The culinary mastermind behind Cape Town’s newest restaurant, Terrarium, located at the Queen Victoria Hotel at the V&A Waterfront, chef Chris Erasmus is well known for his talent in the kitchen, his innovative approach to cooking and his unwavering passion for sustainability.  

Recently, he’s been quite busy, not only launching Terrarium, but also taking on the role of group head chef of Newmark Hotels & Reserves.  

With a drive to implement holistic changes and a strong focus on establishing more sustainable processes and systems within all areas of a business, Chris has a lot of insight to share. We chatted with him about where he hopes to take the hotel-restaurant industry. 

What inspired you to become a chef?  

My two biggest passions since I was young have been chemistry and nature, and through cooking, I can apply both with a unique approach – understanding the science but still staying in close connection with nature. Also, being very hyperactive, I found that kitchens and the controlled chaos have always been my calling! 

What prompted you to take on the opportunity at Newmark Hotels & Reserves? 

Well, CEO Neil Markovitz approached me and explained his vision for the company – making it “greener” and more sustainable – and I saw that as a challenge in a system that has always needed it.  

He created the position within Newmark and the rest is history. Our ideas align well, and it feels good making a difference on a larger scale. 

In your opinion, what makes a restaurant sustainable and/or eco-conscious? 

I think it starts with our supply chain. Restaurants that hold their suppliers responsible for every aspect of the product they deliver: transparency in traceability, packaging, transport and delivery systems, sourcing from the community and how they employ.  

How we treat and look after our staff is the most important – our industry has had a bad reputation in the past and with mental health and a good work environment being at the forefront, the conscious restaurants are looking after their people.  

Eco-conscious for me means staying local and regional with our sourcing first and keeping the money in the areas where we can make a difference. 

What do you hope to achieve while working as a chef in the hotel industry? 

To see more involvement with the local small-scale suppliers and growers and keeping the flavours and ingredients local to the immediate surroundings. Celebrate regional South African food and limit imported products and the use of large supply companies. 

Can you shed light on how you are redefining the hotel restaurant experience with the opening of Terrarium? 

Food, music, art, nature and a sense of belonging… We are giving a “fine dineing” experience in a casual and cool way – guests are not room numbers and we don’t want to feed you, we want you to engage in our passion and story.  

What challenges have you faced? 

Set institutions have set ways, and sometimes it’s hard to change something that has been working well for a long period. Hotels have strict routines for a reason, so it takes a lot more planning and communication to do something more “à la minute”. 

Can you highlight three changes that you’ve made, which fall in line with your core values as a chef advocating for sustainability and traceability?  

I have moved away from cooking prime meat cuts for a long time now – I like the more unknown cuts, which should be celebrated in the same way. 

Using small family-owned businesses as a set standard throughout the Newmark properties – knowing that when you pay an invoice you are supporting people and their lives. 

Keeping supply and ingredients as local to each demographic as possible and advocating for regional flavours in all our properties – no ocean fish in the bush etc. 

With a strong passion for locality and sourcing local produce, how have you facilitated community engagement/sourcing with Newmark hotels?   

Yes, each of our off-the-grid properties supports their smaller family butcheries and suppliers – as much as is logistically and practically possible. In Cape Town, we work closely with community projects and gardens as much as we can, and our suppliers have to do the same to be on board for business.   

Can you highlight three dishes on the menu at Terrarium that showcase your passion for sustainability and local produce sourcing? 

Our tomato tartar uses tomatoes from a few local gardens, tomato leaves from ours, foraged herbs and the leftover whey from the cheesecake dish, where we split our own milk, that makes the vinaigrette – zero wastage. 

The cheesecake gets made from all our old sour milk and the whey goes to the tomato. 

The bread and gravy on the small-plates menu is done with all the bread crusts, smoked brisket trimmings and vegetable offcuts – it’s one of my favourite dishes. 

Our vegetables come from a few suppliers all sourced from the surrounding communities. Legends like Cape Honey Bee, Meuse Farm and, of course, our own small veggie-growing set-up in boxes in the Waterfront. 

 

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As an avid and well-known forager, how are you incorporating foraging within the hotel restaurant dining experience?  

We do forage where it is safe and allowed, but we also rely a lot on our small suppliers to “keep the weeds” in their gardens.  

My head chef, Anlou Erasmus, lives in Hout Bay close to Meuse Farm and he will forage with the staff when picking up our veggies and “weeds”. 

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