Chef Bertus Basson's De Vrije Burger, Chef Vusi Ndlovu with new concept MLILO 'Fires of Africa' , The Melting Pot Seafood, Unframed Ice Cream and How Bao Now are the first vendors announced to join Time Out Market Cape Town which will celebrate the city’s best local culinary talents
Cape Town will soon be home to Time Out Market, the food and cultural market bringing the best of the city together under one roof: a curated mix of its best chefs and restaurateurs, drinks and cultural experiences.
Time Out Market Cape Town – which is set to open later this year at the V&A Waterfront and will be the first Time Out Market on the African continent – will feature 13 local chefs and restaurateurs, four bars and one stage. Guests will get to experience some of the city’s very best food from a variety of concepts while coming together with family and friends to enjoy their meals – on china with flatware – at communal tables.
Today, the first five award-winning, celebrated and much-loved culinary talents to join Time Out Market Cape Town’s all-star lineup have been revealed. They will be serving a diverse range of cuisines, reflecting the city’s vibrant culinary traditions and expressions:
Restaurateur and Chef Bertus Basson will join the roster of homegrown chef-driven concepts at Time Out Market Cape Town with his iconic De Vrije Burger
Bertus Basson is a Cape Town born chef, restaurateur and TV personality with many accolades including Eat Out San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna Chef of the Year. His food philosophy is rooted in traditional South African food culture and a commitment to fresh, local ingredients. He has founded a series of successful restaurants, one of them being De Vrije Burger and all of which are expressing South African heritage, creatively telling the stories of its history, people and food.
De Vrije Burger by Bertus Basson will bring Stellenbosch’s award-winning burger to Cape Town for the first time. This proudly South African concept will allow diners to experience some of the greatest burgers and fries on offer, with a curated menu that will showcase dishes that are crafted with love using quality ingredients such as free range meat and homemade buns – simple, but amazing.
Chef Vusi Ndlovu will create a new concept with dishes that celebrate African shisanyama heritage at Time Out Market Cape Town
A concept created by Chef Vusi Ndlovu specifically for Time Out Market Cape Town, MLILO 'Fires of Africa' will offer a truly African-inspired cuisine with each menu item honouring a different African country, giving a nod to the continent’s rich culinary traditions while reflecting the chef’s incredible creativity and innovation. The idea behind this braai concept is to celebrate the different ways African food markets and vendors utilise fire, with a menu offering a tantalising glimpse of Africa on a plate and a contemporary take on the local favourite “shisanyama”, a Zulu word meaning “burn meat”. Menu items will include Iplate (South African braai plate with all the trimmings, specialities includes tomato sausage & black bean chakalaka); Lamb Didi (Lamb cooked using a fire cooking concept from Senegal); Nyama Choma (Thinly sliced beef with chunky kachumbari) and Puff-puff (Spiced pumpkin doughnuts with chilli sugar).
Vusi Ndlovu is a young, hugely dynamic chef who has been making waves on the foodie scene since winning the Africa and Middle East number one spot in the San Pellegrino Young Chef competition. With a reputation for challenging norms and pushing boundaries to produce unique, outstanding food, Vusi Ndlovu learned the basics of cooking as a chef trainee in Pretoria and in 2012 came to Cape Town joining Chef Peter Tempelhoff to learn from this culinary giant, later becoming part of South Africa’s national culinary team, working in some of the best restaurants in Johannesburg and Belgium before returning to South Africa. He is also one of the founding members of the African Culinary Library which is dedicated to preserving and promoting African food culture and cuisine.
Cape Town’s best-kept secret The Melting Pot Seafood will be joining Time Out Market
The Melting Pot Seafood will bring an internationally inspired seafood concept to Time Out Market Cape Town that will take diners – plate by plate – on a culinary journey around the world inspired by Chef John Van Zyl’s travels. The vibrant menu will feature dishes that are packed with flavour, with regularly changing seasonal specials. On the menu: Tuna Sashimi with Fermented Black Bean Dressing, Coconut and Mint; Mixed Seafood Peruvian Ceviche with Butternut Puree and Sweet Potato Crisps, and Beer Battered Hake Sliders with Smoked Potato Purée and Tartar Sauce.
John Van Zyl trained at ICA (Institute of Culinary Arts) in Stellenbosch after finishing high school in Somerset West. After graduating, he became the first chef in the country to work alongside renowned Chef Liam Tomlin at Chefs Warehouse. During his six years there, he was head chef at Chefs Warehouse Bree Street and launched Thali in Cape Town. His love of travel and food inspired the opening of The Melting Pot in 2019, which closed due to the pandemic in 2020. The Melting Pot has evolved into a laid-back country experience situated on Oak Valley Estate, Elgin. It was also awarded a star at the annual Eat Out Awards in 2022.
Unframed Ice Cream will excite foodies with their twist on classic ice cream flavours at Time Out Market Cape Town
Unframed Ice Cream – founded by Yann Rey – is no stranger to the Cape Town culinary scene. It brings together the most delicious and extraordinary combinations which often are classics with a twist and always come in truly unique flavours. These include Vegan beetroot chocolate ginger; Lemon-infused olive oil with white chocolate; Vegan coconut raspberry; and an array of other unhinged or rather "unframed" flavours as well as waffles, cookies and sundaes.
