Palates And Paintbrushes

Cape Town’s Norval Foundation celebrates contemporary South African art – and The Skotnes Restaurant within its precinct pays the same homage in its meticulously curated menu. This is where canvas, cuisine and cultural heritage intersect – deliciously!

- Richard Holmes

“The tattoo?” asks Phil de Villiers, when I comment on the inky outline of a pig adorning his right arm. “I guess you could say it’s a homage to my love of food, my love of meat.”

And Phil is certainly a man who loves food, talking passionately about everything from foraging to fermentation as we discuss his latest role as executive chef of The Skotnes Restaurant at the Norval Foundation. Here, in Cape Town’s Constantia Winelands, he oversees a kitchen that’s helping to entrench this leafy corner on the city’s gourmet map.

Phil first buttoned up his chef’s whites at the respected Prue Leith Chef’s Academy in Centurion, Gauteng. That formal training catapulted him into the world of high-end hotels, with stints at the likes of Ten Bompas Hotel, Montecasino and 54 on Bath.

But the siren song of the Cape called and in October 2016, he and his wife packed up and moved to the Mother City, where Phil oversaw the opening of Primal Eatery, a stylish, flame-focused restaurant in the City Bowl. Within months, it was ranked among Cape Town’s best steakhouses.

While Primal Eatery had no shortage of devoted diners, Phil – with years of experience in bustling hotels – found himself searching for something a little busier; something to keep him on his toes. Opportunity came knocking in the shape of the Norval Foundation.

Over a six-month period – October 2017 to April 2018 – he was hard at work conceptualising the restaurant, planning the kitchen, recruiting staff and developing the menus. “I love opening new restaurants,” he smiles. “I like the chaos beforehand, putting the systems in place and then being able to look back and see how it’s all settled in and running smoothly.”