Cilantro’s new and refreshed look is paired perfectly with the restaurants Mediterranean influences.
Duck is Cilantro’s signature dish and new chef Samantha Housden takes pleasure in finding new ways to present one of their favourites. On hot days you may find duck paired with pumpkin pie and honey chai reduction and on chilly nights it’s served with a port and chocolate sauce and vanilla risotto. Yum! Other mouth-watering combinations include duck with beetroot mash and orange, lavender, honey glaze, or crème fraiche mash and peach beurre blanc.
Chef Housden
Housden cut her teeth in the restaurant industry in London where she worked as a waitress, bar tender and a staff trainer at various restaurants.
Her on-the-job restaurant training includes launching London’s Level 7 Café at the Tate Modern Gallery and managing the Eyre Brother’s restaurant owned by the godfather of gastro-pub cuisine David Eyre.
Eyre made a name for himself as the first chef to introduce fresh and sophisticated food presented in a casual way at The Eagle, in London.
Housden cemented her relationship with Eyre when he asked her to come on board as general manager of the Eyre Brothers restaurant in Shoreditch. She worked for the brothers until she left London in 2004.
In November 2005 Housden launched Cilantro with partners Carly Stovell and Harry Ballard. After a year of training with the former chef at Cilantro, she has now taken over the kitchen and realised her life-long dream running her own kitchen.
“Flavour and colour must be in balance so I try to plan each dish with the flavours and colours on the plate in mind,” says Housden.
For a fine dining experience go to Cilantro at The Village in Hout Bay, Cape Town.