THERE comes a time in a chef’s life where everything comes full circle.
For after the awards, the acknowledgements, the global consulting and the coffee-table recipe books, a great chef likes to be back where he or she started: in the kitchen.
To be truthful, if this is all I do for the rest of my life, I will be a happy man – Conrad Gallagher while seated in the lounge of Café Chic By Conrad Gallagher.
Recently acquired and renovated by Conrad and his wife, Candice, Café Chic serves lunch, dinner and late night cocktails in two gorgeous dining rooms, a bar, lounge, cigar room and private dining rooms in a Victorian stunner complete with roof filigree and wrap-around balcony on Breda Street, Gardens, Cape Town.
For the record, as a celebrated Michelin-starred chef, Conrad’s numerous accolades over the past years have included being in the Top 15 Restaurants in the world by Condé Nast traveler, Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year for his previous restaurant, Peacock Alley in London, as well as recognition for his work on Conrad’s Kitchen, BBC Food and the popular cooking show Head Chef, just for starters.
“This is where I want to be and this what I want to do,” says Conrad of his daily mantra which has brought him, Candice and family back to Cape Town from the US where he started successful cooking schools and conceptualised & consulted on numerous restaurants in California and Nevada.
While Candice – widely recognized as a gracious host – is front of house (as well as having developed a superb cocktail and wine program), Conrad will be “where I belong”, in the kitchen, creating the remarkable dishes on Cafe Chic’s market modern cafe cuisine menu.
“Market modern cafe is about high end food served in a very casual, funky, energetic environment. In my opinion, fine dining served up in stuffy environs is dead,” says Conrad who defines his menu as “21 of my favorite dishes … a best of, if you like, which keeps on evolving”.
From this – using the farm to table ethic as much as possible – Conrad’s menu is an accessible yet exciting journey into the mystique of taste: consider the Caesar Salad with corn bread, duck scotch egg and parmesan appetizer; bamboo steamed kingklip with cumin cabbage, braised ox tail, red wine vinaigrette and baby leeks main; upside down mango cheesecake with chili and cilantro for dessert while; vegetarians will be fully catered for as fresh vegetables are the foundation of all of Conrad’s dishes and will be prepared to suit. Along with fresh local produce, Conrad imports the best Italian flour for this breads as well as aged parmesan.
The theatre of world class cuisine, however, does not stop at the plate for beyond an antique, wooden, Egyptian front desk, Cafe Chic presents a casual glamour revealed within white-washed dining areas with gold brocade chairs and thrown cement floors; eclectic art-works; a moroccan-boudoir style lounge area which leads to the dance-floor and; a colonial bar with a purple wall, within which a large silver mirror is set and a row of platinum-coloured bottle-keeps.
The romantic balcony will be set outside when the weather is mild but, whatever the weather, for Conrad & Candice Gallagher, Cafe Chic is a true home-coming.
Directions to Cafe Chic
7 Breda Street
Gardens
0214657218
