The life and times of Table Mountain Café: What goes up, must come down!

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By Ingrid Sinclair
24 March 2011

Ever wonder what it takes to ensure that a restaurant on top of a mountain – a restaurant that’s only accessible by cable car – runs smoothly and delivers yummy on-top-of-the-world treats? We found out from Table Mountain Cableway Food and Beverage Manager Eugene Labuschagne.

Eugene says that a restaurant like Table Mountain Café is faced with a number of unique challenges. The first, he says, is “to provide an offering for everybody, from the lowest income groups to the highest income groups.

“Managing these expectations is a particularly difficult challenge.”

Another factor is Cape Town’s famously unpredictable climate. “We never know if or when we’re going to be open, and we don’t know if or when we’re going to close,” says Eugene.

Keeping food fresh in an environment where adequate storage space is limited is as also a challenge. “We always try to produce things that will last, and those items that won’t last are wasted. This can result in quite a loss, especially when the weather is bad.”

How does food get to Table Mountain Café?

“We receive everything at the Lower Cable Station and the meals are prepared there. Then we send it up in trolleys on a cable car. The food has to be ready at the top before the first visitors come up – so we try and send up as much as we can early, before opening.

“It’s very difficult to move food on very busy days, because this involves using an entire cable car for the restaurant. On quiet days, we can move food up and down much easier, without disrupting operations.

“When the first visitors put their feet on the mountain, we have to have the Café ready for them. This is more important than you’d think … Particularly in winter, when people get to the top and don’t expect the coldness. They’ll then come straight to the Café where they can have a sheltered meeting place and something warm to eat and drink.”

At the end of the working day, says Eugene, “The foodstuffs are moved once again whereas in most other restaurants, the food is stored in one place and can be moved to where it’s needed at the last minute.”

“We have to pre-plan everything,” says Eugene, “as we don’t have that much storage space at the top. This means there’s an added cost in terms of human resources: I need people to move my stock from the store so I need a store man, and he needs a crew of six people.”

In low season, there are between 15 and 20 people working at the Table Mountain Café at any given time. In peak season, there can be as many as 30.

A bit about Eugene

When did you start at Table Mountain Cableway?

I came to the Cableway as food and beverage manager in February 2010 – and it’s been very informative! I didn’t realise that the food and beverage business could be so different. The difference comes in when you consider the dynamics created by the uniqueness of the site.

I used to be a restaurant owner [Eugene sold popular Cape Town eatery Café Paradiso about four years ago]; I used be the general manager at Kelvin Grove … My training occurred in Switzerland and I’ve been in the food and beverage industry for about 30 years.

How are you enjoying working on top of Table Mountain?

It’s a different dynamic for me and I like a challenge! I always seem to end up in jobs where I’m in nature – I hate being trapped inside a building.

What’s your personal recommendation at Table Moutain Café?

Always come and have cake and coffee at the Café! We now bake our own cakes at the Café [since February] and they’re deliciously fresh; our coffees are absolutely wonderful.

Let’s talk about a difficult day in the life …

Normal days are fine: The staff members arrive at 07h30 to get breakfast ready. We know what to expect.

But, on irregular days, we are faced with very short notice periods: For example, if the weather improves and the Cableway opens, we have 15 minutes maximum to get staff to the top, get the Café manned, make decisions regarding the menu …

Or sometimes, on a “normal” day, the wind can pick up at 17h00: Then we have 30 minutes to close up and come down. That means the food needs to be packed away, we have to cash up and determine what we can save for the next day … All in half an hour.

Or we might be closed for three to four days at a time … You just never know.