Greenhouse Restaurant: Meet Head Chef Farrel Hirsch

Greenhouse restaurant is ranked as one of South Africa’s Top 10 Restaurants overseen by Head Chef, Farrel Hirsch, at The Cellars-Hohenort hotel. Together with the Greenhouse team, Chef Farrel looks long and hard at what we eat, and where it’s from. They look to the sea and the garden, to the fields and orchards; they open old cellars and pantries to find ingredients that have meaning.

We had the privilege of talking with Chef Farrel about his career and what we can expect on the menu at Greenhouse during Restaurant Week …

How long have you been in the restaurant business?

Been standing in the kitchen for over 15 years, most of them great.

How do you keep the menu new and exciting?

There is a lot of research to be done before we even touch food, keeping up with trends is a must and exploring other restaurants does help to get motivation.

What’s the best dish on the menu ?

I really love our chicken dish – to take something as humble as chicken and elevating it makes the dish even more impressive.

Tell us more about the Décor of the Restaurant.

Very clean and open, we try not to clutter the table with unnecessary cutlery. A candle and a flower on your table to begin with and then the theater starts.

What can we except to find on the menu at the Greenhouse?

We like to take classic South African dishes and adapt them to Greenhouse. For example we have a ‘fish and chips’ canapés which is smoked snoek mousse with a pomme dauphine, caviar and coriander dust.

Tell us about the many awards you’ve won…

Over the last two years at Greenhouse we have accumulated the following awards…

American Express dining award 2020
Gourmet guide 3 plate*
Eat Out Awards Top 15
Best 50 discovery list
Le Liste top 1000 2019/2020

Of the dishes you prepare, which one would you enjoy eating yourself?

I’m a sucker for seafood so I would have to go with our surfer chow dish. Ciabatta crusted hake, yuzu gel, red quinoa risotto, tapioca cracker and a squid ink espuma.

What motivates you daily?

I would have to say producing the best I can motivates me a lot… doing my utter best and pushing out the best possible food I can.

What do you eat at home and alone?

I love egg fried noodles.

A dining extravaganza

It’s not just about coming in for dinner at Greenhouse, it’s about the experience and how you feel during the meal and well after you leave the dinner table.