Aubergine, Cape Town’s hidden fine dining gem

Welcoming fine dining for “diners who appreciate the little things”

Last updated: Wednesday, 17 December 2025

One of Cape Town’s first fine dining restaurants has sat pretty on the corner of an immaculate, narrow street for 30 years. Aubergine is housed in a 19th-century building, once the residence of the first Chief Justice, and the experience feels like dining at the home of a collector and friend with exquisite taste in everything. 

Art by the esteemed Christo Coetzee and Gregoire Boonzaier cover the walls, while each corner and cranny reveal lush curtains and velvet booths that, together with the soft glow lighting, create a quiet, warm hum accented by soft jazz. 

It’s here where “diners who appreciate the little things” are served, and the wine book (because it's too long to be considered a list) rivals a selection you’ll only see on auction. Chef Harald Bresselschmidt unpacks Aubergine. 

Chef Harald Bresselschmidt. Image: Aubergine

It’s fine dining without all the hocus pocus on the plate… 

We focus on five or six key ingredients per dish, with vegetables sourced from our organic gardens in Stellenbosch. The food isn’t unnecessarily complicated with smoke and mirrors. It's complex flavours that leave you feeling satiated and light. Think delicately-sliced tataki tuna with lime and ginger gels, or artichoke soup and prawn with the thinnest tempura coating.

Open ravioli with octopus and an oriental dip. Image: Aubergine  

We’re for down-to-earth diners who appreciate the little things… 

Real gastronomy is about the sum of the experience. The wine pairings considered with the dish, the golden glows from the lamps, the soft jazz in the restaurant; it’s that the whole experience has actually been considered. When we are talking about real gastronomy, we are talking about the soul. 

Our menu captures the seasons from our organic garden…

Which means that our menu changes seasonally, driven by vegetables. The degustation menu, which is a 4, 5 or 6-course menu that showcases the best of our dishes, gives you a true sense of our food.  

Guests always comment on our acoustics, which makes me very happy because… 

I'm a real fan of non-noisy restaurants. The building used to be the residence of the first Chief Justice of the Cape in 1830. When we moved in in 1996, it was all low ceilings and naked wooden beams. 

We put in heavy curtains, velvet booths and padding to get that intimate thrum, like you’re at a dinner party. The yellowwood tables, wooden sash windows and Knysna Blackwood floors are all authentic.  

The main dining room with soft golden lights. Image: Aubergine 

Regulars have been coming religiously for over 20 years…

One of our regulars is a couple from Munich. They come twice a year and eat with us four or five times every visit. They come again and again because they have the option to order what they want from the a la carte menu, instead of a set menu, and there is always something new to try. And because I’ll slip in something new just because I feel like it.  

Some come in just for wild oysters and porcini mushroom pasta, and they're the happiest… 

The a la carte menu, with vegetarian options, means you can visit for a main and wine. You don’t need the full six courses. You can spend less than you think and still get that fine dining experience. 

The food is beautiful without being unnecessarily complicated. Image: Aubergine

Something you’ll almost always find on the menu is… 

Aubergine souffle, our namesake dish. Aubergines are cooked in the skin, then the flesh removed and baked into a light and fluffy souffle, before being wrapped up again in the crispy skin. We have been serving this dish on and off since we opened. 

Good wine becomes exceptional wine when… 

It has been aged and stored perfectly. When you sell the wine straight out of the case, it isn’t actually ready to drink. The ageing process makes it a bit more expensive, but it results in brilliant wine. 

We also have the first climate-controlled red wine cellar in Cape Town. It took four different companies to build and design it, just so we can serve red wine at the right temperature. 

The climate-controlled red wine cellar. Image: Aubergine 

My favourite artwork in Aubergine… 

Was created by my friend. It’s an unusual composition of dental tools paired with baking references. I had to have it because my wife is a dentist and I’m the cook. Father Claerhout was also a regular here, often sketching while he joined for lunch.

We have rare wines that you can only buy at auction… 

Like the 1998 Kanonkop Paul Sauer (a full-bodied classic Cape red blend with beautifully developed tertiary aromas). Nobody has this but us, and if you were to buy it at an auction, you would pay more for it than at Aubergine. Our wine list is a reflection of my personal collection, and some bottles even come from my collection.

For many years, we have served one of my favourite wines, which is… 

Ambeloui Brut MCC. Ambeloui is a tiny Hout Bay producer; the vines are grown in the family’s backyard. It’s delicate and delicious as an aperitif or something light post-dinner. 

Because the wine is matured, the bubbles are smaller and finer. We serve it in a wide-rimmed Italian glass so you’re able to taste the small bubbles better compared to the traditional narrow champagne flute.

Cap classique dinner trying some of the best of MCCs. Image: Aubergine 

Aubergine has over 600 wines, which won us Best Wine List… 

At the Star Wine List Awards. It’s a very prestigious prize. We also won the Best Sparkling Wine List. 

World’s Best Wine Lists Awards, which recognises the crème de la crème of the global hospitality industry, awarded us The Guiding Spirit Award for Wine in Hospitality 2025. It was given to just one restaurant per continent.

Chef Harald at a wine auction. Image: Aubergine

I wish more people knew that… 

There is a mezzanine and outdoor courtyard for functions. We design the menu and wine list based on what you like. We’ve hosted everything from small weddings with sit-down dishes to informal birthday lunches that have wine stands and floating tapas-style plates. 

VISIT AUBERGINE

Aubergine is open: Monday to Wednesday, 6pm - 10pm; Thursday and Friday, 12pm - 2pm and 6pm - 10pm; Saturday 6pm - 10pm
Find it: 39 Barnet Street, Gardens
Book: On Dineplan, 021 465 0000 or info@aubergine.co.za

By Julia Rowley

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