Peter Tempelhoff’s FYN restaurant in Cape Town has placed 92nd on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 50-100 list, just three years after opening.
‘When you consider how many restaurants there are in the world, it truly is a big deal. I hope this will prove to be a catalyst to reignite conversations about food, and get people out and eating in Cape Town restaurants again,’ Tempelhoff says, giving credit to the team, led by culinary director Ashley Moss, and service and beverage director Jennifer Hugé.
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A panel of more than 1 000 experts work through an audited assessment and voting process to produce an updated list each year. Since 2002 the awards have been a barometer for the world’s fine dining scene.
‘The process of judging for The World’s 50 Best is meticulous. There’s a range of criteria that the judges have to meet, and these awards themselves are not based on a one-time visit, but rather scoring from numerous judges in and outside of our region. If you look back over the years, it really is a reflection of the best.’
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In creating the restaurant, Tempelhoff says they set out to mould the wildness and beauty of South Africa – its culture, ingredients and people – with the rigour of Japanese techniques to discover something new.
‘What we’re offering is very different from the norm, and other South African restaurants. I think we’ve managed to offer a fresh outlook, which our customers have appreciated – we’ve brought something exciting to the Cape Town scene.’
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But they are not resting on their laurels. ‘I think the next frontier for us is digging deeper into the plethora of ingredients we have in the Western Cape, especially in the fynbos kingdom and the oceans,’ Tempelhoff says. ‘We are spoiled for choice and the surface has barely been scratched – we’ve probably explored a tenth of what is available, if that. So I think the next frontier is finding more of these interesting ingredients, working with them and figuring out how we can bring them into our food and really push the region, because we’ve got a lot to offer the world and a lot that can make South African diners proud.’
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Eating at FYN is an experience. This is food as theatre, as ritual, every piece of crockery carefully chosen to show off the best side of the dish. And each morsel more exquisite than the last.
FYN is at 5th Floor, Speaker’s Corner building, 37 Parliament Street, Cape Town. For reservations: FYN.
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