x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

A Table in the Corner

Russel Wasserfall Media

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,

arts food

All Episodes

32:59

117. Iain Harris - Food Indaba, Cape Town

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/04/28

The FOOD INDABA is an annual programme of talks and events that focus on the local food system. Running from 7-20 July this year, it brings together a wide range of speakers involved in shaping the food system, providing an opportunity for food growers, academics, activists, writers, nutritionists, policy makers, food lovers and anyone interested in sustainable approaches, to engage in key issues intimately connected to the food we eat, and the future of food. The conference component of the ...

en-za

38:01

116. Max King - Stereo

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/04/21

A short while back, I discovered Stereo Eats through my friend Gillian Key. This concept eatery is based on a dark kitchen and an app which offers the best of 6 different fast- or convenience-food brands. It’s now a firm favorite with my daughter and I reached out to one of the directors, Max King to find out more. Interesting concept which I think totally gets the challenges of single-brand franchise stores competing for space in a market with shrinking and ever-more expensive real estate op...

en-za

35:53

115. Nic Charalambous - Ouzeri

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/04/14

Nic Charalambous, the driving force, creator and voice behind the wildly popular Ouzeri restaurant in Wale Street, was my fourth guest on the show. Way back on Episode 4 he'd been open a year and found his easygoing eatery - which celebrates his Cypriot heritage and its culinary traditions as well as those of Greece - awarded a star at the Eat Out Awards. In year three, in late March 2025, Ouzeri joined the ranks of two star Eat Out Restaurants. Nic and I chatted about his journey, the focus ...

en-za

42:27

114. Roushanna Grey - Veld & Sea Foraging Experiences

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/04/07

Veld & Sea has one of my favourite Instagram pages, and the mission of its founder - to teach people about the land and the ocean of Cape Town's south peninsula through foraging and flavour - has long fascinated me. I finally got to meet Roushanna Grey and we had an engrossing conversation. As always it was too short and there was so much more we could have explored. Links to her website and that beautiful Instagram profile are below if you want to learn more. Veld & Sea The Instagram...

en-za

39:24

113. Emily Robertson - Egg & Shoulders

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/03/31

Week after week I see the menus for Egg & Shoulders ready meals. They are seasonal, interesting and depart from the norm of the home delivery or frozen meal services. Of course there are the standards - the lasagne, the ravioli - but there are always interesting things. While I've been tempted to order many times, I sometime wonder who else is ordering terrines or wild leaf salads. Curious about her drive for innovation, who her customers are, and how she reaches them, I sat down for a ch...

en-za

34:11

112. Matthew Gordon - French Connection

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/03/24

Matthew Gordon has been there since the beginning. He is one of the architects of the explosion of restaurants in the previously sleepy Western Cape village of Franschhoek. Haute Cabriere put him firmly on the map, but the little restaurant he operated out of his family guesthouse, Balon Rouge is where it all began. Today he is the chef/operator of French Connection which has been a popular eatery in the village for the past 23 years. We spoke about the growth of Franschhoek's dining scene, t...

en-za

40:52

111. Chef Peter Ayub - The Intern Chat

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/03/19

Chef Peter Ayub runs the excellent Sense of Taste Cooking school with his wife Deb, teaching young hopefuls the trade of being a chef. He reached out, concerned about how some of his students are treated when they go out into the industry to do their pracs and learn about how kitchens work. We share the view that these young chefs are there to absorb new skills and be taught by the chefs under whom they work. The reality in some frantically busy, sometimes under-staffed businesses is that the...

en-za

47:09

110. Reuben Riffel - Reuben's & Let's Frite

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/03/17

It's taken a while to get the timing and travel right to sit down with South African culinary icon, Chef Reuben Riffel, to explore his incredible journey from a simple start in Franschhoek kitchens, to becoming a household name. In this episode we dive into his early mentorship under Chef Christophe Dehosse, his pivotal partnership with Chef Richard Carstens, and his evolution through fine dining to casual ventures like Let’s Frite. Reuben's, Franschhoek Let's Frite, Franschhoek Send us...

en-za

32:26

109. Hilde-Lee Olivier - Cooking on Yachts

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/03/10

Hilde-Lee Olivier left cooking school and quickly climbed the ranks in local kitchens. By the time she was 26 Hilde-Lee was running the Kitchen at Terroir and went on to be head chef for George Jardine at Jardine Restaurant in Stellenbosch. After a brief stint and a huge learning curve running her own place - Toebroodjie, she pitched it all in and went sailing. We spoke about her journey and about the life she's chosen running a kitchen on a private yacht - it's quite a trip. Send us a text ...

