Though Cape Town’s latest restaurant tests new territory, FYN is actually the realisation of a space that acclaimed chef Peter Tempelhoff had conceptualised over 22 years ago, when he first started cooking.
Found on the corner of Church Square and Parliament Street in Cape Town’s inner city, the historic Speakers’ Corner location in which FYN sits is a newly restored combination of two separate heritage buildings, built as early as 1898. Having been handed the fifth floor as a blank slab of concrete, Tempelhoff tasked Tristan du Plessis of Studio A to create a hybridised space that blended Japanese and South African influences.
The resulting materials – which centre around ropes, beads, wood and stone – are evident from the second you enter the restaurant. Boasting expansive views over Table Mountain, FYN’s interior is in itself worth marvelling over. An expansive wood-bead roof installation from Christoph Karl floats weightlessly suspended above the kitchen counter, where diners engage in an interactive experience, with servings such as the crispy and chewy rice with white fish, aged soy and wasabi furikake.
In FYN, Tempelhoff compresses an elaborate menu thanks to a kaiseki approach, with small sequenced platings offering three or four courses simultaneously, many of which incorporate varying tastes and variations of the same ingredient, including the unmissable daikon four ways.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
5th Floor
Speakers Corner
37 Parliament Str
-
ALT Paris is a chic and fast-growing jewellery brand to knowThe brand, which has just opened its second Paris boutique, has mastered the art of luxurious minimalism
-
Rediscover a classic midcentury hotel in SydneyFender Katsalidis leads a major renovation of the landmark Sofitel Sydney Wentworth hotel, pairing 1960s modernism with an elevated, Australian-minded reset
-
Haute Couture Week A/W 2025: what to expectFive moments to look out for at Haute Couture Week A/W 2025 in Paris (starting Monday 7 July), from Glenn Martens’ debut for Maison Margiela to Demna’s Balenciaga swansong. Plus, ‘new beginnings’ from JW Anderson
-
Tune into the rhythm of Tokyo’s most ambitious record shopVinyl Delivery Service in east Tokyo’s Skwat Kameari Art Centre is spinning a new narrative for the traditional record store model
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Waldorf Astoria Osaka‘It’s rare to work on a brand new hotel of this scale in Japan in today’s landscape,’ says designer Andre Fu about Osaka’s newest luxury hotel. Wallpaper* paid it an early visit
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Rosewood Miyakojima: ‘Japan, but not as most people know it’Rosewood Miyakojima offers a smooth balance of intuitive Japanese ‘omotenashi’ fused with Rosewood’s luxury edge
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Few & Far Luvhondo: an intimate South African eco-lodgeWith just six cliffside suites, Few & Far Luvhondo offers front-row seats to the untamed wilderness of South Africa’s Limpopo
-
A new book captures the kitschy allure of Japanese ‘love hotels’For his latest project, French photographer François Prost documents the whimsical façades that characterise these erotic roadside venues.
-
All aboard the world’s most luxurious train journeysStay on track with our pick of the most luxurious train journeys around the world, whether in 1920s-style opulence or contemporary chic
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Hoshino Resorts KAI Akiu: a soothing onsen hotelIn Japan’s bucolic northeast, Hoshino Resorts KAI Akiu breathes new life into a sleepy hot spring village without betraying its ancient roots
-
Shake off the winter chill at these design-led onsen hotels in JapanWhether you’re heading to the mountains of Hokkaido or the alleys of Kyoto’s Gion district, these immaculately designed onsen hotels will keep the shivers at bay
