Kobus van der Merwe

The Climb

Web editing at Eat Out was where Kobus van der Merwe worked with language before he worked a pass, and that mattered. The role sharpened an eye for structure and for how food is described, framed, and understood. In 2009, as alternative chef at Oep Ve Koep in Paternoster, he shifted from reporting on restaurants to making them. That move from the page to the kitchen marked a practical turn: less distance, more responsibility, and a clearer sense of how the coast could be translated through food. Wolfgat became the setting where that editorial discipline and kitchen experience met. As owner and chef, Kobus van der Merwe built a restaurant around measured choices and close attention to surroundings. The result reads as a controlled expression of place, with each decision carrying the weight of observation rather than display.

Today

Seasonality, locality, rawness, and diversity are the terms Kobus van der Merwe uses to describe the work at Wolfgat, and they set the register of the kitchen. The philosophy is direct and unadorned, with no need for ornament when the brief is to stay close to what the site and season offer. His line about the plates being “sketches rather than photorealistic paintings” places the food in the territory of suggestion and restraint. That is a useful distinction in a kitchen shaped by context: the aim is not to overdescribe, but to leave the ingredients legible.

Signature

Kobus's signature dishes include twice-cooked laver [edible seaweed]. The dish points straight to the coast: one ingredient, carefully handled, with texture and marine intensity doing the work.

In Their Words “I think of Wolfgat’s dishes as sketches rather than photorealistic paintings.” “My philosophy on food is simple, seasonal, local, raw, diverse.”

Recognition

Kobus van der Merwe has received World Restaurant Awards, Restaurant of the Year (2019). Kobus's honors include Restaurant of the Year and S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna Chef of the Year. Those awards sit in line with a body of work that has earned attention through consistency, precision, and a clear sense of place.