Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen brings his bistro to Cape Town
The Michelin-starred chef behind JAN in Nice opens Le Bistrot de JAN at the InterContinental Table Bay in December, with Giles Edwards running the kitchen.
Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen will open Le Bistrot de JAN at Cape Town's InterContinental Table Bay Hotel in December, bringing the French bistro concept he built in Nice back to South Africa for the first time.
Van der Westhuizen is South Africa's second Michelin-starred chef, a title he holds for JAN, his restaurant in Nice, while splitting his time between there and Cape Town. Le Bistrot de JAN already exists as a more casual, cross-pollinated sibling to the main restaurant on the French Riviera, mixing South African references into French bistro cooking rather than running either cuisine straight.
The Cape Town room sits inside the newly renovated InterContinental Table Bay, in the V&A Waterfront, a hotel address with harbour and Table Mountain views rather than a standalone street-level bistro.
A French bistro that only makes sense once you know the chef grew up a continent away is the whole point of Le Bistrot de JAN.
Chef Giles Edwards will run the kitchen day to day. Van der Westhuizen's cookbooks, including The French Affair and the newer JAN Voyage, give a sense of the register: dishes like Rabbit and Wild Mushroom Ragoût, Sticky Tarte Tatin and Croque-Monsieur à la Banane sit on the same page, French technique bent toward South African produce and humour.
A second address after years in Nice
JAN in Nice has carried its star for years, built on a chef who left South Africa to cook in France and kept folding his first kitchen's ingredients into his second. Le Bistrot de JAN's Cape Town opening reverses that direction: a French-honed bistro landing in the city he left.
Opening before year's end
No exact date has been set beyond December. The opening lands in a strong year for Cape Town's dining scene, which took the lion's share of honours at the 2026 Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards, with Peter Tempelhoff's FYN crowned restaurant of the year. A second Michelin-adjacent address joining that momentum raises the city's profile further, alongside the local kitchens already covered in our guide to what to eat in Cape Town, whatever the final opening date turns out to be.
