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
S2-30. Farro - Alex Windebank
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In this episode of A Table in the Corner, I sit down with Alex Windebank of Farro, the small, open-kitchen restaurant just off Dunkley Square that recently had to close when the building’s utilities were cut due to unpaid municipal debt by the landlord. Fully booked services had to be cancelled overnight, income dried up like the taps, and there was no clear timeline for reopening.
We get into what that actually meant on the ground. Not the headline, but the day-to-day reality of a small, owner-run restaurant operating on tight margins. Staff to consider, guests to manage, debts still due. It’s a sharp reminder of how exposed independent restaurants are to forces outside their control.
Alex also traces the path that brought him and Eloise here, from London kitchens to Johannesburg, and eventually to Farro in Cape Town. It’s a business built from scratch, without backing, shaped by hard decisions about how and where to operate.
At its core, Farro is a partnership. Alex cooking simply and precisely, Eloise running the room, both present and hands-on. And when things went wrong, it was the wider restaurant community that stepped in, offering support in practical ways that kept them going.
A conversation about resilience, risk and what it takes to keep a small restaurant alive.
- 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