With the centre of Cape Town fast becoming a whale-free zone, we decided to celebrate the exclusion of the fragrant cetacean from the Taj Hotel with a lunch at the Chef’s Warehouse, it being St. Paddy’s Day and all. Mine host Liam Tomlin is not one of those celebrity chefs who fraternize with the punters rather than cooking. Here he is, hard at work, in his Heritage Square kitchen.

We sat at one of the communal funky wooden trestle tables above Bree Street and shared an Asian street food platter (below).

The terrace was full of Europeans, which speaks volumes about the quality of the victuals. To drink? Lothian Riesling 2011, amply fruited and elegantly attired. Don’t worry about the Kaap becoming weer Hollands, its becoming downright classical. If the hipsters don’t watch out, Bree Street will soon take over from Franschhoek as the most exciting wine tourism destination in SA. With the way the petrol price is going, no bad thing at all.