A Table in the Corner
A Table in the Corner is the space where Russel Wasserfall chats to people in the food industry about their passion and their take on the business of eating. Russel has worked in the media and food space for over 3 decades. He's run bars, restaurants and a confectionery factory, written for dozens of food and travel publications and made a bunch of cookbooks. His show is about the nitty-gritty of the food trade in all its forms. Top chefs, food artisans, proprietors, bakers, farmers, foragers, cheesemakers, writers, photographers, bloggers... you name it. If they’re involved in the food industry, you will meet them with Russel at A Table in the Corner.
A Table in the Corner
S2-27. Seebamboes - Adél Hughes & Liebet Jooste
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In this episode of A Table in the Corner, Russel Wasserfall sits down with chef Adél Hughes and artist-host Liebet Jooste, the couple behind Seebamboes. Their restaurant, tucked above Galjoen on Harrington Street, forms part of the same restaurant family as Belly of the Beast.
The conversation explores how Seebamboes operates as a collaboration between kitchen and dining room. Adél cooks with ingredients that arrive from small producers, fishermen and foragers, often shaping dishes around what turns up that day. Liebet, drawing on her background as a visual artist, guides guests through the meal, helping frame the experience and the stories behind the ingredients.
Russel traces how the project began with a small takeaway operation in Betty’s Bay before finding a home in Cape Town. Along the way the discussion touches on West Coast foodways, the use of seaweeds and coastal plants, and the realities of cooking with ingredients that are seasonal, unpredictable and deeply tied to place.
It’s a conversation about storytelling through food: how a menu becomes a narrative, how chefs and front of house work together to shape the experience, and how a meal can reconnect diners with the landscapes and ingredients that surround the Western Cape coast.
Seebamboes will also feature in an upcoming Table for Two episode on the A Table in the Corner YouTube channel. Launching in early May, the new video series sees Russel and co-host Jonathan Warnke visiting some of their favourite Cape Town restaurants, sharing the experience of the meal from two perspectives: one from inside the hospitality industry, and one from the curious diner at the table.
- www.rwm2012.com
- On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
- Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
- All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
- Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay