Fancourt's Italian restaurant gets internationally trained chef

Chef Matteo Siliberti

The revamp includes the informal, yet sophisticated, authentic Italian cuisine prepared by Italian chef Matteo Siliberti, a 35-year old of Milan. He joined Fancourt as chef de cuisine from Cape Town's restaurant 95 Keerom, where he was working as sous chef since his arrival in South Africa in 2010.

Siliberti boasts an international career, starting at the St James Club Luxury Collection in Paris in 2000, after completion of his Science of Nutrition diploma at the state university in Milan. Recent positions include the Hotel Principe Di Davoia as part of the Dorchester Collection in Italy, In Frigerio restaurant in Como and Cantina di Manuela in Milan, Bruno James' Café B in New York, as well as Café Milano at the Ritz Carlton South Beach in Miami, that have earned him a reputation as one of the world's foremost modern Italian dining specialists. He also opened two of his own restaurants, the Station Café in Milan and the Court House in Byron Bay on the Gold Coast of Australia, both of which he still owns.

His passion for preparing flavourful dishes using raw ingredients is evident in his signature dishes, which include raw beef and almonds with radicchio salad, celery and balsamic vinegar, as well as the raw tuna with Pachino tomatoes and ginger.

The restaurant has a hand-selected wine list, with an extensive choice of both South African and Italian wines, many of which are available by the glass, allowing for food and wine matching with every course.