‘We want people to have some armchair travel – close their eyes, savour the food and use their imagination to be somewhere else,’ says Peter Weetman, owner of Societi Bistro in Cape Town.
He’s referring to the 21 global menus that the bistro will have presented over five months, from March – September. With just over a month left before the special menu comes to an end, it’s not too late to partake. Diners can taste the Caribbean (spicy citrus chicken) or Cambodia (lime-marinated beef salad), Louisiana ( ‘smothered’ chicken and prawn etouff ee), China (twice-cooked pork) or Japan (pork belly teriyaki), with stops in North Africa, the Mediterranean and France.
The food choice changes every four days, so only diners who visit regularly will enjoy the full journey.
‘When people travel, they say they would much rather eat like the locals. These menus are what the locals eat,’ says Peter, referring to the style of cooking that is the trademark of a bistro: modest and traditional food from around the world, with bold regional flavours.
In previous years, Societi has off ered menus that provide 10-week culinary tours of France and Italy; this is taking that idea and expanding diners’ horizons. ‘I’ve travelled extensively in Europe and North America,’ says Peter, ‘but we also do an enormous amount of research and trying out and testing for this.’
Head chef Robert Giljam, who has travelled in Asia and South America, says they also got feedback from well-travelled regulars at Societi. ‘It was tough to leave out some regions but I think we’ve managed to get a great spread. I worked on getting as much flavour on the plate as possible. Yes, it’s a lot of different dishes but I’m excited to make this happen.’
The special menus has been running from 28 March and comes to an end 8 September. Booking is essential.
021-424-2100, societi.co.za
