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Wolfgat viewed from the west. The restaurant housed in a 130-year-old fisherman's cottage. -
The front desk was custom-made by Kobus' father Abel using railway sleepers and an antique knitting machine. -
A salt crystal hand-harvested in Velddrif, a steenbok skull and an angulate tortoise shell are displayed with the Wolfgat signage at the restaurant's main entrance. -
Kobus preparing wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), an invasive weed that serves a culinary purpose in this kitchen. -
Coffee is made in a 1930s siphon vacuum brewer. -
Kobus hand-picked the oyster cutlery: wooden forks and enamel spoons. -
Kobus and She-Earl Pieterson plate an abalone snack. -
Iced wild radish soup with amasi sorbet, served in a bowl made by local potter Dianne Heesom-Green. -
Twice-cooked laver, duinekool and grated dried snoekkuite (snoek roe). -
Smoked angelfish croquettes with sour fig mayonnaise. -
Mise en place for lunch. -
The dining area on the stoep offers a panoramic view of Paternoster Bay.
PHOTOS AND WORDS Jac de Villiers
Renowned forager chef Kobus Van Der Merwe’s new restaurant in Paternoster is a celebration of West Coast culture and local ingredients.
I harvest some laver (porphyra capensis), seaweed similar to nori, and bake it in the oven till crisp. Reconstitute it to a silky substance in cream. Serve with the imbricated inflorescence of duinekool and grated dried snoekkuite.
This is the recipe for Kobus van der Merwe’s signature dish, Porphyra capensis. Don’t even think of trying it at home.
This part of the West Coast with its Strandveld vegetation has a contradictory nature: It appears austere, yet it hosts an abundance of edible plants, wildlife and marine life. It is here that Kobus van der Merwe of Oep ve Koep fame has opened a new restaurant, Wolfgat, where he manages to reflect both the sparse and the plentiful of the area.
The restaurant is located in a 130-year-old whitewashed sandstone fisherman’s cottage on a hill overlooking the bay of Paternoster. On the west side of the building, twin traditional stepped chimneys anchor the structure and break the monotony of its rectangular nature.
In February, Kobus found his blank canvas when family friends offered him the lease of their holiday cottage. On the site is a cave with archaeological remains from which the name Wolfgat is derived.
The restaurant itself has a calm, almost spartan nature, offering each piece of furniture or object a sense of importance. A solid custom-built work table separates the open kitchen from the inside sitting area.
“It’s totally about the bare essentials,” Kobus says. “The tables are recycled or were made by my dad, Abel, who is an excellent carpenter. He converted a round industrial cable spool, added some roof truss timber for legs, and created a lovely table that seats eight.” The chairs are mid-century modern, scouted out at second-hand stores and refurbished.
The kitchen, on the other hand, is like a botany lab. Shelves are lined with flasks and bottles filled with essences, fermentations and infusions. The glass-fronted fridge displays the ingredients for today’s lunch menu: slangbessie, elandsvy, kruipvygie, wild sage blossoms, snoek roe and seaweed.
“We’ve graduated to a seven-course tasting menu, which allows us to indulge in and play with flavours, textures and components of dishes differently because you don’t have to satisfy a guest’s senses in a single course,” Kobus says. “We serve a Strandveld food menu. It’s not strictly defined – it is an on- going exploration, trying to figure out what represents a West Coast cuisine. It’s really a work in progress.”
To guide the look and feel of the dishes, Kobus collaborated with local potter Dianne Heesom-Green to design a crockery range. Some of the vessels are reversible: On today’s menu is amasi sorbet soup, served in a simple white oval bowl, which gets turned over to serve perlemoen pickle on its flat bottom. The plating is a delicate balance of design, colour and texture, inviting you to eat with your eyes. Kobus’s food is a constant surprise, a celebration of unique flavours created by combining and tweaking indigenous ingredients.
When you look at an artwork or listen to music and the content and composition are in harmony, this is when you encounter a completely new and moving sensation, when you move into the realms of true creativity. It is the same with food, and that’s the emotion the founder of the international slow food movement, Carlo Petrini, expressed upon dining at Wolfgat: “In my lifetime I’ve dined with famous chefs like Michel Bras and my friend Ferran Adrià, but the really special occasions have been few and far between. Today’s meal was one of those rare occasions that I rate one of the most memorable in my life!”
Lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday by appointment only – book a table via diewolfgat@gmail.com. Wolfgat is located at 10 Sampson Street, Paternoster. For more information, visit wolfgat.co.za.
