• Marble Cape Town will offer a sensory experience with live-fire cooking and breathtaking views of the Waterfront harbour, Table Mountain, and city lights. 
• The new spot will have an open-plan kitchen, a seafood focus, and a design highlighting its surroundings. 
• The restaurant will focus on simplicity and honest, tasty food, keeping fire and meat central to the dining experience.

The aroma of sizzling meats, fish, and grilled Mediterranean-style vegetables fills the air, accompanied by casual banter with renowned chef David Higgs and the Marble Hospitality Group.

In the corner of your eye, you catch glimpses of his team searing various protein cuts over hypnotic flames, the scent of their signature woodfired focaccia wafting in the air, all while soaking up panoramic views of the Waterfront harbour, Table Mountain, and the city lights.

The group has yet to announce an official opening date. But these are just some sensory moments you can expect at Marble Cape Town later this year.

The traditions of fire and meat are embedded in South African culture. Marble Cape Town will aim to embody this tradition in its Western Cape location with a coastal twist.

Like the original Johannesburg restaurant, the Cape Town location will feature an open-plan kitchen and live-fire cooking. While the menu is still being developed, Higgs assures Marble fans and future guests that they can expect similar dishes cooked on the fire.

“By no stretch is it fine dining,” he clarifies. “It’s just about good products that we do as little as possible to—honest, tasty food. I love the simplicity of the offering and the uncomplicated [way of] cooking. We don’t overmanipulate the product. It’s cooked on the fire.” 

The 800m² space will seat approximately 220 people. It will also feature a wine cellar, wraparound patio and sundowner-ready bar. 

Higgs, Gary Kyriacou, Irene Kyriacou, and Dino Constantinou form the management of the Marble Hospitality Group. 

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Their award-winning restaurants include Marble Johannesburg, Saint, Zioux, and The Pantry, a luxury convenience store in Rosebank, Gauteng.

“Cooking on fire will still be first and foremost, but being on the coast, there will be a bit more focus on seafood,” Higgs says. 

Styling Ode to the Cape

Marble Cape Town will be housed in the historic dockside building of the Union Castle. While it is still under construction, Marble Group’s interior director, Irene Kyriacou, reveals that the space is designed to complement the area’s stunning views and vibrant energy.  

The location and 360° views have provided the interiors’ overall direction, ensuring they don’t overshadow what’s happening outside.

“We’re aiming to make the best of the views, so everything we’ve done about the ceiling installations and the choices we’ve made for the floors, furniture and our walls, even the art in the space. Everything happening outside will be art for the interiors – the sky, the mountain and the clouds – it will all be part of the restaurant’s beauty in a thoughtful manner.” 

The colour palette is muted and neutral, with a darker blue tone. It reflects the ocean and sky while maintaining Marble’s signature peacock colours. 

“Our outside of the restaurant is an extension of the indoor dining space and bar, and everything I’ve chosen for this space is quite muted so that it doesn’t take away from the beauty around us. I’ve incorporated design pieces that are sexy, sophisticated and complimentary to the restaurant.”

Additionally, the restaurant incorporates a unique interpretation of Cape Dutch style, with bespoke elements and surprises in various areas. 

Menu under construction

Like the current building site at the Waterfront, the Marble Cape Town menu is also under construction. Seafood and the Cape’s food history will feature prominently on the menu.

“Meat will always be what we’re about,” says Higgs. “It’s the part of our offering that we always wanted to do and what we felt we could add to the landscape in Cape Town. Logically, there will be a bigger seafood option, but we know South Africans like meat, and we like giving people what they want.”

Marble, South Africa’s award-winning live-fire restaurant, is gearing up to set Cape Town alight.

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Higgs started his culinary journey in the early 1990s, gaining valuable experience at numerous high-end restaurants.  

He later founded the Higgs School for Good Cooking in Cape Town and oversaw operations at Leinster Hall. In 2004, he joined Meerendal Wine Farm, where he successfully established the farm’s food and beverage outlets. 

“Not all chefs are good at sharing and teaching, and they can be quite impatient, me included. I think it’s rewarding when people are receptive to it, and they see growth.”

A big challenge in South African restaurants is working with unskilled labour and having to “teach as you go.” 

“It’s rare that you get someone in your kitchen, other than your head chef and maybe your sous, with a wealth of information. It’s rewarding to nurture those who want it. You can teach people how to cook, but you can’t teach love for food and a product.” 

He is also consistently learning from his mistakes to improve his new menu.

“We’ve also learned over the years that you must be very careful with the maturation of the meats and whether they are dried or wet. Working on fire means high temperatures, and grass-fed is tricky,” says Higgs. 

“Fish dries out quickly on the fire, and some fish is just a no-no on the fire, especially in the restaurant environment where you’re not eating straight from the fire – got to be plated, and then people are taking pics, and by the time they do eat it it’s so dried out. But these are valuable lessons I’ve learned, and we’ve adapted.” 

Marble seeks to celebrate meat and honour flame.

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Chef Matt van Niekerk will head the kitchen team.

Van Niekerk has been with the Marble Group since 2018 as part of the original Saint team.  

He currently heads the pass at Marble Johannesburg.

“I’ve been so lucky to work alongside Chef David Higgs for the last few years; he’s shown me it all. I’ve also long-admired Marco Pierre White,” says Van Niekerk.