Chef Kobus van der Merwe of the Wolfgat restaurant in Paternoster just received the very first Eat Out Graham Beck Chefs’ Award as well as the Hidden Gem Award at the Gourmet Restaurant Awards 2017, held at Klein Constantia Wine Estate last week.
On top of that, Wolfgat also came in at number 13 at the 2017 Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards.
What makes the Chef Award special is that it is voted for by the chefs at each of 30 nominated restaurants.
All chefs currently working in South Africa were eligible to win, and Van der Merwe is the first winner.
The judges describe Wolfgat as “leading the pack” with an unbeatable location and “considered plates – showcasing unique foraged West Coast ingredients”.
Van der Merwe competed against restaurants from Johannesburg to Durban.
Van der Merwe originally came to Paternoster to help his parents run Die Winkel op Paternoster, locally known as Oep ve Koep, but later opened up Wolfgat in a heritage cottage.
Van der Merwe specialises in dishes with seasonal veld food and seafood of the West Coast, foraged early each day from the sea.
