Cape Grace’s Heirloom under new stewardship
The Best City, The Best Hotel, The Best View—and Now the Menu to Match
At Cape Grace’s Heirloom, Chef Wesli Jacobs delivers a summer menu worthy of Cape Town’s world-beating status
There are few places where the convergence of city, sea, and mountain feels quite so cinematic. Cape Town, with its dramatic topography and cosmopolitan pulse, has long held the crown as Africa’s most seductive destination. At its heart, the Cape Grace hotel remains a bastion of elegance, perched between the V&A Waterfront and the shadow of Table Mountain. Now, with the arrival of Chef Wesli Jacobs’ first full menu at Heirloom, its signature restaurant, the culinary offering finally matches the view.
Jacobs, who took the reins in May, has spent the past months quietly refining his vision. The result is a summer menu that speaks with clarity and confidence—an ode to South Africa’s rich culinary heritage, elevated without pretension. His cooking is rooted in memory, shaped by the land, and delivered with the kind of restraint that only comes from deep understanding.
A Menu That Speaks of Place
Heirloom’s new offering is a masterclass in simplicity. No culinary pyrotechnics, no overwrought plating. Instead, Jacobs leans into the power of provenance. “It’s cooking from the heart,” he says, “with a deep respect for where we come from.” Each dish is a chapter in a story that spans generations, cultures, and landscapes.
The Abalobi sashimi is a standout—linefish caught hours before service, paired with candied chili, avocado emulsion, and grapefruit. It’s a dish that captures the immediacy of the coast and the brightness of summer. The Mozambican lobster, weighing in at a generous kilogram, arrives with biryani rice, hand-cut chips, and a house-made peri-peri sauce. It’s indulgent, yes, but never showy.
Then there’s the Karoo pap and vleis, served beneath a cloche that releases the unmistakable aroma of a South African braai. It’s theatre, certainly, but in service of something deeper: nostalgia, pride, and place. Dessert is a milk tart mille feuille—French technique meets local comfort, executed with wit and finesse.
More Than a Meal
Beyond the dining room, Cape Grace is evolving. The poolside terrace reopens this month as a Riviera-inspired escape, complete with Mediterranean menu and cocktails designed for languid afternoons. The Library, meanwhile, now pours serious Champagnes and South African MCCs by the glass—a quiet nod to the kind of luxury that whispers rather than shouts.
Why It Matters
Cape Town is a city that rewards curiosity. Its beauty is obvious, but its depth is revealed slowly—in galleries, in neighbourhoods, and increasingly, at the table. Heirloom, under Jacobs’ stewardship, is now part of that conversation. It’s a place to linger, to taste, and to understand.
This summer, book the table. Order the lobster. Stay for the cheese trolley. Cape Town has never looked—or tasted—better.
