Fire starter

A newcomer to Joburg’s culinary scene, Marble is a story of collaboration and unapologetic allegiance to SA’s design and during culture.

- Mila Crewe-Brown

It’s just gone past 10am; chef and Marble co-owner David Higgs is bellowing to his team to start up the fires on the grillworks. It’s the fulcrum of Marble’s very being and the means to nearly every dish. Monday to Sunday, the fire is fed with either sekelbos or wattle wood and it burns until Marble closes at 10pm. ‘Restaurants have become so much about the experience,’ David explains. He goes on to say that the fire, its dancing flames and its crackle are all part of delighting the senses at Marble. 

Cooking on an open flame goes back millennia and David is quick to point out that what he’s doing is no different from braaiing. But there’s a level of refinement that he brings to the table, whether from his fire-baked bread or his 70-day matured sirloin with roasted cauliflower and fries. While meat is the star player at Marble, it is vegetable dishes, like the wood-fired beets or harissa pumpkin drizzled with buttermilk dressing, that have surprised guests the most.