Three new restaurants have opened in Camps Bay on trendy Victoria Road, opposite the beachfront, thereby bringing the number of restaurants in Camps Bay to close to 30.
The three new restaurants have just opened in the space of the erstwhile Caltex petrol station: The Kove, Bungalow and Gateway to India.
The Kove and Bungalow are owned by the same owner (Paul Kovensky) as Paranga in Camps Bay, just a hop away, and Pepenero in Mouille Point.
The rather oddly-named The Kove is “a traditional grill house”, according to its advertorial in the Cape Times. “Combining old-school classics with new-age cuisine, this beach grill offers upmarket dining for discerning patrons”, its PR blurb continues. Its interior has a red and white rose and ivy design on the ceiling, intended to create an “Alice in Wonderland” effect. It sports a sommelier and an “award-winning wine list”, the latter being a claim it cannot make as the restaurant only opened this month.
Bungalow is described as a “cutting-edge, contemporary cafe”, with “cutting-edge molecular gastronomy”, its advertorial claims. Chef Gabriel le Roux has international experience, including at Michelin-star restaurants, and he creates unusual dishes with unique flavour combinations. “LIme airs, citric atoms, foams and liquid nitrogen are all an integral part of his culinary creations.”
Christian Barnard, a partner with Kovensky in Paranga, does not seem to be involved in the new ventures at all.
Gateway to India has opened its doors in the past two days, and is a sister restaurant to a same-name Indian restaurant in Umhlanga Rocks. Its luxury chandeliers attract attention from the beachfront, but may be over the top for an Indian restaurant, and for a restaurant in general in the time of the global credit crunch.
The Grand Cafe in Camps Bay, a little further down on Victoria Road, is fully booked every night, even though it has only been open for two months. On Monday night John Cleese was dining there, as well as a very very important VIP, who had 5 bodyguards protecting him and his fellow diners sitting outside on the terrace. Staff were not allowed to reveal more than his first name “Paul”.