Luke Dale-Roberts’ Naturalis

WORDS Lindi Brownell Meiring IMAGES Jan Ras

With Test Kitchen taking the number one spot at the 2015 Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards (again) and Pot Luck Club featuring in the Top 10, we were extremely excited to hear the latest news around Luke Dale-Roberts’ soon-to-be-launched restaurant in Cape Town.

Naturalis, which was designed by Pot Luck Club architect Greg Scott, will be located in the same location as Luke’s two award-winning restaurants, at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock.

With sustainable design at its core, Naturalis will be built using upcycled containers. “I call it my incubation hub,” says Luke. Interiors will feature no-fuss modern materials, including raw wood and organic textiles. There will be a fermentation room, a cheese room, a roof top garden and (potentially) a bakery, as well as a little hatch at the front of the restaurant highlighting the delicious items found on the menu.

Cuisine, which will be served around a central oak table with a view of the kitchen, will be experimental. “Fermentation, curing, culturing and drying: these are at the core of what I will be doing at Naturalis,” explains Luke. “Ingredients will be treated simply; everything is returning back to basics, back to the source.”

We can’t wait!