TGIFood

Wolfgat chef serves yellowtail sosaties and bokkoms to Prince William in Kalk Bay

Chef Kobus van der Merwe, left, Chef Johannes Richter and Johanna Richter at Ein Prosit. (Photo: Enrico Stefanel)

8 Nov 2024

While chef Kobus van der Merwe of Wolfgat was serving roosterkoek and soutslaai to Prince William on Thursday, his friend and collaborator Johannes Richter of The LivingRoom at Summerhill was accepting a world culinary award in Dubai. Next they’ll be serving up a collaboration on the West Coast.

Two of South Africa’s most celebrated chefs – both of whom are exceptionally strong on sustainability – were flying high this week. While chef Kobus van der Merwe of Wolfgat in Paternoster was preparing a Weskus braai for HRH Prince William in Kalk Bay, chef Johannes Richter of The LivingRoom at Summerhill in Durban was in Dubai to be honoured among the top chefs on the planet.

The two chefs worked together as recently as October, flying to Italy for the Ein Prosit food and wine festival in Udine. And a new collaboration is coming soon.

In Kalk Bay, Abalobi, which uses data technology to promote small-scale fishers and was an Earthshot finalist in 2023, hosted a meet-and-greet event with small-scale fishers in Kalk Bay harbour. The event was part of the prince’s visit to Cape Town to announce the five winners of the Earthshot Prize, a global environmental award.

Wolfgat, Van der Merwe’s restaurant in Paternoster, was asked to prepare a fish braai on the harbour wall at Kalk Bay, for 50 guests.

Led by Hilda Adams, the fisherwomen of the Weskusmandjie, a group of small-scale entrepreneurs in Steenberg’s Cove/St Helena Bay, were among the guests of honour. The women and their collective work with Abalobi supply pantry items for the Abalobi Marketplace.

Prince William handles fresh yellowtail before it is prepared by chef Kobus Van der Merwe and his crew for a royal fish braai in Kalk Bay. (Photo: Melissa Raemaekers/ ABALOBI)

Using yellowtail supplied by Abalobi, Van der Merwe and his crew braaied outdoors and used the limited facilities of a local fish and chips takeaway. He chose to make yellowtail sosaties, serving everything on Wolfgat’s bespoke crockery, in which the chef takes great pride.

First up was roosterkoek served with Wolfgat’s signature bokkom butter, along with heerenbootjie paté and mussel parfait; this combination is a feature of Wolfgat’s Strandveld Snacks course, which sets the course for your Wolfgat experience when dining at the restaurant.

On serving the melted bokkom butter in a skillet, the way it is served at Wolfgat, he was asked for a spoon, and explained that it is meant to be dunked, or perhaps more politely, dipped. Sadly, we do not have a photographic record of this.

Yellowtail sosaties were then served with soutslaai raita, banana and coconut blatjang, mebos, cabbage-apple sambal with almonds, raisins and seaweed, and a cucumber and mint sambal.

Chef Kobus van der Merwe of Wolfgat serves Prince William’s table, alongside Dr Serge Raemaekers of ABALOBI, in the white shirt. Left, Heidi Klum, seated next to the prince. Opposite, US rapper Tobe Nwigwe and entertainer Billy Porter, obscured. (Photo: Melissa Raemaekers/ ABALOBI)

Sharing Prince William’s table on the Kalk Bay harbour wall were model and television host Heidi Klum, American actor and singer Billy Porter, Canadian fashion model Winnie Harlow and US rapper Tobe Nwigwe. Harlow is also an activist for people with the skin condition vitiligo.

Asked whether the prince and others at the table seemed to enjoy their Weskus-style braai, Van der Merwe replied: “Clean plates.”

Meanwhile in Dubai, chef Johannes Richter of The LivingRoom at Summerhill was among a number of South African chefs to be honoured at the annual Best Chef Awards, a newer rival to the better known World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. Rather than choose the supposedly best restaurants, these awards focus on the chef. Rather than plates or stars, or chefs’ hats, one, two or three “knives” are awarded to chefs from all over the world.

Richter said on Thursday: “They are basically trying to create a second larger international platform to San Pelegrino. They have a rating system that has one, two and three knives, with us receiving one knife in our first year of featuring in the guide. The team and I are thrilled that this first international accolade is in the bag ??.”

