Get it Magazine - November 2006

FORK * WHO NEEDS A KNIFE ANYWAY
By Robyn Daly
Photographs by Robyn Daly (Get it Mag)

“Legend has it that tapas comes from the days of King Alfonso. He was very ill and could only eat little bits,” says Ed Saunders, part-owner (with JD Haasbroek) of Fork tapas bar in Long Street. “When he recovered, the king apparently decreed that no wine was to be served in the inns of Castile without something small to eat. So he protected his people from drinking on an empty stomach.”

The word literally means ‘cover’ and more realistically is thought to refer to the practice during the Middle Ages of placing a slice of bread or piece of ham on top of your wine glass to keep out insects. The lid also served as a nibble before the meal.

Either way, the idea is small and tasty morsels ordered separately. Ed and JD have taken this to heart with their restaurant and serve food that is already prepared in bite-sized portions and can be eaten with a fork. Hence the name. They’ve gone so far as to set the tables with only a fork and a napkin * there’s really no reason for other cutlery. The napkin, incidentally is a dish towel, indicating with no subtlety that to really enjoy their food you must get stuck in, slurping and smacking your lips all the way.

Ed’s restaurant background is in London where he owned an Italian tapas bar, Aperitivo, in Soho, so the Fork interpretation of tapas has a little flair and includes contemporary delights such as kudu and ostrich.

Fork’s menu, however, remains largely Mediterranean and very much for the subtle, sophisticated palate. The signature dish, grilled tiger prawns wrapped in panchetta, celebrates the gentle flavours of the ingredients and is not drenched in overpowering sauce. It’s simply yummy. Prices vary from R25 to R50 and you can expect to pay around R200 to R250 a person for a good spread including a bottle of wine from the region-specific winelist. Helpings are, true to their mantra, small enough for a fork, which leaves one wishing there was a little more - perhaps just enough for a knife as well.