As well as opening PotLuck Club Johannesburg, Luke Dale Roberts has been busy in Cape Town too, where his new SALON, at the Old Biscuit Mill, has opened, offering a classy take on a European-style salon.

“From the start I wanted the feel of this new restaurant to draw on the concept of a traditional European salon,” Dale Roberts says. “It’s created a space that is as much about the food and drinks as the people around you.”

Dale Roberts turned to long-time interior collaborator, designer Maurice Paliaga, who contrasted thoroughly contemporary elements with tones and textures that resonate with both the heritage of the building and the traditional salon concept.

Interior of SALON. (Photo: Supplied)

Diners arrive at SALON through a bright golden portal, a striking entrance into a more traditional salon space of Victorian-style floors and classical marble-topped bistro tables. With SALON housed within the precinct’s historic silo building, transforming the gridded structure into a more enveloping space required a highly creative approach.

Golden domes and Art-Deco patterning soften the square dimensions of the room, while Venetian plasterwork and vintage-style filament lamps bring both texture and warmth.

“Luke also felt it was important that SALON was broken up into various areas, and so our plan created a general seating area backed by an elegant bar and banquettes, while intimate dining spaces feature just behind a series of arches,” says Paliaga.

The SALON menu marks something of a return to the heady days of The Test Kitchen, once rated as the best restaurant in Africa.

Lamb smiley and dombolo. (Photo: Supplied)

“The ‘Dark Room’ experience was, for me, the high point of The Test Kitchen at the time, so I decided to emulate that here at SALON,” says Dale Roberts. “On the Journey menu, I’ve taken each country that I’ve worked in and created a signature dish from that country’s culinary heritage. I really wanted this menu to be small, focused and interactive. I want people to come along on a voyage that really shows my evolution and influences as a chef.”

Part of that journey has been building teams of talented people, and working alongside Dale Roberts in creating the menu was Carla Schulze, Head Development Chef.

Luke Dale Roberts and Carla Schulze. (Photo: Supplied)

“Even though she has been behind the scenes, Carla has really been instrumental in creating this experience,” says Dale Roberts. “We have become an incredible team, and we work extremely well together in bringing concepts for dishes to life.”

The nine-course Journey menu begins with a dish that was a perennial favourite in the Dark Room; Pork Scratchings with Guinness foam. In true Dale Roberts style it’s an apparently simple plate reinvented to offer layers of texture and flavour.

Not your usual Sunday Roast. (Photo: Supplied)

This is the only dish rebooted from the original Dark Room menu, with all other courses being new. The inventive take on a classic Sunday roast celebrates the chef’s English roots, while Dale Roberts’s time in Asia is expressed in the fragrant Singapore chilli, Malaysian-style laksa and Korean beef kalbi. But perhaps the highlight is in the two thoroughly South African plates; as Dale Roberts conjures a playful take on a shisanyama staple, and ends his journey with a traditional South African dessert.

Beef Kalbi at SALON. (Photo: Supplied)

“The Journey menu is a real snapshot of my life as a chef,” says Dale Roberts. “It takes my decades of travelling, tasting and cooking in some incredible kitchens around the world, and condenses it all into a nine-course exploration of all the wonderful flavours and dishes I’ve encountered along the way.”

The Journey menu is priced at R1,100 per person, with a condensed version of four courses – The Explorer – available at R550 per person.  These menus are also available as a pairing menu, with dishes matched to one of the small-batch wines, beers and saké. Or choose signature cocktails from SALON’s carefully curated drinks collection. DM

SALON is open from Tuesdays through to Saturdays, and guests can reserve their “Journey” or “Explorer” timeslots between 6pm and 9pm.

1st Floor, silo building, The Old Biscuit Mill, 375 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town. For bookings and more information visit: www.salonct.co.za or call 087 093 5890 during normal business hours.