Inside South Africa's Restaurant of the Year: A conversation with Executive Chef Ryan Cole, Salsify at The Roundhouse

Perched high above the Atlantic inside a 1786 national monument, Salsify at The Roundhouse has become one of Cape Town’s most quietly powerful dining rooms. Led by Ryan Cole, the restaurant blends seasonality, sustainability and storytelling into an experience that extends far beyond the plate. Recently named South Africa’s Restaurant of the Year and ranked on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 51–100 list, Salsify represents a new kind of fine dining, one rooted in place, guided by restraint, and driven by a deep sense of responsibility to ingredients, people and history. Here, The Knife is exclusively in conversation with Ryan to find out more.

Salsify Executive Chef Ryan Cole / Image: Jan Ras Photography

• Let’s start with the obvious: Salsify has become one of South Africa’s defining fine dining restaurants. What do you think makes it resonate so deeply, both with local diners and the international community who’ve now put you on the World’s 50 Best map?

I think Salsify resonates so deeply with diners because it’s more than a meal, it’s an experience. From the moment you walk in, you are forced to slow down and be present, it’s a multi-sensory experience from when you enter up until you leave.

• You’ve worked in some of London’s most respected kitchens: The Square, La Trompette, The Test Kitchen. How did that classical, high-intensity training influence your approach when you came home to Cape Town to create Salsify?

I’ve been lucky to work for a few great chefs in my career, who albeit were different in style, but all shared the same philosophy: that food should be delicious above all else. Speaking to seasons and sourcing of the best possible ingredients, which is something we have honoured at Salsify, making dishes seem effortlessly technical while still staying true to their ingredients is a key principle for us.

• Your cooking draws on nature: the mountains, the Atlantic, the seasons. Can you describe how those surroundings shape the rhythm of your menu development throughout the year?

Everything we do is led by the seasons. I spend a lot of my free time in nature walking our two dogs, I love fishing and the outdoors, and things constantly catch my eye. And what grows together goes together, and being in a national park, the seasons and the changes stare us in the face every day, making our jobs really easy.

Salsify exterior / Image: Jan Ras Photography

• You famously "catch what you cook", sourcing seafood directly through your family’s fishing roots. How does that hands-on approach change your relationship with the ingredients, and how do guests respond when they learn their fish was caught by the chef himself?

I think coming from a fishing family, it’s been ingrained in me that we need to respect our ingredients and produce, and the hard work of those who catch, harvest and breed. With that in mind, I look at everything that comes in, and how best to treat and showcase it all.

• Seasonality and sustainability are often cited, but few chefs live it as fully as you do. What are some of the toughest creative decisions you’ve had to make in staying true to those principles?

I think the challenge of being seasonal and hyperlocal is in itself the beauty. It would be easy to have truffles from all over the world and foie gras flown in on our menu, but the mastery that comes from turning the ordinary and overlooked ingredients into something truly special and delicious is what motivates us as a team.

• The Roundhouse is a 1786 national monument. How do you balance the weight of that history with Salsify’s forward-looking, almost post-modern culinary identity?

We use our setting and building as a pillar of storytelling. Celebrating the fact that we have a national monument in a country with a dark past, we get the opportunity to write its future and change what it stands for and represents going forward. I take our role as custodians of this space as a duty to use it as a platform to showcase up-and-coming talent in all spheres of creativity.

Perilla leaf, yellowtail, coconut & lime / Image: Jan Ras Photography

• Salsify’s interior design and guest journey – from the ceremonial hand-washing to the Preservation Chamber – feels almost theatrical. How involved were you in shaping that experience, and why do those sensory rituals matter to you?

I have led every part of the creative process, and have worked with many like-minded talents to bring it all to life; the saying necessity is the key to innovation couldn’t be truer in our space. I think making it a sensory experience is what our diners want and seek out. But it’s always delicious first.

• You’ve built a team that champions inclusivity and diversity. How do you translate that ethos into your kitchen culture, and what kind of legacy do you want to leave for young South African chefs coming through your doors?

I want young chefs to look at me and think, he did it and so can I. Nothing is impossible and there is no substitute for hard work.

• Your wine list is regarded as one of the country’s most progressive, showcasing female and black-owned producers alongside classic vintages. How do you see the conversation around diversity in wine evolving alongside food?

As one of the country’s leading restaurants, it’s our duty to lead the charge on the wave of change. And our wine list is another example of that, we need to celebrate diversity and make room for more people of colour, more women, and we need to champion change.

Zambian honey, mead vinegar dressing & pepino melon / Image: Jan Ras Photography

• Having earned South Africa’s "Restaurant of the Year" and a place among the world’s best, what does success look like to you now, and how do you keep from plateauing after such recognition?

Success has always looked the same to me. A full restaurant. Staff who are doing well and growing and learning. Adding more staff means we get to change more lives and create more opportunity. This is why I do what I do.

• There’s a confidence and restraint in your food, it's intelligent yet unfussy. Where do you draw the line between refinement and over-design?

I believe if we are able to look at what we do with a critical eye and a hunger for progress, we cannot plateau, and it’s my job to challenge the team and what we do, and keep questioning why we do what we do, and if it could be better. I’ve always been taught less is more and a chef's confidence is shown via what he can take off a plate instead of what's added on.

• Looking ahead, what excites you most about the next chapter for Salsify and for Cape Town’s dining scene more broadly?

Looking ahead I want to see Cape Town grow, and be seen as a good city for diners from across the globe and I’m excited for Salsify to be a part of that. 

Visit Salsify at The Roundhouse