Winter is a time for comfort food, and in a Cape winter there are few restaurants as cosy as Societi Bistro. Rain taps against the over-sized sash windows, while vintage Victorian fireplaces crackle cheerfully with warmth. Apron-clad waiters bustle back and forth as the high ceilings resonate with the burble of happy chatter. Rough brick walls frame daily specials scribbled on chalkboards, as plate after plate of comfort food flows out from the pass of Stéfan Marais’ kitchen.
“There’s something rewarding about long slow cooking methods, like making a cassoulet,” Stéfan tells me earlier in the day, before the rush of dinner service. “To transform a handful of raw ingredients into a beautiful finished dish where it all works so well together. There is something soothing about the whole process.”
It’s a typically relaxed approach from a chef whose small kitchen feeds up to 160 diners on a busy night. But the devil in the Societi kitchen lies in simplicity, says Stéfan.
“Ours is simple food, but cooked slowly and carefully. There are no bought in stocks or shortcuts in my kitchen. A lot of it is rural, peasant food and when it’s cold outside and pouring down with rain there’s a wonderful old-world comfort to it.”
It may be peasant food, but Stéfan has cut his teeth in some decidedly upmarket kitchens. After stints as commis chef – and eventually chef de partie – in London, he took his savings and travelled though Europe for four months, eating his way from Belgium to Italy and Spain.
“I think it was during this big tour of Europe, travelling on a really tight budget, that I just fell in love with simple peasant food. And that fits in with the dishes I love cooking now.”
A spell at Gordon Ramsay’s Royal Hospital Road, and short stints in a handful of Cape Town’s best kitchens, eventually led him to Societi in 2008, where he combines the best of both worlds in a menu he describes as “rural food served in an urban environment, with a lot of French and Italian influence.”
And in keeping with the rustic rural influence, seasonality is a key element of the kitchen, says Stéfan.
“When we do a menu the first thing is to look at what’s in season and available, and then look at what flavours will work together. Our dishes always follow the seasons, so in springtime I’ll do wonderfully simple asparagus dishes. We’re always governed by what’s fresh and in season, and I think that’s a good thing. We have an à la carte menu, but I’ll only keep things on there that I know I can get hold of for those three-months.”
As important as buying seasonally is buying local, and Stéfan puts time and effort into finding reliable local producers.
“We want to support local farmers, and using imported products just makes the dish more expensive… if you look at our menu, we want to offer dishes that are well-priced. Even with vegetables, I try and source what I can locally and we’ve got plans to replant boxes at the back of the restaurant for herbs and tomatoes.”
A poster of SASSI-approved fish has pride of place alongside the pass in Stéfan’s kitchen, and he’s passionate about getting our palates to venture off the beaten track when it comes to seafood: “I always try and use fish species that aren’t really popular, but are extremely sustainable. We had some maasbanker the other day, and I just love cooking with gurnard. It cooks in so many different ways, and stands up to so many different flavours.”
“It’s important to venture away from what you know. I’ve got four different fish suppliers, and by 9am I’ve an idea of what’s fresh off the boats and what’ll be on the menu that evening. Of course the downside is that we sometimes run out of a dish, but I’d much rather run out than serve someone three-day-old fish!”
It’s the same honesty about food that runs throughout Societi Bistro, from the specials crossed off the blackboard as the last portion is sold, to the listing of the (family-owned, local) butcher’s phone number on the menu.
“We’re a busy restaurant with a small kitchen team, and we need to make sure that each and every dish that comes out of the kitchen is up to scratch,” says Stéfan, in a rare serious moment. “The one thing that’s important across the board, whether you’re a small bistro or fine-dining restaurant, is that you have consistency. From flavour to portion size and even your service… customers have to know what to expect and you have to deliver. That’s what keeps people coming back.”
Don’t miss Societi Bistro’s ‘Tastes of Italy & France’, with a three-course regional menu on offer each week until end-November. Visit www.societi.co.za for more.
First published in Food&Home Entertaining; July 2011
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