Chef Gordon Ramsay
One&Only Cape Town, a luxurious resort on the marina at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, opened operations in April. It's restaurant, maze, is the first Gordon Ramsay eatery in South Africa. Chef Ramsay answered some of WINE's questions:
Your name is associated with exquisite, quality dining; does this kind of praise put pressure on you as a chef?
Of course, as a chef the pressure never fades. You have to treat each and every service as if it is your first and last. You cannot take any customer for granted and each dish that leaves the kitchen must be perfect.
Maze is the first Gordon Ramsay restaurant in South Africa. What can the public expect? The restaurant is going to be relaxed, informal yet luxurious and guests will be able to choose from a daily changing market menu of tasting-size dishes. As well as original dishes, we'll be offering some of the real favourites from our London restaurant.
How is Maze suited to the South African culture? We'll really be focusing on using ingredients local to the area in our cooking. There's a wealth of produce available in the Cape and we are especially looking forward to using the fish, meat and game from the area. Although maze is not a concept originally deriving from South Africa, we want to embrace the country's wealth of produce.
Situated in the One&Only resort in Cape Town, diners would obviously expect only the best... how will you guarantee this? I've got a fantastic team over here whom I know will make the restaurant a success. My head chef, Phil Carmichael, has been with me a long time and has done a phenomenal job in London under Jason Atherton. I've got complete faith that he'll do a fantastic job.
