The Test Kitchen closes
By Christian Eedes, 29 July 2021
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Cape Town restaurant The Test Kitchen, number two in the Top 10 at the 2019 Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards, is set to close. Last service will be on Thursday, 30 September.
For now, chef Luke Dale Roberts will continue The Pot Luck Club & Gallery as well as The Test Kitchen Fledgelings, the social upliftment dining venture between himself and wife Sandalene.
Hennie | 30 July 2021
I also ache for restaurants at this time and it is tragic that an iconic restaurant like Test Kitchen is done. Loads of my friends, acquaintances and clients have lost their businesses and it is a disaster that is going change the food landscape in our lifetime
However to me fine dining has been dead or dying for some time. It is a personal feeling, and one I have been thinking about for some tome. I am just as guilty as the next man to spend R1500 per person at Test Kitchen – it was a favourite place to eat.
But let us be real – do none of us find it obscene to pay R3k for a meal for two excluding wine when the majority of people in this country don’t spend as much on a month’s worth of food? Or if you add wine? Two bottles of wine and some water and you’re sitting at R5 grand for a meal! A single meal! Really?
To me fine dining and the pricing you need to keep a restaurant that does fine dining open just doesn’t seem justifiable in the country we live in. Yes there will always be people with means willing to pay those prices, but can you truly look at yourself in the mirror after consuming 10 courses at Test Kitchen when someone nearby – living in a box under your overpass, hardly has one meal every few days?
I am hardly a bleeding heart liberal – ask anyone that knows me – but there are less obscene ways to generate income for a business than going fine dining.
I truly hope Luke DR redefines the local food scene again like he has been doing for so long. Here’s to the new evolution of food. I hope LDR is – again – at the forefront of this evolution.
GillesP | 31 July 2021
Hello Hennie, I hear your point but what about the thousands of people spending obscene amount of money on luxury cars in this country? This is a much bigger scale thing than restaurant diners. I am talking of R1M and plus cars beeing seen all around like hot cakes. This is more shocking to me than a meal for 2 for a special occasion at Test Kitchen
Eilis Cryan | 29 July 2021
This is terribly sad new about the Test Kitchen. It has been an a wonderful privilege to have dined there over many years & it was no surprise that it became known was one of the very best restaurants worldwide. I really feel for Luke & the great team that he chose so carefully & so well.
This is a huge blow among many that have hits that RSA has faced with Covid & I’m sure the amazing culinary adventures that Cape Town is known for will begin to appear again. We do our best here in Ireland to support our SA friends & winemakers by selling many of their world class wines here where they are much admired.
We will continue to fly the flag for in SA.
Anna Kirkland | 29 July 2021
I am so terribly sorry to hear this very sad news. This restaurant is iconic!! Luke is a gastronomic genius. Some of the best food I have ever eaten anywhere in the world, was created in The Test Kitchen.