{"id":74268,"date":"2015-11-09T11:08:14","date_gmt":"2015-11-09T09:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=74268"},"modified":"2015-11-22T14:53:59","modified_gmt":"2015-11-22T12:53:59","slug":"david-higgs-new-johannesburg-restaurant-opens-in-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/restaurant-news\/david-higgs-new-johannesburg-restaurant-opens-in-march\/","title":{"rendered":"David Higgs’ new Johannesburg restaurant opens in March!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a>During my dinner at five hundred at The Saxon in Johannesburg last week, I asked Chef David Higgs about his new (as yet unnamed) restaurant. Whilst guarded about many of the details, he did reveal some information about it.<\/p>\n

The location<\/strong>: Chef David had indicated publicly that the restaurant would be a 250-seater in Rosebank. Driving on Jan Smuts Avenue through Rosebank, I saw only one building with construction work, and in describing it to Chef David, it appears to be the one. He told me that they have had to add an extra slab to carry the weight of what is to come above for the restaurant.<\/p>\n

The restaurant concept<\/strong>: Chef David told me that a large part of the restaurant will be a bar, where they will ‘spoil their guests’<\/em>. \u00a0He and his business partner Gary Kyriacou visited New York last month, for inspiration, focusing on bars, and latest trends in cocktails. He was impressed with how welcoming bar owners were, and how they shared their experience and advice. I asked him about the food style, but he says that it has not been finalized yet, and therefore he has not yet appointed any staff. Whilst he was traveling, he used the hashtag #fire, but he would not provide more detail about what type of cuisine this would represent. One of the persons they met with was Danny Meyer, the founder of Eleven Madison Park (but sold in 2011 to Chef Daniel Humm), Union Square Caf\u00e9, and eight other restaurants, some of which have Michelin stars. Chef David and Gary also visited Marta, Gotham Bar and Grill, April Bloomfield, Nomad, Union Square Cafe, King Cole Bar, Empire, Gramercy Tavern, Maison Premiere, and Tertulia.<\/p>\n

Chef David leaves five hundred on 11 December, and opens (with the help of the builders) in March.<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 22\/11<\/strong>: Business Day<\/strong> published an article about Chef David Higg’s new restaurant earlier this week:<\/p>\n

‘TAKE one South African chef on the cusp of a new culinary adventure, add his zesty business partner and drop\"David+Higgs+Gary+Kyriacou+xxx\"<\/a> them into a city that\u2019s home to some of the most buzzed-about restaurant trends and you have a partnership that will soon be ready to serve.<\/em><\/p>\n

David Higgs is preparing to leave Five Hundred, at Johannesburg boutique hotel The Saxon, to open his own restaurant in the city. Last week, Five Hundred was ranked in the top 10 at this year\u2019s Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Awards.<\/em><\/p>\n

Higgs and business partner Gary Kyriacou recently spent a week eating and drinking their way through New York City in the name of research. A food safari, if you will, to bring back ideas and inspiration for their new venture \u2014 one they hope will do much to boost the fine-dining culture in Johannesburg.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Essentially, we\u2019re not talking about SA\u2019s dining scene, we\u2019re talking about Joburg,” says Namibian-born Higgs, when we meet at Union Square Cafe in New York. Higgs, who moved to Johannesburg from the Western Cape in 2011, believes there is not enough on offer for those in the city looking for an elegant-yet-affordable dining-out experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

“So if you\u2019re beautifully dressed for a lovely lunch or dinner, you either have to go to this end,” he raises his hand up high, “to where food is stupidly priced, or you go to The Butcher\u2019s Shop, Turn \u2019n Tender or Wombles. You have to go into those very masculine environments. Women don\u2019t feel very comfortable there. We\u2019re not making this specifically for them, but we\u2019re pitching something that\u2019s sophisticated. It\u2019s authentic, not pretentious, there\u2019s no bulls***. It\u2019s just warm and welcoming.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“And authentic and honest,” says Kyriacou, whom Higgs met when selling his house through Kyriacou\u2019s property company, Century 21.<\/em><\/p>\n

Higgs says while he relished the opportunity of being at Five Hundred, he\u2019d been frustrated for his last eight months there.<\/em><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s great to be at one of the top restaurants in the country, but it doesn\u2019t matter because 15 of the 30 people that it seats every night have no clue what they\u2019re eating.<\/em><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s not molecular and it\u2019s not weird, but it\u2019s creative, because that\u2019s what people are paying for. Our average spend there is R1,600 per person, which is huge for SA. But half the people don\u2019t get it, and half of those who don\u2019t get it don\u2019t want to get it.”<\/em><\/p>\n