en-za

52:45

108. Jo Smith - Pillar9 Reputation Strategists

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/03/03

For some time now I've been wanting to talk to someone on the show who manages the marketing - and the profiles - of restaurants. I'm interested in how eateries, especially the top shops, market themselves. This is particularly tricky in a world where everyone seems to be a critic and even the very best operators can find themselves at the mercy of 'keyboard warriors'. While people have a legitimate right to tackle venues on poor service or experiences - balance, good judgement and manners ar...

en-za

30:31

107. Carlotta Sabbalini - Italy at Your Door

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/02/24

Carlotta Sabbalini is fantastic - she's a real entrepreneur who's built a food business on the back of a lasagne recipe she learned from her grandmother, Nonna Santina. Along the way she's tried new things, added elements to the business and learned a whole lot of skills that are really vital for a small business operator. I've been wanting to talk to someone whose built a cottage industry based on family recipes and Carlotta just happened to message me and ask if she could join me on the sho...

en-za

41:12

106. Mario Gaito - Pizza Proper

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/02/20

It started with a dream and a little Piaggio three-wheeled scooter with a pizza oven in the back, but Mario Gaito has built a business that delivers delicious Napoli-style pizza to selected deli and supermarket chillers around Cape Town. It's a great story that features one of my favourite things - wood-fired pizza ovens. We could have gone on and on chatting - this was one of my favourite episodes so far. However we were recording in a very loud place and had to call it a day eventually. I r...

en-za

43:06

105. Amori Burger - Upper Union

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/02/17

This was a conversation full of laughs with Chef Amori Burger of Upper Union restaurant. Her warm, engaging, fun personality permeates a restaurant which have quickly become an institution in Cape Town and a firm favourite among a legion of very happy customers. We sat down for a chat against the backdrop of their beautiful upstairs cocktail bar and spoke of Sunday lunches, bold flavours, the perfect bite and testing all the wines and cocktails to make sure they're up to scratch for guests. I...

en-za

65:27

104. Loubie Rusch - Local Wild Food Hub

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/02/12

Loubie Rusch knows a hell of a lot about local plants. How to grow them. What you can and can't eat. How to cook or prepare them for consumption. She also knows a lot about local food systems and how connection to the land preserves indigenous food plants and the environment at large. We got into a whole bunch of converging topics in the food security space and yet, after over an hour there was so much we left untouched. It's not the usual food fare for this show, but we started to unpack som...

en-za

35:46

103. Sebastian Nico - Seb Steelworks

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/02/10

In this episode, I chat to Durban chef, photographer and knife-maker Sebastian Amadeo Nico. He's deeply connected to the food world through his father, Marco Nico of Ciao Italia fame, but his path has been somewhat winding - from working in his dad's kitchen at La Storia in the Westville Hotel, to mastering food photography which started out as a bit of a hobby inspired by his mom Kerryne. Along the way he's built motorcycles and taught himself the art of crafting knives - a combination...

en-za

38:52

102. Strone Henry - Kos Gangsta & Side Wing

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/02/03

Send us a text 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

en-za

36:47

101. Turning the Tables on Russel Wasserfall

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/01/29

With 100 episodes of A Table in the Corner in the bag, I felt it might be time to do a biographical insert for episode 101. Some of my guests have asked when the spotlight would fall on me. A few of our regular listeners have also asked via Instagram DMs when I'm going to be interviewed. Jonathan Warncke recently invited me onto his industry-focused podcast 'How to Start a Podcast in South Africa', and I cajoled him into being the guest host on my show - to turn the tables on A Table in...

en-za

47:52

100. George Jardine - Fireman

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/01/27

George Jardine needs very little introduction if you've followed the Western Cape Restaurant scene for any length of time. There was a stretch when he was repeatedly named the best chef in South Africa and his restaurants have been in the local honour rolls regularly over the past two decades. I consider him a friend - even though it took ages for him to agree to appear on the show. Our chat ranged from his early career and getting going in cooking to his current role as the Culinary Director...

en-za

29:27

99. Keanon Michaels - Keanon's Kitchen

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/01/22

Send us a text 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

en-za

28:57

98. Ayesha Bibi - The Charming Chef

A Table in the Corner ·

2025/01/20

Ayesha Bibi (Juwaley) runs a superb little patisserie business out of Makers Landing at the Ocean Cruise Terminal in the V&A Waterfront. We sat down for a chat about her journey from studying film and environmental science at University to being an accomplished pastry chef. After studying at Capsicum Culinary Studio in Cape Town, she joined the kitchen at The One & Only Hotel, where she worked for six years before lighting out on her own. I was keen to understand how one runs an onlin...

en-za

157 results

Similar Podcasts

Start The Breakthrough Full Audiobook Now, Thriller Fans!

thebookvoice.com

Get Hooked On The Life-Enhancing Full Audiobook Experience!

thebookvoice.com

西四五条

主播郑捕头

Podcast Patapoe

0d0a

On Mic Podcast

Jordan Rich