The ‘hidden treasures’ rice pudding at one of Faith Rubin’s previous Vietnamese-themed events. Photo supplied.

It’s food for thought, alright – and something only 30 lucky Joburgers will be able to experience on 13 May – a one-off dinner from the ever-surprising cook and designer Faith Rubin. Her latest event at The Kitchen on the 4th Floor in New Doornfontien is a waste-not-want-not, nose-to-tail affair, dubbed A Cook’s Table | Scraps from the Kitchen | The New Austerity.

Resembling a Vogue editor with her chic grey bob, Faith Rubin of dishes.creative.food is a trend setter and spotter, fashionista and designer who’s created food lines for chefs. “At the moment, I’m also excited by using very traditional, old South African flavours in newer ways,” Faith reveals.

For the event, even the arrival cocktails are ‘austere’, concocted with peels of naartjies and ginger, exquisite cordials and bubbly. The starters are ravioli of fish cheeks (the leftovers that chefs fight over), with an exotic-tasting fumet made with scraps of radish, spring onion and mushrooms. The main dish is chicken done four ways: as a herby roulade of breast, sticky moskonfyt wings, brown-meat spicy sausages, and crackling of chicken skin. The vegetable and potato accompaniments are cunningly made from the parts we often bin. The dessert plays with chocolate crumbles from a ‘disaster’ cake, with toasted hazelnuts, Faith’s own artisanal ice cream flavoured with powdered naartjie peel, and a syrupy pear with ginger. Guests should bring their own wine or spirits, but there will be lovely cordials on offer.

We’re excited that good-conscience food is being celebrated in style.

The Kitchen on the 4th floor is at Morkel House, 31 Voorhout Street, New Doornfontein. Tickets for A Cook’s Table on Friday 13 May cost R385 per person. Find out more on the Facebook event.

*Please note that the date of this event has changed. It was previously set to take place on 29 April, but has been re-scheduled to 13 May.