atrás: where simplicity takes centre stage

As Cape Town's dining scene continues to grow and evolve, atrás's approach veers off the regular and over-the-top dining.

Located in the newly opened BlackBrick in Gardens, atrás's restaurant ethos is minimalist, refined and considered, elevating the existing flavours of South African fresh produce and ingredients.

The culinary lead 

With extensive experience in the restaurant industry, having worked behind the scenes at esteemed establishments including Noma in Copenhagen, La Granja Farmhouse in Ibiza and more, Diego Silva is the Culinary Partner at BlackBrick Gardens.

In an exclusive interview with Time Out, Diego highlights his passion for storytelling through food, seasonality and simplicity by emphasising the focus on produce, pointing out that the food offering at the hotel is definitely not a farm-to-fork offering.

"I invest 90% of my time in the right product and 10% in the technique, and not the other way around. So obviously, I hate the terminology farm-to-fork."

While Diego is not from South Africa, he isn't here to push trends or infiltrate global flavours throughout their culinary offering at BlackBrick, as he shares the importance of featuring South African dishes in higher-end restaurants.

"When we were doing the tastings, I had the most fantastic Sunday in Kalk Bay, and I ended up at Cafe Olympia, having bobotie. So I asked, what is this extraordinary dish? And the person I was sitting with is like, oh, it's bobotie, and she's South African. And I said, but why are you not so proud of it? And she said, no, it's not that I'm not proud of it. It's just that it's a traditional dish. I took a few seconds to think, and I thought it's a problem that people are not proud of it. Because I'm from Peru, the simplest food that you can even eat in the markets is available in even the highest-end restaurants, like ceviche."

Leaning on his team of local chefs, Diego recalls asking them to cook bobotie for the restaurant; despite their initial surprise at his request, the dish went out, and diners responded with enthusiasm.

Refusing to take the credit, Diego explained, "And I said, I'm sorry, I have no idea how to make it. But it's the guys behind the kitchen, and you need to congratulate them, not me."

As all things tend to do in life, Diego's arrival and move to Cape Town came about serendipitously. 

 "It was kind of very coincidental in general that I was in New York, Jonathan Liebmann (co-founder of BlackBrick Gardens) was looking for a concept to finalise, to be developed inside this space, Black Brick, and he contacted his sister, just like for some references, and his sister used to work with me in Spain. And one day we met, and it was like an instant connection."

 With a passion for pared-back cooking, Diego's philosophy is that atrás curates dishes that honour the land, the seasons and the people behind each product.

While atrás in Spanish translates to 'behind/back' and refers to the placement of the restaurant at the hotel, Diego shares that it has a double entendre.

"But at the same time, it has another meaning for me. It's just like, let's do things as they were done in the golden days, which is simplicity, zero fantasy."

Ingredient-first approach 

With a seasonal menu that changes every three months, the dishes showcase elegant restraint and refinement while championing the true essence of each ingredient.

"I like to invest in the product more than in the whole. I would say the whole fantasy of making the food look something that it's not for me, it's more important to really understand what you're eating and look at what you are eating instead of being confused about what is on the plate," adds Diego

Offering breakfast, lunch and dinner, there are three sets of menus available per dining session.

The breakfast menu features savoury ot sweet options, from grilled cheese prepared with Japanese sweet milk bread, brown butter, halloumi and atchar to classics such as avocado on toast.

For starters, the lunch menu features whipped Gochjang (Korean fermented spicy paste) butter with roasted garlic and wood-fired bread, homemade olives and pickles.

Other lighter bites include three options of tostadas, which are crispy flatbreads either topped with whipped ricotta, avocado, lemon zest and herbs, pesto, burrata, roasted tomatoes and basil or creamy feta, smoked trout and fried capers and dill. 

The 'on plate' section features larger main course dishes, including breathing new life into the humble and often overlooked cabbage, prepared grilled with tahini sauce, salsa verde, spinach oil and dukkha.

Main dishes that include meat are roasted chicken, celeriac puree, roasted carrots and parsley salad, pork belly, mustard seeds, butter beans and gravy.

Sides to accompany main dishes or any others are French fries with fried garlic, wood-fired oven bread and a simple farm salad.

Dessert options include two select offerings: a chocolate and coffee mousse, sea salt, EVOO and lacto-fermented cherries, and a less sweet option of a half-baked Camembert served with figs and jalapeno marmalade.

A common thread throughout the menus offered is the commitment to ingredients in their 'natural' state without the fluff or added extras; other simple ingredients are used to elevate the existing flavours of the 'stars of the plate', making it a wholesome yet thoughtful dining experience.

The dinner menu features similar inclusions as the lunch menu, with alternative options such as small plates of fish of the day, tacos, lamb kofta pita bread, parsley salad, and roasted tomatoes and onions. Mains exclusively available for the dinner offering are lamb chops, fermented apple puree, burnt fennel and mint, among a few others.

The restaurant does include options that cater to meat-free eaters and is flexible in curating dishes for those with dietary-specific requirements. 

No sodas here 

The restaurant and throughout the BlackBrick's food and beverage offering does not serve any soda, and while fans of Coke Zero might sigh in deep despair (I may be one of them), fear not, for Max's mezcal bar that lies adjacent to atrás offers a bespoke menu of mezcal-based cocktails, including a negroni, Oaxacan fashioned and more.

A select range of classic cocktails are available and include a classic Paloma, Cape old fashioned, Dry martini and more. The mezcal used within the cocktails is sourced from Mezcal Amaras, a Mexico-based mezcal producer.

If you prefer not to savour any alcoholic beverages, during the day, Max's Mezcal Bar functions as Lucy's Juice Bar, serving up a range of juices and smoothies that are free from added sugars.

Rooftop fire dining 

Located on the rooftop of BlackBrick Gardens, arriba is the second dining experience available at the hotel and focuses on fire-cooked cuisine and embodies the Spanish bar-snack concept of pinchos.

Translating from Spanish, arriba means 'on the top', and while it nods to the restaurant's rooftop location, it also echoes the food ethos, which Diego states is to "elevate what is already happening here in Cape Town."

With the rooftop and cocktail dining experience in mind, the shared-style plates have been curated to pair well with their cocktail offering from Max's Mezcal Bar.

Dishes available include pork belly skewers, roasted carrots with spicy burnt honey and cumin yoghurt, and more.

Need to know:

Address: 2 Roodehek St, Gardens, Cape Town

Opening hours:

atrás - 7am to 9pm, Monday to Sunday

arriba - 1pm to 9pm, Monday to Sunday, (the kitchen offering will close at 7pm)

Lucy's Juice Bar - 7am - 12pm, Monday to Sunday

Max's Mezcal Bar - 12pm - 8pm