Le Bistrot de JAN opened this month and, much like its sister restaurants in the South of France, feels destined to be a hit for its delicious yet not overly complicated food and, of course, a sense of place.
In Cape Town, the bistro feels sexy and a touch jazzy, with a French bistro vibe with a hint of pastis and chartreuse in the air. There’s a sense that Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen is unshackling himself from the weight of Michelin expectation, and he wants to play a little — yet still doing it all with crystal and silverware.
Deep blue panelled walls frame the spacious restaurant of booths and bistro chairs, and waiters wear French berets and bandanas.
Deep blue panelled walls, bistro seating and booth-style tables define the interior of Le Bistrot de JAN Cape Town. (Supplied)
A decade ago, JAN in Nice catapulted Van der Westhuizen into the spotlight when he became South Africa’s first Michelin-starred chef and arguably its most celebrated culinary export. “This is a non-fussy eatery,” he says. “Quality first, service second — and most of all, it’s the space and the people.”
After opening Le Bistrot de JAN next door to the Michelin-starred restaurant a year ago, Cape Town is the next chapter. Here, the menu is a “concise a la carte”, not the elaborate multi-course experience JAN is known for. South African flavours are threaded through French technique; this is not about jus and foams and complicated food, it’s comfort food done exceptionally well.
And while JAN recently earned its Michelin star for the 10th consecutive year, one senses these new bistros are a way of reclaiming a certain playfulness, something that might slip when one is constantly cooking for and ticking the boxes for “the Michelin men”.
The Cape Town bistro follows the opening of Le Bistrot de JAN in Nice, which sits alongside the Michelin-starred JAN restaurant. (Supplied)
At the launch, he moved through the room with his trademark warmth and ease, keeping an eye on the final flurry of opening-day details. The V&A Waterfront is in the midst of major redevelopment and expansion — including the reopening of the Intercontinental Table Bay Hotel, which opens this month after a total overhaul. So, there’s a touch of construction-site frenzy in the air.
JAN’s cooking has always drawn heavily on his South African roots — his grandmother’s mieliepap, panna cotta and chakalaka among them. It’s about South African soul and French technique. These roots are clear in Cape Town too: the sublime sole, a sensational chicken pie (a sensational tarte au poulet with truffle sauce, cut into a shape that feels a little Picasso-meets- Cocteau); even the Caesar salad is excellent.
Nostalgia is woven through everything he does. At 18, arriving in Cape Town from his family farm in Middelburg to study cooking in Stellenbosch, Van der Westhuizen visited the Table Bay Hotel and ordered his first cognac in the bar. “I wanted to splurge”.
It’s the same spot where his new bar is today.
Signature dishes include sole, a tarte au poulet with truffle sauce, and a classic Caesar salad. (Supplied)
He imagines Le Bistrot de JAN Cape Town as somewhere to pop in for a martini, a solo lunch, or to linger into the evening. A “ladies’ lunch” spot with a beautiful salad wedge, perfect fries and a cold martini. A bar with a resident band on Thursdays, and a solo singer over weekends. The space is larger than the Nice bistro, simply because the V&A — Africa’s busiest tourist precinct — demands it.
For the scale of his brand, the details remain intensely personal. When he flew in a few weeks before opening, his luggage was filled with silver cutlery sourced from markets in France — handpicked pieces for his new Cape Town restaurant.
Though he lives in France, his South African footprint keeps expanding. KleinJAN at Tswalu Kalahari opened in 2021 as a celebration of regional heritage (before a devastating drought damaged the building earlier this year) and it closed. JAN Franschhoek remains an intimate, communal dining pop-up at La Motte. His books and magazines continue to blend food, design, memory and visual storytelling — which makes sense for someone who trained in photography and design before becoming a chef.
A dedicated cheese room offers guests a curated “tour de fromage” experience. (Supplied)
Running the Cape Town bistro is Giles Edwards — best known for La Tête — who Van der Westhuizen met in 2018 while filming a TV show. “It was a foodie bromance,” Jan laughs. They kept in touch. “Then I was like Gilesie, Cape Town needs you.’”
Edwards’ passion for French cuisine, head-to-tail cooking and respect for culinary heritage dovetails with JAN’s ethos. Expect malva pudding, crème caramel, chocolate mousse and rice pudding from Jan’s childhood, alongside Edwards’ beef cheeks, braised haricots verts and of course the beloved madeleines from La Tete days.
“Giles is so passionate about French cuisine, about head-to-tail; everything we stand for.” Both have an appreciation for what came before and integrate food learnings from their respective grandmothers.
Jan says the food philosophy is fun, with a hint of naughty. “We don’t think about calories, we think about deliciousness. We definitely work in memories.”
Silver cutlery used in the restaurant was sourced by Van der Westhuizen from markets in France and brought to Cape Town. (Supplied)
A touch of irreverence comes through in the inclusion of items from his collaboration with Checkers’ Forage & Feast brand — wine, spreads, cheeses — some of which now feature on the bistro’s menu. And the opening feels like a symbolic homecoming: when JAN first opened in a converted garage in Nice in 2013, the New York Times declared it a must-visit Riviera spot within 36 hours.
Designed by Source Interior Brand Architecture in collaboration with Van der Westhuizen, the space features those signature blue walls and custom artworks by Cape Town duo Jana + Koos, whose playful illustrations are a reminder that dining, above all, should be fun. There’s a dedicated cheese room offering a “tour de fromage”, a relaxed bar for cocktails or light bites, and live music on selected evenings inject charm and “remind guests that dining should be fun”.
“I needed something fresh,” he says. “I wanted to feel young again, less pressure. I just want to cook, meet people and have a good time.”
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Dining and Cooking