Join the taste adventures of chef Ollie and his girlfriend Julz and let them take you through the exotic sights and sounds they’ve experienced, bite by delicious bite with an awesome long table experience and cooking class in Cape Town.
Talk about couple goals: not only have Chef Ollie Swart and the love of his life Julz Buchanan’s travelled the world, they’re a multi-talented, foodie-arty pair and the quintessential hosts with the most. Spain, Italy, Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam… they’re the ultimate frequent flyers and have found that the best way to immerse yourself into a new and different culture is by eating the way locals eat.
About Travel & Tell
Travel & Tell was started out of Ollie Swart Julz’s combined passions for food, hospitality and travel. They’re passionate about presenting only the best quality food to their guests to help introduce them to the authentic flavours of the places they’ve travelled to, which includes Italy, Spain, Mexico, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. They love food, adore travelling and are pretty head over heels for one another, and are super amped to bring to their long table dinner and cooking class in Cape Town the extraordinary tastes, sights and sounds that they’ve experienced along their amazing journey.
Overview
Ollie Swart and Julz Buchanan are the type of couple you want to be friends with: interesting, well-travelled, laid-back, funny and just about the best damn dinner party hosts you’ve ever met. By day, Ollie, who is a trained chef, cooks up a storm for a well-known Cape Town catering company, while Julz is an artist and fashion designer. Let them loose at night, however, and they team up to bring you unforgettable dinner experiences inspired by the exotic locations they’ve travelled to.
Their Travel and Tell Cape Town cooking demonstration and dining experience happen at Julz’s gorgeous, leafy family home in the Cape wine capital Constantia, and are the perfect FOMO generators for those just itching to get on a plane and see where their visas will take them.
Julz sets the scene with themed décor, a soothing soundtrack of traditional music from whichever destination you’ll be taste-travelling to that night, and beautifully designed menus and take-home recipe booklets.
To get everyone a bit better acquainted, the evening kicks off with a lil’ somethin’ somethin’ to sip and a couple of canapés to whet the appetite, before you’re invited into the impressive kitchen where Ollie demonstrates each of the courses you’ll be eating that night.
As he cooks, the couple shoots the breeze, reliving some of their favourite moments behind the dishes, whether it’s pulled chicken corn tacos, sublimely simple Margherita pizza or seafood paella. Each course is served around a long festive table overlooking the lovely garden, with drinks expertly paired, or course. It’s a no brainer really: good food, great wine, interesting conversation, all in the company of fellow travel junkies. What’s not to love?
Some place Ollie and Julz have travelled to that inspires their long table dinner and cooking class in Cape Town
Cam On Vietnam
What stayed most with Julz and Ollie about their Vietnam travels are the fresh, punchy flavours and interesting textures – from clear, hearty broths to the crispy pork rice paper snacks found at street food stalls. To set the mood for the evening, a couple of ice cold herb infused cocktails will be served alongside tasters of signature Vietnamese fare, like bite-sized bahn mi (Asia’s delicious answer to the Dagwood), before launching into the cooking demonstration. Look forward to bright, flavourful noodly broths including beef pho, seafood dishes like squid with spicy green papaya salad and a dessert singing with flavours of lotus seeds.
Spice of Sri Lanka
It’s all about the fragrant, spicy curries Ollie and Julz fell in love with during their travels to Sri Lanka. Kicking things off will be cooling cocktails starring one of Sri Lanka’s most legendary exports, black tea, shaken up with cucumber and cardamom, and canapés like vade (think spicy lentil falafels) with green coconut salsa. The Cape Town cooking demonstration will centre around creating the multi-layered flavours of the curries the country’s known for and the local ingredients they like to incorporate, such as Jackfruit and pineapple. Oh, and save space for the Ceylon-tea ice cream and cashew cinnamon crumb for dessert!
Highlights
- Themed cultural evening inspired by one of the destinations to which the couple have travelled
- Full dinner and cooking class in Cape Town, paired with wines and cocktails
- Beautifully designed, complimentary recipe book included
- Gorgeous outdoor setting in the lush suburbs of Cape Town
- A relaxed, interactive and super-fun atmosphere
What’s included
- Food and drinks
- Cooking demonstration
- Recipe book
Keen to eatsplore more in Cape Town? Why not try an exotic Persian cooking class, an exciting secret mussel pot on the beach , or a magical artistic long table feast!