Now Van der Merwe and Richter, and his sommelier wife Johanna, are preparing for a new collaboration – a weekend of endemic dining at Van der Merwe’s restaurant in Paternoster on the West Coast.

Only weeks ago the two were in Italy for a collaboration at the Ein Prosit food and wine festival in Udine. The 25th annual event was held in late October.

Chef Kobus van der Merwe, left, Chef Johannes Richter and Johanna Richter at Ein Prosit. (Photo: Enrico Stefanel)

Van der Merwe said of their experience in Udine: “My recent visit to Italy for the Ein Prosit festival was a refreshing reminder of the true essence of collaboration: igniting creativity, sparking innovation and building friendships along the way.

“What I found most inspiring about this amazing gathering of chefs from around the globe was the complete absence of ego. From the kitchens of host hotels and restaurants in Udine – where high-profile names cooked together– to the ‘chef’s canteen’ housed in a traditional 16th-century Osteria where we all met over polenta and prosciutto, there was a genuine warmth and friendliness throughout, bound by a prevailing spirit of creative exchange and mutual respect.”

Van der Merwe says it was “a particular honour to cook alongside Rodolfo Guzmán of Boragó in Chile, a chef and restaurant we have long admired. From our respective restaurants with their distinct southern hemisphere locations, we share a passion for exploring indigenous ingredients and their historical context. It’s about representing the genius loci through our dishes and sharing it with guests.

“In a world – and profession – that is often dominated by competition, Ein Prosit is a reminder that there is profound beauty in unity and sharing, nourishing the creative mind and body.”

Johannes Richter said: “Collaborating with Wolfgat in Italy was very special. No South African restaurant has had a greater influence on us and sharing our first large international collaboration with Kobus was very special.

“What we enjoyed most about Italy was the fact that we could share the place we love most (Summerhill, Durban) with the rest of the world, herewith giving our unique terroir and culture diversity a platform we believe it deserves in an international context.”

In their upcoming Wolfgat collaboration, the two chefs will prepare a multi-course tasting menu with wine pairings, showcasing “the contrast and harmony of two distinct regions”, according to the two chefs.

Richter said: “Kobus and I have shared the idea of collaborating locally for a while. Both Durban and Paternoster are unique, and this highlights our endeavours of bringing South Africa into the local fine dining scene, showing the full scope of what this beautiful country has to offer and how it can inspire.”

The chefs will present two lunches and a dinner that will take guests “on a journey across South Africa’s culinary landscape”.

The Richters and Van der Merwe fell into friendship and collaboration when they met at the 2023 Eat Out Awards function at GrandWest in Cape Town. Both men – as well as The LivingRoom’s sommelier and Johannes’ wife, Johanna – had strong feelings about things they felt were wrong with the judging and content of the awards, and Van der Mer wrote an elegant and cutting piece for Daily Maverick’s TGIFood which, along with my own reportage of the awards, led to sweeping changes and the postponement of the next awards event until the first quarter of 2025. The Eat Out event is usually in November.

To their credit, the organisers of the Eat Out awards listened and took action.

In the meantime, a strong friendship has been forged between the Richters and Van der Merwe.

The collaboration, on 23 and 24 November at Wolfgat, will celebrate the contrasting South African landscapes and diverse ingredients from which Wolfgat and The LivingRoom’s culinary experiences are inspired, from the shoreline of the West Coast to the subtropical terrain of KwaZulu-Natal.

Van der Merwe said: “Working alongside Johannes and Johanna Richter, there is a shared inspiration that happens effortlessly. It’s a mutual exchange of ideas, drawing on similar concepts, even though our small restaurants are located on opposite sides of the country.

“Apart from this professional connection that’s genuine, respectful and harmonious, a true friendship has also blossomed.”

Van der Merwe added: “It’s fantastic to cook with someone who shares a similar ethos. I think what Johannes is doing in Durban is an excellent representation of hyper-local cooking. It’s at once similar yet distinct from what we do here at Wolfgat, but I think our food really complements each other. I’m excited to host this weekend with Johannes and Johanna.”

Johanna Richter, also the front-of-house manager at The LivingRoom, will oversee the service and wine programme in collaboration with Van der Merwe and the Wolfgat team. DM

Saturday, 23 November (lunch and dinner); Sunday, 24 November (lunch) | Wolfgat, Paternoster | R2,500 per person | To book, visit www.wolfgat.co.za and click on the Dineplan calendar.

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