Homespun is Table View’s answer to fine dining, a gastronomical experience locals and diners from further afield flock to. Owner and chef Matt Schreuder, along with chef Chris de Jongh, wanted to create something post-COVID that was even more spectacular than their previous offering. That’s how they came up with the Secret Supper Club – a 15-course menu that relies on textures, flavours and sounds to transport you back to your youth.

“I have fantasised about creating an immersive and emotive dining experience of this style since working at Pret a Diner (a two-star Michelin restaurant in Berlin) under Tim Raue almost 10 years ago,” Matt explains. “COVID presented us with many challenges, but the silver lining was that it gave us an unexpected gift – the gift of time. Without the distractions of running a busy service every night, the creative juices began to flow. The intention was to give our guests a much-needed night of fun and adventure.”

The journey starts with a trip to his own childhood – an ostrich carpaccio with heady aromas of cinnamon. It’s a dish inspired by his uncle’s venison stew: “I remember thinking at the age of 14 how clever he was to fuse cinnamon with wild deer and how they married so beautifully. It was so unexpected, and it excited me immensely! It opened up my mind to unusual flavour combinations and, with it, a whole new world of possibilities. ‘Serengeti’ is my tribute to that special memory.”

Matt’s ostrich carpaccio

But Matt’s favourite dish on the menu is still to come. Unassumingly called “fish and chips”, it has all of the flavours found at your local fishery, with pops of vinegar throwing you straight into Matt’s past. “I love the immersive aspect of this particular course, as we recreated the childhood memory of my outings to Hout Bay harbour with the seagulls, the live music in the distance and the hustle and bustle – very fond memories indeed,” he says. “I’m incredibly excited by reinventing traditional dishes and giving our diners an opportunity to have a first-time experience with something they know so well.”

For Chris, the best course on the menu has to be “Life is a Picture” – celeriac served in multiple delicious ways. “I love to take produce, such as a humble vegetable, and transform it into a dish with beautiful complexity,” he explains.

Chris’s “Life is a Picture”

Another course you won’t soon forget is the gin-and-tonic lollipop. This one will capture the heart of anyone who remembers dipping their lollipop into a packet of sherbet for a delightful sensory experience. In fact, with 15 dishes, almost everyone is bound to find the experience that transports them back to their childhood.

To enhance the experience even more, Matt is collaborating with Kurt from Cause & Effect to create a cocktail pairing. The team has also started distilling their own gin (the barrel-aged one being particularly memorable) and Matt is in the process of putting together a full range including tonic waters.

The Secret Supper Club costs R1 150 per person and seats 10 people. The experience is available on Mondays only and includes exclusive use of Homespun by Matt for the evening. Wine pairing costs an additional R395.