[imagsource: World Restaurant Awards]

After it was named ‘Restaurant of the Year’ at the inaugural World Restaurant Awards 2019, Paternoster’s best-kept secret, Wolfgat, was propelled to instant fame.

Within a week of the award, you couldn’t secure a reservation if your life depended on it.

Since the lockdown kicked in two months ago, however, restaurants have found themselves unable to open their doors to the public.

Wolfgat is no exception.

Chef patron Kobus Van der Merwe, the man behind the small eatery, spoke to TimesLIVE:

…Van der Merwe says the Covid-19 pandemic has taken its toll on him and his team, financially and emotionally.

Photo: Halden Krog/AFP/Getty Images

“It’s the uncertainty of what lies ahead that is most difficult to cope with — will we bounce back? Won’t we?” he elaborates. “For now, we’re doing everything we can to try to stay afloat as long as possible.”

The restaurant has had to come up with creative ways to keep things going, which isn’t easy considering that most of the food is made from sustainable ingredients indigenous to the West Coast.

“At the moment our biggest challenge is the shelf life of the fresh ingredients and how perishable some of the prepared dishes can be,” explains Van der Merwe.

“Packaging was also a challenge, especially since we are used to presenting our dishes on handmade custom crockery and cutlery.”

Van der Merwe and his team have created an “interactive hamper” that contains everything you need to try the Wolfgat tasting menu at home.

This includes all the elements to assemble an upmarket four-course meal for two, along with instructions on how to cook, reheat or finish each dish.

Photo: TimesLIVE

On the menu is sourdough bread and homemade butter; seasonal snacks; a black or white mussel soup starter; a main course of Verlorenvlei lamb, mushroom and kelp, and a dessert that you can finish baking in your kitchen.

It also comes complete with a personal touch from Wolfgat that includes:

…a map of the Strandveld, a painting of the sea view from Wolfgat’s veranda — painted by Van der Merwe himself — and a playlist to listen to while you dine.

Each hamper will set you back R800 and is available for delivery to select areas along the West Coast on Fridays and Saturdays.

There’s nothing quite like rainy weather to encourage ordering in, so perhaps tonight is as good a night as any for Capetonians to order deliveries from their favourite spots.

If you want your favourite restaurants to make it through the lockdown, now is the time to show them some support.

[source:timeslive]