Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa

La ColombeA meal staged like a play

The trolley is a wooden beehive tower, and its drawers hold the opening of the meal rather than the dessert. Things are set down on the table one by one, before any course is announced.

In the Silvermist Estate, in Hout Bay, Cape Town. The restaurant is a building of its own, one wall given over entirely to glass, with mountain and forest on the other side of it.

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PlaceSilvermist Estate, Cape Town

StyleSeasonal tasting menu

KitchenJames Gaag

RoomOne wall of glass

The table is laid first

Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa — Seasonal tasting menu, served as theatre.

James Gaag is the executive chef. The second line of the official site sets the intention out plainly: the food is their theatre, and they hope you enjoy the show. Everything about the room is arranged around that idea rather than around a menu card.

The tables are round and under white cloth, the chairs in dark green leather. Nothing about the opening is written down. A trolley arrives, drawers slide open, and things are laid out one by one, some in shell-shaped dishes, some set among dried flowers, a fish in white porcelain among them.

The World's 50 Best list has named it the best restaurant in Africa. The room it is served in stands apart from the rest of the estate, one side of it glass, mountain and forest pressing in on the other.

A white porcelain pig's head on a pale table, ears upright, eyes closed — A white porcelain pig's head on a pale table

A round table under a white cloth with dark green leather chairs, a wall of forest filling the window — White cloth, dark green leather, forest at the window

A double-walled glass bowl holding a pale brown egg shape, broken biscuit and small purple, orange and blue flowers, standing on a dark green leather surface

The one in the glass bowl

A double-walled glass bowl, a pale brown egg shape sitting inside it, broken biscuit scattered around and small purple, orange and blue flowers. The bowl stands on dark green leather, and the egg sits alone at the centre of it, the biscuit and flowers pushed out to the rim.

A white porcelain fish standing on the table, a round slice of green-skinned cucumber set on its back with raw fish, crumbs and purple flowers piled on top

On the fish's back

A white porcelain fish is set down on the table, half a dark-skinned cucumber set into the groove along its back, orange-pink raw fish on top, a layer of crumbs and purple flowers pushed into it. It stands upright, holding the whole course along its back.

A block of hard cheese with a rough cracked cut face, a small gold animal standing on top and honeycomb beside it

Cheese and honeycomb

A hard cheese cut into blocks, the cut faces rough and cracked. A small gold animal stands on top of one, and honeycomb is set down beside it on the same pale surface, close enough to reach together.

A row of opening snacks on a round table: a porcelain fish, a shell-shaped dish, small bites in eggshells and a handwritten card in the middle

Route

Then up into the mountains

Treat it as the main event of the day. Leave the drive out to Silvermist and the drive back on either side, and do not try to fit anything else around it.

The room on the estate

The restaurant occupies a building separate from the rest of Silvermist, with one wall made entirely of glass. On the far side of that glass there is nothing built at all: mountain, then forest, and the light coming through it for most of the meal. The room turns its back on the estate and faces the slope, and the glass is what the whole space was built around.

There are two menus, lunch and the chef's menu, and both exist in a vegetarian version. Dishes change with the season, and the official site states plainly which menu runs until when, so a menu found in an old review is not a description of what will arrive. Which of the two runs on a given day is worth checking before choosing one over the other, since they do not keep the same calendar.

Also worth knowing

When lunch runs, what the booking commits you to, and what else lands on the bill.

Lunch runs on weekdays

The lunch menu is weekdays only and holds until a date the restaurant sets, then a new one comes in with the season. The chef's menu is counted separately. A vegetarian version runs alongside both, and needs no warning in advance.

The booking conditions

A deposit is required, and a table can be released automatically if it is not paid. Cancellations made 48 hours ahead are refunded in full. Children under eight are not admitted, and no outside wine.

Where it is

Silvermist Estate, Hout Bay, Western Cape. Telephone +27 21 794 2390.

One more line on the bill

A 13.5% service charge is added when the bill comes. The official site describes it as voluntary.

Putting a meal here into the trip

Two menus, a deposit, and a service charge that appears at the end rather than at the start.

Cuisine

A tasting menu that changes with the season, in two forms: a lunch menu and a chef's menu. Both have a vegetarian version.

Booking

In advance, with a deposit. A booking can be cancelled automatically if the deposit has not been paid, and cancellations 48 hours ahead are refunded in full.

Hours

Lunch runs on weekdays only, on a menu that holds until a set date and then changes with the season. The chef's menu is separate.

Dress and diet

No dress code is listed on the official site. Children under eight are not admitted, and outside wine is not allowed.

Plan this into a journey

Tell us the dates and how long you have in Cape Town, and we can talk through where a lunch or a dinner here sits in the trip.

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