvelous creations have contemporary Asian, Australian and African influences and include a magical pork belly dish with five spice powder, orange and caramelized palm sugar. And I would travel clear across the globe for his chili salt squid with pickled ginger aioli. Riffel has resolved to keep his prices affordable, so an extra treat was the bill for the first-class lunch for two -- with wine about $25.

La Petite Ferme

THERE’S always a last meal on a trip, and I chose the place well in advance. This time the choice was easy: I returned to one of my favorite spots at the top of the Franschhoek Valley for lunch at La Petite Ferme, South Africa’s smallest winery.

I had booked a veranda table (on Sundays, reservations are required months ahead) at the farm-style restaurant that prides itself on serving fresh produce from gardens and orchards surrounding its vineyards.

I ordered chef Olivia Mitchell’s signature boned, smoked rainbow trout served with a creamy horseradish sauce and took my time sipping the house Chardonnay, which is sold only in the restaurant.

I gazed down the valley, at its peaks rising on both sides, and lamented that time was too short to try all the great restaurants. So I did one thing to console myself -- I ordered dessert: La Petite Ferme’s own plums, poached in red wine and served with meringues and ice cream -- and steeled myself for the airline food on the trip home to Montreal.

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South African horn of plenty

GETTING THERE:

From LAX, Lufthansa, Malaysia, British, Aer Lingus and Virgin Atlantic have connecting flights (change of plane) to Cape Town, South Africa. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $1,914.

TELEPHONES:

To call the numbers below from the U.S., dial 011 (the international dialing code), 27 (country code for South Africa), 21 (the area code for Cape Province) and the local number.

ESSENTIALS:

Cape Town has a high crime rate, although it’s generally safe to walk around during the day. At night, it’s best to ask your hotel concierge if it’s wise to stroll to dinner or if it would be better to take a taxi.

WHERE TO EAT:

Africa Cafe, 108 Shortmarket St.; 422-0221, www.africacafe.co.za. Dinners $25 per person, including dessert, coffee and tea.

Baia Seafood, Victoria and Alfred Waterfront; 421-0935. Lunches about $12 and dinners $35 per person.

Cape Malay Restaurant, Cellars-Hohenort; 794-2137, www.cellars-hohenort.com. Closes various evenings, depending on season. Six-course dinners $25 per person.

Catharina’s Restaurant, Steenberg Estate, Constantia; 713-2222, www.steenberghotel.com. Lunches $6-$15 and dinners $14-$30 per person.

La Petite Ferme, Franschhoek; 876-3016, www.lapetiteferme.co.za. Open noon-4 p.m.; reservations essential. Three-course lunches $25 per person.

Le Quartier Francais, Franschhoek; 876-2151, www.lqf.co.za. Ici serves lunches, about $5-$12 per person. The Tasting Room serves dinners: four courses $43 per person; six courses $55 per person.

Marco’s African Place, 15 Rose St., Cape Town; 423-5412, www.marcosafricanplace.co.za. Local music and indigenous cuisine. Open noon to late. Dinners $15 per person.

Melissa’s, 94 Kloof St; 424-5540. Casual, lunch spot in a gourmet deli. Quality buffet; plate is weighed. Meals for two are $15.

Moyo, Spier Wine Estate, Stellenbosch; 809-1100, www.moyo.co.za. Open daily noon till late. Buffets $30 per person.

One.waterfront, Cape Grace Hotel, Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town; 410-7100, www.capegrace.com. Dinners $35 per person.

Reuben’s, Franschhoek; 876-3772. Great for lunch on the patio. Lunches $15 per person; dinners $25 person.

TO LEARN MORE:

South African Tourism, (212) 730-2929, www.southafrica.net.