Award-winning chef Richard Carstens finally has a home in the Cape with the November 2008 launch of his new restaurant Nova.

Carstens has partnered with restaurateur Richard Walsh to reinvent the ground floor of the Relish building in New Church Street and create an elegant and understated space where food will take centre stage.

Nova presents global sophistication: industrial lines contrast with layers of texture in white linen covered chairs and table clothes; ivory upholstered benches; and charcoal floors. The venue is a canvas of muted tones designed to anticipate a burst of colour from the kitchen.

Carstens describes the menu as an evolution of influences experienced during his career. He is attracted to the avant garde movement in modern cuisine but he is grounded in the classic French style. At Nova his cuisine is both inventive and accessible.

Nova’s a la carte menu offers a new dimension to old favourites. Carstens playfulness is captured in the introduction of flowers, and food essences to the plate. Modernity is reflected through the addition of surprise elements rather than as an overarching style.

The a la carte menu will change frequently and could include:

• Prawns with apple, wasabi, almonds and orange
• Aubergine with tomato, asparagus, hazelnuts and truffles
• Beef fillet fondant with mushrooms and béarnaise
• Ostrich fillet with beetroot, and yoghurt curry

Carstens continues to express his passion for unexpected ice-creams and sorbets including: eucalyptus ice-cream, almond and green tea ice-cream and his famed Gorgonzola ice-cream.

A degustation (tasting) menu has also been created to attract a more adventurous diner and to give Carstens the freedom to push boundaries in the kitchen. A succession of seven small dishes will offer a memorable experience with unusual combinations of seasonal ingredients and multiple textures, as well as new cooking techniques and concepts.

The degustation menu will awaken creativity in even the most jaded artist: frozen citrus domes with caramelized caviar; oysters with sesame puddings and lemon pith pectin; salmon with salted apricot emulsion turnip sorbet and jade; and green apple snow balls cooked with liquid nitrogen.

The degustation menu is R325 a person.

Richard Carstens has won numerous accolades for his innovative work and his restaurants have consistently been listed in Eat Out magazine’s top 10 South African restaurants since 2001. He has received much praise from international media including Condé Nast Traveller Magazine and in 2005 he was named Chef of the Year by Eat Out.

More details about the restaurant, menus and prices