The Roundhouse, visit three

I can’t spill all the beans, since I was back at The Roundhouse last night to take another look before writing a review for Wine Magazine. For the first time, I was there at night, and a busy one at that. This restaurant is certainly one of the city’s sexiest, and at night pretty with the lanterns leading you in echoing the lights of Camp’s Bay below. Speaking of lights, my wife and I noticed how the establishment’s were waxing and waning, almost as if they were breathing. According to Fasie Malherbe, owner, it’s because the circuit in the old place feels all those surges and ebbs as the denizens of the fair suburb open their electric garages, switch on the wall-mounted TVs and the like.

The Roundhouse is teeming with service. They are in the throes of training dozens of waiting staff to get busy with the new downstairs venue, Rumbullion. As an academy for restaurant staff, this establishment could become ground zero for South Africa – and in fact there is already a project underway (Project Laduma) to train 2010 wine stewards for the year 2010 that is run by the Roundhouse team.

As to the main event, the food, suffice to say we ate fulsomely. I do get the feeling, however, that the food quality here is moving sideways instead of the upwards that I hope for. More on all this later.

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