Seventh heaven: FYN restaurant unveils sleek new look ahead of anniversary
Chefs Peter Tempelhoff, Ashley Moss, and service director Jennifer Hugé marked the milestone with a full-scale renovation led by interior architect Tristan du Plessis.
The update includes a new layout, redesigned kitchen and service pass, new furniture, and an immersive sensory layer.
Cape Town's neoteric Afro-Japanese restaurant FYN has reopened with a new and evolved sleek designed interior before its seventh anniversary in November.
FYN, owned by chefs Peter Tempelhoff, Ashley Moss, and Jennifer Hugé, has been at the forefront of South African fine dining since opening seven years ago.
'In restaurants, there's an unspoken rule about the seven-year cycle,' says Tempelhoff.
'Spaces start to show their age, no matter how timeless the design. At FYN, we've had guests dine with us over 60 times. We wanted to give them something worthy of that loyalty.'
Supplied/FYN Restaurant Group
FYN opened in 2018 and is housed in a former silk factory on Speaker's Corner, Cape Town.
Over the past seven years, Tempelhoff, Moss and Hugé have orchestrated the restaurant's rise and consistently refined its philosophy.
They have also expanded their culinary empire by adding three more upscale establishments: Beyond, Ramenhead and Sushiya, collectively forming the FYN Restaurant Group.
Inside FYN's sleek new interior
Interior architect Tristan du Plessis redesigned the layout, reconfigured the kitchen flow, and added new furniture. Working with Guideline's Christoff Karl, he created a new entrance hall with Japanese-etched black panels, brass inlays, and LED lighting.
'The refurbishment was conceived as a subtle evolution rather than a renovation, focused on enhancing the guest experience without changing the essence of the space,' explains Du Plessis, whose portfolio includes Clay restaurant in Bahrain and Cape Town's Gorgeous George Hotel.
The dining room keeps FYN's signature ceiling installation, but now has dark wooden floors and a deep olive, rich chestnut, and brass palette. Custom tables with brass inlays and new leather-cushioned chairs complete the look. A blue LEGO block mounted to an I-beam adds a playful touch.
A large oil painting by Jaco van Schalkwyk replaces the stairwell mural. It depicts a Cape kelp forest, maintaining the restaurant's focus on South African ecosystems.
Evolving the Afro-Japanese menu
The seasonal menu, led by culinary director Moss, continues to explore South African landscapes and indigenous ingredients through Japanese techniques.
The FYN Restaurant Group tells News24 Food that the menu will strongly focus on indigenous ingredients, locality, heritage flavours, and the Cape's natural abundance, with a commitment to integrating edible plants and seasonal specialities like kelp.
Chef Moss has also highlighted that spring is a perfect time for kelp and will maximise this season going forward.
'We're diving deeper into South Africa's landscapes, from the Cape's wild coastline to the mountainside slopes of fynbos, exploring indigenous ingredients with the precision of Japanese technique,' he explains.
The FYN menu will focus of locality and heritage ingredients.
Supplied/FYN Restaurant Group
In a previous interview, Tempelhoff said that seasonality forces innovation across the kitchens of the FYN portfolio, including Ramenhead, Sushiya, and Beyond.
'We're really blessed in South Africa to be away from the rest of the world. When you start foraging, you realise we're so intrinsically connected to the seasons that it forces us to be creative and plan ahead.'
New cutlery, glassware, and crockery allow for more tableside interaction.
READ | Cape Town restaurant makes history by earning first three-star sustainable rating in Africa
Sommelier and Service Director Hugé has expanded the cocktail programme with an 'Elemental' series inspired by the Cape's natural abundance.
'There's so much beautiful produce unique to the Cape,' says Hugé, 'and there are exciting ways it can be used in cocktails to create a real sense of place.'
Supplied/FYN Restaurant
Supplied/FYN Restaurant Group
FYN sources ingredients from small suppliers in Japan and local South African producers.
Tempelhoff partnered with Hugé and Moss in 2018 to create the 'neoteric' Afro-Japanese menu, earning international recognition, including a two-knife ranking in the 2024 Best Chef Awards and Relais & Châteaux membership.
'For us, this is not a reinvention, it's an evolution,' he says. 'The bones are the same, but everything else is fresher, sleeker, smarter, and more alive.'
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