In this episode of A Table in the Corner, Russel sits down with Aidan Zieff, head chef of Ouzeri, one of Cape Town’s most quietly influential restaurants. Aidan reflects on a fast-moving early career that took him from local fine dining kitchens through Copenhagen stages at 108 and Noma, before returning home with a sharpened sense of discipline, flavour and restraint.
The conversation traces his path from formal, highly structured kitchens into a looser, more generous style of cooking that still demands precision. We talk about what Aidan carried back from Scandinavia, how that experience recalibrated his approach to simplicity, and why Ouzeri’s food works not because it is casual, but because it is exact where it matters. He explains the balance between tradition and instinct, how flavours are tested and rejected without sentiment, and why some dishes only work when they look imperfect.
We also discuss creative freedom, the pressure of cooking for chefs, and the challenge of running a small brigade while maintaining consistency in a room that never really empties. This is a candid conversation about taste, confidence and letting go of formality without losing standards, told by a chef who understands that generosity on the plate is usually the result of serious discipline behind the scenes.
Learn more about Ouzeri here
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