Merchant Bar & Grill is a new grown-up restaurant where you’re just as comfortable ordering a glass of wine and a plate of charcuterie at the bar as a five-course tasting menu. But this charcuterie plate, it’s one you won’t find anywhere else in the world.
Over the past decade, Cape Town has emerged as a serious restaurant city, and this is in part due to Liam Tomlin, whose Chefs Warehouse group of restaurants has set the standard for fun and exceptional dining without the fuss and formality. His latest restaurant and bar, in partnership with David Schneider of Chefs Warehouse MAISON and The Red Room, is Merchant Bar & Grill.
Why call it Merchant? “A merchant to me is someone who goes out of their way to find the best, most unique products available,” explains Schneider. “We want to put the focus on the producers rather than ourselves – on those who grow, farm, catch and supply us with exceptional products.”
Sourcing products from small producers like Bertie Coetzee (Lowerland Organic Farm), Giselle Courtney (The South African Fynbos), Andrew Nel (Frankie Fenner), Koot Prinsloo (Langside Meats in Queenstown, Eastern Cape), and Ryan Boon is the important starting point for Tomlin, Schneider and young chef Adrian Hadlow, who make up the trio of chefs overseeing Merchant Bar & Grill. It’s what happens next that gets even more interesting.
REVIVING THE LARDER
It’s good old-school butchery and fishmongery, the full usage of every product and the extensive use of preservation that really distinguish this restaurant. At the heart of Merchant Bar & Grill – and the first thing you see upon ascending the stairs from sister restaurant Chefs Warehouse & Canteen below – is The Larder. This is Schneider’s baby: a glassed-in temperature-controlled room which holds the huge array of preserved treasures of the kitchen, from house-made charcuterie such as coppa and ham to jars of kombucha, olives, piccalilli, sauerkraut and other pickles and preserves.
When you order a charcuterie plate here, every single item has been made in-house: from the cured meats to the condiments to the sourdough bread (made with an umqombothi starter). “This is why we say that this is the only place in the world where you will get this charcuterie plate,” says Schneider.
This plate in itself is worth a visit, but there are so many other next-level snacks to try. There’s a Scotched egg wrapped in house-made fennel sausage that will probably put your granny’s to shame, pork crackling with smoked mayonnaise that is completely addictive, luscious duck liver paté, a bowl of lamb sausages, and olives with crispy shards of garlic, amongst others. It’s easy to make a meal out of these – and you are welcome to – but there are also numerous mains that feature whatever is seasonally best, whether it’s charred tuna belly, which the chefs here call the wagyu of the sea, a simple yet spectacular beetroot tarte tatin with house-made ricotta, or a show-stopper of a bone-in beef ribeye that serves two.
Alternatively, there’s the curated route of a five-course set menu, which always begins with a charcuterie course. It’s a surefire way to try the very best of what’s in the kitchen and The Larder on a particular day.
RAISING THE BAR
The word “Bar” in the name is no token mention; this is a bar that is a destination on its own. Yes, it’s cool and cosmopolitan, and has a great selection of wine, classic and signature cocktails, and all kinds of comfortable seating. There is even a side lounge with long Chesterfield leather couches and a twinkly bank of private spirit lockers, giving it a clubby feel.
But what really sets it apart from other classy city bars is that you can order anything off the food menu and have a full-on gastronomic experience. Great food is hard to come by in a bar; here it’s the standard.
On the drinks menu, you’ll also find hints of Schneider’s passion for fermentation, like the Rhino Bush and Rose Geranium Sours, the Fermented Honey Old Fashioned with Woodford Reserve and honey bitters, and Merchant Tea: Bacardi and Cointreau with lemonade kombucha.
CITY LOOKER
Cape Town is filled with characterful old buildings and 91 Bree Street is a prime example: a 19th century beauty that is at the epicentre of Cape Town’s foodie and cultural neighbourhood. A massive renovation of this space has created a modern industrial feel with classical bones; exposed brick walls and steel girders with soft pendant lighting and sculptural wall sconces.
The entrance to Merchant Bar & Grill is through Chefs Warehouse & Canteen on the ground floor, and up a dramatic central staircase with a rather spectacular chandelier suspended from above. A series of butchery inspired ceramic works created by Cape Town-based Ceramic Matters has been refashioned into a large, illuminated double-volume chandelier with hanging cleaver, leg of lamb, tube of tomato paste, garlic and chicken feet – as well as comical items like a paintbrush and a rat.
The convivial dining room at Merchant Bar & Grill features a stunning stretch of ocean liner-inspired banquette, along with dark leather seating; there is also a quieter corner overlooking the staircase and a warming fireplace.
Tomlin is known as an enthusiastic collector of modern art, and on the walls at Merchant Bar & Grill are works by Jero Revett, known as the Wildwanderer. Revett makes Gyotaku artworks of fish and sea animals with the ink of the octopus and cuttlefish he catches.
While on the surface there’s nothing basic about Merchant Bar & Grill, this restaurant is all about going back to basics, especially when it comes to food, provenance and seasonality -- and Cape Town is all the better for it.
Merchant Bar & Grill, 91 Bree Street, https://www.instagram.com/merchant_on_bree/
IMAGES: Claire Gunn
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