1
Evening hearth menu
Evening hearth menu is scoped through the service, with supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing. The boundary, exclusions and handover evidence are stated before work begins.
Ember Table
Live-fire restaurant / contemporary dining
Open brief110 · Live-fire restaurant / contemporary dining
Dinner moves at the speed of the fire.
Ember Table is a fictional 46-seat restaurant built around a wood hearth, coastal vegetables and whole-animal butchery. The website reads like service: arrivals, heat, resting, sharing and the final quiet course, with availability and dietary constraints explained without theatre.
About / field note
Ember Table is a fictional 46-seat restaurant built around a wood hearth, coastal vegetables and whole-animal butchery. The website reads like service: arrivals, heat, resting, sharing and the final quiet course, with availability and dietary constraints explained without theatre.
Unit: serviceEvidence: supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing
Evidence
Proof is useful when the denominator is visible.
46
seats, no hidden second room
7
core producers named weekly
3
live fire zones
0
frozen line fish held for menu continuity
Offerings
Four ways into the work.
2
Sunday long lunch
Sunday long lunch is scoped through the service, with supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing. Capacity, constraints and decision ownership stay visible from intake to closeout.
3
Counter seats
Counter seats is scoped through the service, with supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing. The boundary, exclusions and handover evidence are stated before work begins.
4
Private fire-table supper
Private fire-table supper is scoped through the service, with supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing. Capacity, constraints and decision ownership stay visible from intake to closeout.
Work / dispatches
01
Winter root menu
Beetroot, celeriac and onion carried the middle of the menu while beef moved to one shared course rather than the centre of every plate.
02
Fisherman's counter
Six counter seats ran a short menu around same-day line fish landed before noon and removed from sale when the catch was gone.
03
Sunday lamb shoulder
Whole shoulders cook through the early service, rest for forty minutes and arrive family-style with bitter leaves and fermented plum.
Process
One loop, four controlled states.
Receive the day's produce
Receive the day's produce is the entry control point for a service. The team records supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Set the coal beds
Set the coal beds is the next control point for a service. The team records supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Cook in waves
Cook in waves is the next control point for a service. The team records supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Rest before serving
Rest before serving is the next control point for a service. The team records supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Reading room
Why food rests after the fire
Why food rests after the fire. A working note from Ember Table on the decisions hidden inside live-fire restaurant / contemporary dining. It connects the claim back to service and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
A shorter menu can buy better produce
A shorter menu can buy better produce. A working note from Ember Table on the decisions hidden inside live-fire restaurant / contemporary dining. It connects the claim back to supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
What we mean by whole-animal cooking
What we mean by whole-animal cooking. A working note from Ember Table on the decisions hidden inside live-fire restaurant / contemporary dining. It connects the claim back to supplier origin, fire station, resting time, allergen note and table pacing and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
People
Named responsibility
Mara Venter
Chef-owner
Mara Venter leads chef-owner and owns the decisions that touch each service. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
Sibongile Zulu
Hearth lead
Sibongile Zulu leads hearth lead and owns the decisions that touch each service. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
Theo Jacobs
Restaurant manager
Theo Jacobs leads restaurant manager and owns the decisions that touch each service. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
Objections / answers
No accordion required
- Can vegetarians eat a full menu?
- Yes, with notice. The vegetable programme is not a collection of side dishes and can be paced as a complete meal.
- Is the restaurant smoky?
- The hearth is professionally extracted and the dining room is ventilated separately; guests should experience aroma, not a smoke-filled room.
- Do you take walk-ins?
- A small number of counter seats are held for same-day dining, while tables are primarily booked.
Contact
Reserve a table or read tonight's live hearth board.
110Open brief