Très bon! Le Bistrot de JAN arrives in Cape Town

There are some restaurants that feel, almost instantly, like a hit. Michelin-starred chef Jan Hendrick van der Westhuizen’s brand-new Le Bistrot de JAN, which opened for proper service on Friday in Cape Town, is exactly that.

It is the little sibling of the home-grown star’s Nice bistro, and without leaning too hard into a French-themed cliché, this corner of the newly revamped InterContinental Table Bay hotel has an undeniable je ne sais quoi.

The paint was practically still drying and rumours of a last-minute scramble to get things guest-ready swirled through opening night. But none of that mattered. The place fizzed. It felt sexy and confident – the sort of debut that makes you think, immediately, that it’s going to be the hot-ticket table of the Cape Town summer. If you’re heading to the Mother City anytime soon, make a reservation now.

“A return to Cape Town couldn’t be more fitting,” says van der Westhuizen. “I tasted my first French Cognac at this very bar, a moment that transported me into a world of dreams, to places I longed to visit and explore. That spirit of curiosity and connection is exactly what Le Bistrot de JAN is about and bringing it home feels like completing a circle.” 

A return, a reunion, and a very good time

Engaging and warm, van der Westhuizen does connection very well. In fact, he does many things with aplomb. First, there’s the food: playful spins on classics, a deep respect for heritage and ingredients, and that instinctive sense of pleasure and fun that has always underscored his cooking. But there’s also his eye. The radish-specked butter piled high on silver platters. Mounds of vintage cookbooks. Empire, the band, weaving between tables to serenade diners. It’s theatrical and charmant; elegant yet jaunty.

Deep petrol-blue panelled walls, velvet booths, chandeliers and a brand identity by the ever-playful STUDIO Jana + Koos give the space a proper bistro feel with an unmistakably Cape Town flair. It’s characteristically “more is more” in atmosphere and you want to drink too many glasses of wine, have a great time and kick back, while the food remains, thankfully, simply good.

There are no unnecessary foams, no overwrought conceptual whimsy. Instead, van der Westhuizen’s mother’s pastry recipe becomes a spectacular chicken pie with truffle sauce; and there’s a steak Florentine with a wedge salad and fries that could transport the most jaded palate straight to Paris. They’re part of tight string of dishes that celebrate deliciousness over fuss.

A kitchen scoop

This, in fact, this is exactly where the real coup of the space comes in: it sees the return of Giles Edwards as executive chef. van der Westhuizen jokingly dubbed their partnership a “bromance”, and it’s clear that he, like so many Capetonians, adored Edwards’s much-missed La Tête, which closed in 2021. Edwards cut his teeth at London’s hallowed St John, that white-walled temple of nose-to-tail British cooking, and its spirit of honest, minimalist, deeply flavoursome cooking infused his former kitchen.

Now, paired with van der Westhuizen’s similarly ingredient-led cooking sensibility, the match feels natural. The parfaits, the tartare and Edwards’ famous madeleines echo both chefs’ philosophies. It’s a meeting of minds built on proper food, beautifully done.

The bistro also nods to van der Westhuizen’s ever-expanding restaurant realm, including the Bistrot in Nice and more formal Restaurant JAN in the same city, as well as his Kloof Street innovation studio and its beguiling cheese room. The Table Bay iteration boasts an industrial fridge stacked with wheels of cheese, and a table groaning under local and imported favourites.

The chef’s ongoing relationship with Checkers is most visible here. “We are delighted to build and expand on this partnership, with the new limited-edition JAN x Forage & Feast Collection of premium kitchenware that will soon be available in Checkers stores, and of course the inclusion of selected Forage & Feast products on the menu at Le Bistro de JAN Cape Town,” said Ilze Bylos, chief marketing officer at the Shoprite Group.

I chatted to Bylos in the lactose-laden jewel box of a cheese room while guests attempted to restrain themselves amid delights including the brand’s excellent local goat’s milk cheese and Dutch-style gouda. It’s a savvy move for the retailer – and at R420, the “Tour de Fromage” (read: all-you-can-heap cheese bonanza) will no doubt become its own mini-pilgrimage.

The opening is a triumph for the “InterCon” too, and speaks to the massive V&A Waterfront expansion happening in that pocket of the harbour. It’s a bit of a building site (or rather a big one) as the “R1-billion Quay 7 hotel” is going up next door, and you can see that the Bistrot is perfectly poised to be the food star in this booming spot. Like I said, reserve your table here stat.

Keen on reading more about South Africa’s hot new spots? Start with Joburg’s Marble Hotel here.

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