Au revoir, La Tête: Cape eatery is Covid-19's latest fine-dining casualty

La Tête, chef Giles Edward’s famed farm-to-fork restaurant in Cape Town, is the latest casualty of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent government mandated lockdown regulations.

Edwards took to Instagram to announce that the award-wining eatery on Bree Street will close shop at the end of the first week of February, saying: “Despite great determination to see ourselves through this prohibitive time, we can honestly say we have tried every avenue to no avail.” 

A pioneer of nose-to-tail cooking, Edwards cut his teeth at the Michelin-starred St Johns in London and brought something truly unique to our food scene.

In my opinion, La Tête will always be remembered as somewhat of an enigma: unlike many of SA’s other top fine-dining restaurants, it isn’t situated on a fancy wine farm nor are the dishes intricately plated. The space is stark and the white acoustic pin board lining the walls is as far as the décor goes. The menus, changing daily, are printed on A4 paper. 

However, that is what made it so special: against this unassuming backdrop, the most wonderful flavours came to life. It’s here where many of us who have dedicated our lives to the humble art of eating found comfort in the purity and intensity of the (seemingly) most simple of dishes. 

There’s an unbelievable honesty about everything that arrives at the table at La Tête. It’s this honesty that set this eatery apart and will make it so sorely missed.

Reminiscing, I think back to the dishes I enjoyed best. 

There were the staples: the chicken liver parfait; asparagus and butter; mussels, leek and bacon; and, of course, the madeleines — no meal at La Tête would be complete without the glorious shell-like sponge cakes, hot out the oven and ready to be dunked into homemade crème anglaise.

The salad of crispy duck and radishes was so texturally intriguing that I still salivate at the mere thought of it. Then there was the lamb broth: a simple soup with the most unbelievable depth of flavour to be lapped up with freshly baked bread.