Made from scratch, in small batches and depending on seasonality, from real and sustainable ingredients, the integrity of the products and a perfect luscious texture are at the heart of this extraordinary artisanal ice cream – all this has earned Unframed Ice Cream the honour of being named the number one ice cream parlour in the world by Big7 Travel and on Financial Times’ list of the world’s greatest ice-cream stores.
Yann Rey's lifelong passion for food and his dream of becoming a chef started during his teenage years in France. With Unframed Ice Cream – born and raised in Cape Town which is home to a few branches – he aims to inspire happiness through curiosity and inventiveness by infusing classic ice cream favourites with a unique and original flair.
Chef duo Matt Van Den Berg and Carla Schulze will bring How Bao Now and their Asian-inspired high-end street food to Time Out Market Cape Town
Renowned for offering some of the best bao buns in the city, How Bao Now will offer much-loved dishes plus a range of new, exclusive combinations that will only be available at Time Out Market Cape Town. On the menu will be a Cape Malay Crayfish Bao with a coconut & curry furikake and vadouvan XO as well as a Wagyu Sando-Bao with a chilli crunch mayo, tonkatsu and pickled cucumber – all expertly crafted, scrumptious and packed with punchy flavours.
Owner-chefs Matt Van den Berg (who is also Senior Sous Chef at La Colombe) and Carla Schulze (currently Head Development Chef for Luke Dale Roberts) share a passion for Asian cuisine and fine-dining background which they apply to their flavour-busting dishes at How Bao Now.
In the lead up to the opening, Time Out Market Cape Town will announce further additions to its curated lineup, an exciting beverage programme as well as how local culture will be part of this unique experience. To curate a new Time Out Market, the team comes up with a list of the types of cuisines that make a city the vibrant culinary destination it is to then curate a list of the leading, most exciting and most aspirational local representatives in these cuisines. Part of this process is to try and test to find the best of the city right now and then invite the very best to join. But this is not just about 'big names'; the city’s up-and-coming chefs and much-loved local gems will also be proudly featured, all showcasing their skills and creativity.
In 2014, a historic market building was turned into Time Out Market Lisbon and today there are Markets in cities such as New York, Montreal and Dubai. What connects all markets is a carefully curated mix of top chefs and restaurateurs, and of unique culinary and cultural experiences – all housed in exceptional locations. However, the execution of each Time Out Market is distinctly local to give a true taste of the city it is in.
“We’re excited to bring Time Out Market to Cape Town at the end of 2023 – we have hand-picked some of the city’s best chefs and restaurateurs to showcase the incredible culinary talent Cape Town has to offer. Our guests will get a true taste of the city and our local vendors – who all have their roots right here – the opportunity and the platform to showcase their skills to a wide audience, proudly presenting Cape Town as a leading culinary and cultural hub,” says Sandy Hayek, Time Out Market’s Co-CEO of Operations.
Russ Meyer, General Manager of Time Out Market Cape Town added: “Time Out Market is about the best of the city so we have scoured Cape Town for its best local culinary talents and then we invited the very best to join our Market which we want to be an incredible reflection of the city’s exciting, diverse and vibrant restaurant scene. We are very proud to reveal our inaugural lineup of award-winning and much-loved chefs and restaurateurs who will join us to offer our guests a unique experience with their outstanding creativity and skills. We can’t wait to bring all this to life when we open Time Out Market Cape Town in its wonderful location at the V&A Waterfront later this year.”
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Notes to editors
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About Time Out Market Cape Town
Time Out Market Cape Town is a food and cultural market set to open towards the end of 2023 on the V&A Waterfront. Across almost 30,000 sq ft, there will be 13 chefs and restaurateurs, four bars and one stage – it will offer a curated mix of some of the city’s best food, drinks and cultural experiences as well as spectacular views of Table Mountain.
Time Out Market is a food and cultural market, bringing the best of the city together under one roof: a curated mix of the best chefs, restaurateurs, drinks and cultural experiences. From award-winning chefs to much-loved local gems, from installations from local artists to live entertainment, Time Out Market captures and celebrates the best of the city. The first Time Out Market opened in 2014 in a historic market hall in Lisbon, quickly turning into one of the most popular destinations in the city. The success of Lisbon brought further expansion and currently there are Markets in cities such as New York, Montreal and Dubai, several new locations with expected opening dates in 2023 and beyond, in addition to a pipeline of further locations in advanced discussions. Time Out Market is part of Time Out Group PLC (AIM: TMO), a global media and hospitality brand that inspires and enables people to experience the best of the city through its two divisions – Time Out Media and Time Out Market. Time Out launched in London in 1968 to help people discover the exciting new urban cultures that had started up all over the city – today it is the only global brand dedicated to city life. Expert journalists curate and create content about the best things to do, see and eat across 333 cities in 59 countries, and across a unique multi-platform model spanning both digital and physical channels.