He became frustrated at not being able to see people enjoy the experience of fine dining.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Kyriacou went to see him for advice about an idea, Higgs knew he wanted to be part of it. As Kyriacou explains, he and his wife enjoy travelling and couldn\u2019t find the kind of dining experiences in SA that they were used to abroad.<\/em><\/p>\n

“My wife can\u2019t get dressed up and we can\u2019t spend an evening together having a meal. I can go to Five Hundred, sure, but I can\u2019t go there every week and spend a fortune.”<\/em><\/p>\n

He decided to come up with his own concept for a place he and his wife could go \u2014 along with others yearning for the same kind of experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t have the expertise to get the quality on the plate every single time, but David does,” he says.<\/em><\/p>\n

What they want to create is a place of the quality of Union Square Cafe. The restaurant is the definition of casual elegance. It was the first restaurant opened by businessman-founder Danny Meyer, who\u2019s managed to create a balance between impressive food and an impressive setting in a number of his restaurants. It\u2019s refined, but not stuffy. Elegant, but not pretentious.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the kind of atmosphere Higgs and Kyriacou are aiming to capture with their new restaurant venture. Just as Union Square Cafe, and Meyer\u2019s other restaurants, from the Gramercy Tavern to North End Grill, embody a New York sensibility in fine dining, so they want to create something specifically for Joburg.<\/em><\/p>\n

The pair are working out the finer details \u2014 even the name of the restaurant is still undecided. They do, however, know what will be at the core of the concept. “People ask me a lot, \u2018What is South African cuisine?\u2019 I still can\u2019t honestly answer that,” says Higgs, as he peruses the Union Square Cafe\u2019s menu. It is made anew every day.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Where do you start? There are pockets of very different influences. One thing I can say with honesty is we have incredible quality of meat. Yes, Argentina has beef, and New Zealand lamb, but we are lucky that we have such good meat across the board. Lamb, beef, pork, game, and then in-between \u2014 Karoo lamb, Free State lamb, West Coast lamb, springbok from the Kalahari. And there are so many stories behind the food. I think that something we have is how we cook it. Essentially, it is on a fire, a wood fire. That\u2019s where we want to be,” Higgs says.<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps that is why he used the hashtag #fire for many of his Instagram posts while travelling around New York.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Meat is a big part of it, but so also is the South African tradition of gathering around a fire. We all migrate to it. Somehow, where there\u2019s a fire, everybody gathers around it. That\u2019s where we are heading to.”<\/em><\/p>\n

He says they have bought a big piece of equipment from the US that will be a centrepiece in the open-air kitchen, so that foodies can enjoy the theatrics of cooking.<\/em><\/p>\n

“You come to a world-class city like (New York), and it almost just firms those thoughts we\u2019ve been having,” says Higgs. “It all starts making sense.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The city that never sleeps is also the city that never stops eating, and the trip to New York has provided Higgs and Kyriacou with the opportunity to hop from one place to another, to see how restaurants and bars with a reputation for good food have managed.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The vibe in Joburg mirrors New York to some degree,” he says. “The energy of people coming and going. New York is very cosmopolitan, similar to Joburg too.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Higgs says he fell in love with Johannesburg almost immediately after stepping off the Gautrain, headed to a new life as chef at a Radisson hotel.<\/em><\/p>\n

“There was such a buzz, literally. It was a Sunday and there was a Heineken pool party happening at the hotel. It was such a beautiful integration of people that you don\u2019t see in Cape Town. That afternoon, I decided, \u2018I\u2019m here to stay.\u2019 “<\/em><\/p>\n

Physically being in the Big Apple allowed Higgs and Kyriacou to experience not just the food and the drinks, but the vibe and atmosphere of the places.<\/em><\/p>\n

“You can read all you want on the net, but \u2026 unless you go and speak to the locals, you won\u2019t know the place where all the bartenders go for drinks after they\u2019re finished working,” says Higgs.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just as Union Square Cafe has been widely credited with revitalising the area around 14th St in Manhattan, so Higgs sees their new venture as doing the same for Johannesburg\u2019s Rosebank.<\/em><\/p>\n

“We\u2019re right next door to Circa Gallery and the Rosebank art market. We\u2019ve taken over the roof, and so we\u2019ll have incredible views over Sandton and the West Rand for sundowners too,” he says.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kyriacou says they aim to charge 10%-15% more than the average Joburg restaurant, “but nothing stupid”. Higgs picks up: “I really believe if you give Joburgers what they want, at an elevated level, where they can dress up and come and spoil themselves, and not spend ridiculous amounts of money, it really is a winning formula. It\u2019s not a fine-dining experience, it\u2019s just a great dining experience’.<\/em><\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog:\u00a0www.whalecottage.com\/blog<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 Tel 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@WhaleCottage \u00a0<\/strong>Facebook: \u00a0<\/strong>click here<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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