Chef and storyteller Warren Mendes is turning the spotlight on Cape Town’s food scene in a new international series, revisiting the city through the flavours, traditions and communities that shaped his early years.
While filming Food Trail: South Africa, Mr Mendes moved through the city not as a tourist, but as someone reconnecting with the place that shaped his earliest food memories, and experiences that highlight Cape Town’s contrasts.
From the spice-filled kitchens of Bo-Kaap to the quiet simplicity of fish and chips in Simon’s Town, the city reveals its offerings in the forms of street food and fine dining, tradition and reinvention, and memory and discovery.
“Cape Town is such a feast for the eyes. But you realise it is just such a feast for the mouth… because it just has so many incredible flavours,” he said. “I think there are a few cities in the world which have such a broad spectrum of flavour,” he said
In Bo-Kaap, he cooks a Cape Malay curry alongside local cook Faeeza Abrahams. The experience, he shared, challenged assumptions he had carried for years.
Having left South Africa at a young age, Mr Mendes said he had always associated curry with Indian cuisine. “Cape Malay food has its own identity, which is beautiful,” he said.
Cooking in a home kitchen, he found the experience went beyond the plate. “It’s not entirely about the food — it’s about bringing people together,” he said, pointing to the role food plays in connection and community.
That sense of grounding continues in Khayelitsha, where he meets micro-farmers working on small-scale urban agriculture projects. Mr Mendes, it was a reminder that food culture is not defined by fine dining alone.
“We always talk about the finest produce and farm-to-fork,” he says, “but you forget that most people eat differently. Seeing farming on a micro scale shows you it doesn’t need to be massive to be meaningful.”
Meanwhile, a stop in Simon’s Town for fish and chips becomes one of the most memorable experiences of the journey, he said. “It’s the simplest things that are the most enjoyable. Fresh fish, crispy batter, salt flakes, malt vinegar… wrapped in newspaper. That excites me more than a million courses in a fine dining restaurant.”
From street food to wine estates in the Cape Winelands, Mr Mendes said he sees the city as a place defined by range rather than restraint.
“If Cape Town had a flavour, it would be like popping candy – sweet, vibrant, but constantly surprising.”
For a chef who has cooked across the world, Mr Mendes said his home is not just a destination revisited - it's a reminder that home is not a fixed point but a flavour that keeps evolving.
The first episode, which focuses on Cape Town, airs this Sunday, April 26, on Food Network Africa (DStv 175).
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