In this episode of A Table in the Corner, Russel Wasserfall sits down with chef Adél Hughes and artist-host Liebet Jooste, the couple behind Seebamboes. Their restaurant, tucked above Galjoen on Harrington Street, forms part of the same restaurant family as Belly of the Beast.
The conversation explores how Seebamboes operates as a collaboration between kitchen and dining room. Adél cooks with ingredients that arrive from small producers, fishermen and foragers, often shaping dishes around what turns up that day. Liebet, drawing on her background as a visual artist, guides guests through the meal, helping frame the experience and the stories behind the ingredients.
Russel traces how the project began with a small takeaway operation in Betty’s Bay before finding a home in Cape Town. Along the way the discussion touches on West Coast foodways, the use of seaweeds and coastal plants, and the realities of cooking with ingredients that are seasonal, unpredictable and deeply tied to place.
It’s a conversation about storytelling through food: how a menu becomes a narrative, how chefs and front of house work together to shape the experience, and how a meal can reconnect diners with the landscapes and ingredients that surround the Western Cape coast.
Seebamboes will also feature in an upcoming Table for Two episode on the A Table in the Corner YouTube channel. Launching in early May, the new video series sees Russel and co-host Jonathan Warnke visiting some of their favourite Cape Town restaurants, sharing the experience of the meal from two perspectives: one from inside the hospitality industry, and one from the curious diner at the table.
- www.rwm2012.comOn Instagram @a_table_inthecornerCover image sketched by Courtney Cara LawsonAll profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise creditedTitle music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay