Peter Tempelhoff, the chef and owner of renowned Cape Town fine dining restaurant FYN, is starting a brand new venture in the virtual realm. His latest eatery, Stickman by FYN will operate solely through online deliveries.
In a statement, Tempelhoff explains that Stickman has been a year in the making and was originally meant to be a normal sit-down dive bar selling yakitori (chicken on a stick), authentic ramen, Japanese whisky, sake and more.
Unfortunately, as is the case for so many other businesses in the city and beyond, the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown brought those plans to a halt.
“About a year ago we started building what was going to be the coolest little Yakitori restaurant this side of Tokyo – we had the space half-built, had the chickens reared, the menu was tasted (and photographed), the website done, branded hats and shirts signed off, and an awesome team of people contracted up, two tonnes of binchotan were on the water, and I even had the first delivery of Japanese whiskies and sakes arrive on my doorstep (which really came in handy during lockdown), but I’ll get to that in a sec.
“Enter coronavirus in all its dismal glory!,” writes Tempelhoff in a Facebook post.
“After stopping the build and telling all the staff their jobs in their new restaurant were no more, the project came to a grinding halt, where it’s been wallowing ever since.”
Stickman was meant to live in a space at the upper end of Shortmarket Street near Bree Street, and was to be the flagship of three planned izakayas ( informal Japanese bar) in Cape Town.
“I often look back and wonder what could have been and how the covid situation has changed paths and lives- for me and countless others like me, and many worse off who’ve lost loved ones and seen businesses crumble… so I don’t consider myself unlucky at all – just poorly timed,” said Tempelhoff.
Not one to be deterred, Tempelhoff repositioned and, along with business partner Ashley Moss, has decided to still make Stickman come to life, albeit in a different form.
Stickman by FYN will operate through Bolt Food for now, with the possibility of expanding to Uber Eats and Mr Delivery if they do well on Bolt.
No confirmation on when exactly the restaurant will launch as they still need to get all their plans in order. For now, feast your eyes on the delicious dishes that will only be an app away…
