Cape Town is such a popular stopover on many of our safari itineraries that we’re always on the lookout for what’s hot and happening on the local culinary scene.

We connected with chef and founder of Grub & Vine, Matt Manning, about the exciting new launch of a Grub & Vine branch at the impressive Norval Art Museum…

“I always wanted Grub & Vine to be bigger than Matt Manning,” Matt says with a smile. “So when Louie Norval called me and asked me if I was interested in opening a restaurant at the museum, I jumped at the opportunity. Especially when I saw the stupendous wine cellar.”

The original Grub & Vine on Bree Street is best known for serving good, honest food with great ingredients, flavor and purpose, and a perfectly curated wine list to boot. At this year’s recent South African Star Wine List of the Year awards, Grub & Vine walked away with the award for the Best Short Wine List. The restaurant’s associated wine bar, Culture, also owned by Matt, won 3 awards: Best Medium-sized List in South Africa, Best Sparkling Wine List in the country, and the overall Grand Prix Award.

“On Bree Street, Grub & Vine has a great energy and vibe. In our new branch in the suburbs, however, it’s more sophisticated with a refined bistro cuisine,” Matt explains. “We’re serving lunches and dinners from Tuesday to Sunday, and we also want to offer wine tastings with a casual flare on weekends, accompanied by cheese and charcuterie boards.”

Grubb & Vine is well-known for its tasting menus, and the new Norval branch has launched 2 and 3-course options with wine pairings. Here’s a taste of what’s on offer:

• Local Legends (tasting menu and pairing)
• Constantia Valley Icons (a wine pairing with wines solely from the Constantia Valley)
• SA vs The World (2 wines with each course, local and international, together with a 6-course meal)

Matt particularly loves the ‘SA vs The World’ menu, “because it shows just how good our South African wines really are”, and also he recommends the venison dish that they have on the menu this summer – notably a pan-roasted impala with saffron polenta mash, smoked eggplant, and a confit of tomatoes and black olives. Not to be missed.

A little bit more about Matt…

He trained as a chef in the UK and had an amazing opportunity to start out his early career with Marcus Wareing, working at Pétrus (a one Michelin star restaurant in London and one of the top fine dining establishments in the city – later became ‘Marcus’ at The Berkley Hotel.

From there Matt went on to work with Bryn Williams (a Great British Menu winner), and 12 years ago, he moved to Cape Town, working for La Colombe before opening up Grub & Vine on Bree Street.

Where he likes to eat when he’s not at Grubb & Vine

• Clarke’s in Bree Street (for burgers)
• Scarpetta Woodstock (casual Italian dining)
• Fyn in the City Centre (fine dining)
• Liam Tomlin’s Thali in Gardens (global cuisine)
• Bertus Basson’s Eike in Stellenbosch (South African cuisine)

For more ideas on where to go and what to eat when you’re in the beautiful city of Cape Town, chat to our team about helping you set up a personalized itinerary…