SEVENTH heaven
“ Seven is the perfect number,” says Katie Wonnacott, explaining the thinking behind the name of her and her husband’s culinary business, Table Seven, as she arranges uniced cupcakes on a stand. Luke Wonnacott, the aforementioned husband, is behind the counter rolling out saffron-tinged pasta dough. He picks up her sentence, as married couples do. “We love having a long table of family and friends,” he adds. We do the food and wine – and when you add the people, that to us is the perfect table.”
Table Seven wears many chefs’ hats. The heart of the operation is a private dining venue housed in the Salt Orchard Precinct in Salt River, Cape Town. It’s a hip new development: the tenants vary from coffee shops to design agencies and small bespoke retail outlets, plus gin distillery Hope on Hopkins is just around the corner.
After many years spent working in professional kitchens as chefs, both locally and abroad, the couple decided to go it alone. “We wanted to get away from the hours,” says Katie. “We were seeing each other once a week,” jumps in Luke (who looks a little like Ryan Reynolds). “If we were ever going to have the life we wanted, we were going to have to create it. This is why we have Table Seven; so we can do it together.” This focus on quality time has become even more important as the couple welcomed their first child in October 2018, a little boy called Benjamin.
In a nutshell, the business forks out in a couple of different culinary directions. They do event catering (weddings, birthday parties, any kind of private function), restaurant consulting, from menu development to training staff, as well as private cheffing gigs.
“When it comes to consulting, we help with everything; from the bar to the costings to training waiters and chefs. We’re the middle person.”
At their multi-purpose Salt River headquarters, they offer cooking classes and chef demonstrations. But what’s really been garnering attention is their private Chef’s Table dinner experience, for up
