Makers Landing is home to chef Mmabatho Molefe’s exquisite and heartfelt cuisine!
The food memories of a KZN childhood are the inspiration behind the thoroughly modern Zulu cuisine at Emazulwini, the 10-seater jewel of a restaurant at Makers Landing at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront. In this industrial space overlooking Cape Town’s working harbour, chef Mmabatho Molefe, winner of the 2020 Food XX Women in Food Newcomer Award, honours her culture by recreating its heritage foods through her unique 21st century culinary lens. In the process, she is defining a new, exciting contemporary Nguni cuisine.
Emazulwini opened in December 2020 when Makers Landing, the vibrant incubator space for food entrepreneurs in the Cape Town Cruise terminal, was born. While Molefe’s restaurant is a permanent fixture in this dynamic two-story hub of commercial production kitchens, small eateries and restaurants, Makers Landing is at heart a champion of small business development and skills sharing, with food start-ups participating in a planned incubator programme. South African flavours and culture are celebrated here, with the aim to nurture into independence a flock of fledgling small businesses that reflect our rich and varied culture.
Modern Menu Inspired by Nostalgia
What drives Molefe as a chef is her pursuit of self-identity. Concerned about the loss of heritage to modernisation, she is determined to keep her heritage alive and relevant, within her own culture and beyond. To this end, she pares down her own food memories and traditional ingredients, such as sorghum, offal and mielies (in all their various forms), and through the application of classical and modern Western techniques (like terrines and molecular gastronomy), reinvents her identity in the form of a very personalized fine dining experience that is accessible to a greater audience. Emazulwini’s newly launched Summer Menu of seven small courses is a case in point of how the memory of a grandparent or even a tuckshop meal can end up as a sophisticated dish. Molefe describes her process: “I start with a childhood memory. I then break that dish down with all of its flavours and components and see how I can add more techniques to it.”
One of the new dishes is Igwinya nopolony. “My mom and dad always made us packed lunches for school Monday through Thursday, so we were only given pocket money — R1.50 exactly — on Fridays,” explains Molefe. “It was just enough to buy a vetkoek with polony and cheese, and was a perfect start to the weekend.” Inspired by this memory, Molefe has created a dish with chicken polony she makes herself: it has a fine, sous vide texture. Alongside it is a miniature traditional vetkoek, a cheese custard – “almost like a fancy Melrose” – and roasted parmesan. Crispy chicken skins are scattered on top, for texture.
Inhiliziyo – braised beef heart — is a hearty dish that celebrates another family tradition. “Cooking offal reminds me of my grandmother’s house, where we slaughtered whole sheep and beef and ate the whole animal,” says Molefe. Meat and cabbage is a classic combination: the dish is a simple long-braised beef heart served with sautéed cabbage, au jus, creamy braaipap and beef heart biltong shavings (“Shout out to Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants for teaching the girl how to make biltong!” she says).
A favourite nostalgic breakfast food – Incwancwa – is transformed into a light and citrusy dessert at Emazulwini. Its genesis: during the week, Molefe’s mom worked away from home. When she returned, if she had time, she’d make fermented maize porridge, which took a day or two of preparation. “It made me feel like she’d planned it. This dish represents my mum’s love and effort,” she explains. Molefe’s dish is made with coconut milk and served with lemon and lime jellies and lemon ice cream.
Applying Modern Technique to the Traditional
All the dishes at Emazulwini are made from scratch from high quality ingredients, with flavour that is coaxed and shaped through time and love. Molefe’s cuisine reflects who she is: a modern Zulu living in Cape Town. As a budding chef, she knew she would end up in Cape Town, which she considers South Africa’s culinary centre. “I’m very happy to embrace modernization and Western influence because it is our way of life. Most of the techniques we use I’ve learnt while cooking different styles
of food in other restaurants.
Before she opened her own restaurant, Molefe worked in the kitchens at Cape Town’s esteemed Aubergine and Salsify at the Roundhouse, and started gourmet pop-up The Long Table Experience, in Durban. It was during lockdown that she contemplated opening her own place. “I was watching a lot of Chefs Table episodes on Netflix. One of the main things was watching chefs rediscover themselves and what’s important to them and their identity.” This period of reflection helped define her vision for Emazulwini.
KZN Meets Cape Town
The restaurant opens up to the working harbour on the one side; on the other is the buzz of Makers Landing. As for the decor, it is an intimate and comfortable modern backdrop for Molefe’s exquisitely plated creations: industrial chic with flashes of orange, personalised with Zulu beadwork and framed images that reflect the traditional juxtaposed against colonial history.
Emazulwini is open for lunch Thursdays to Sundays, dinner Thursdays to Saturdays. Booking is recommended.
