Cape Town - Cape Town restaurant Fyn has secured the 37th spot in the 2022 list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
This year’s winners were revealed at an awards ceremony in London on Sunday, crowning the fine-dining restaurant that sets out to mould the wildness and beauty of South Africa as one of the top dining establishments in the world.
It was April as co-owner Peter Tempelhoff was visiting his family in Durban that a call from his team came in.
They had spotted an email headed “The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2022” followed by a confidentiality warning. “Surreal” doesn’t begin to describe the moments that followed.
“We had to read it and re-read it a few times, sending it to each other to pick it apart and ensure there was no mistake,” Tempelhoff recalled.
Beyond the honour of making the cut, their scepticism was rooted in their 2021 ranking by the same body when they made the 51 to 100 list. But it was true, Fyn appeared to have jumped from 92 to 37 within the top 50 in just a year.
Burying the news until the awards ceremony in London, the restaurant went into focus mode, meticulously testing dishes and assessing what makes the menu.
Quick to share the honour with his partners, culinary director Ashley Moss and service and beverage director Jennifer Hugé, Tempelhoff’s passion for exploring Africa’s narrative and celebrating its most sublime ingredients drives the restaurant.
“We’ve gotten to where we are by pushing the boundaries and by constantly innovating with a fresh offering. We try not to become too stagnant,” he said.
With sharp-pencilled critics, constant menu development, and a new hole-in-the-wall ramen restaurant opening in September, “stagnation” is unlikely.
Here is a full list of the 2022 winners.