The City’s Only South African Restaurant and Bar, Kaia | The New Yorker

"On the Upper East Side, I found an eleven-year institution run by Suzaan Hauptfleisch, an aspiring stage actress from South Africa whose “Kaia” (an intentional misspelling of the Zulu ikhaya, meaning “home”) is the city’s sole South African restaurant and bar and has poured about $7.2 million worth of South African wine, mostly by the glass. The seasonal menu—created by Hauptfleisch, Bronx-born chef Billy Dineen, and Hauptfleisch’s mother Elize, who moved to New York last year—is South African–inspired rather than strictly traditional: elk replaces hard-to-procure wild game and is sliced thin, barely seared, seasoned with coriander, toasted black‑mustard seed, and flakes of sea salt, served with a homemade sweet mustard as one of the few year‑round dishes; the bobotie is a spiced, fruity minced‑beef topped with a creamy egg custard and made with green apples, onions, raisins, cinnamon, yellow curry powder, apricot jam, and mango chutney; the Gatsby is a Portuguese roll stuffed with garam‑masala‑braised chicken, pickled cucumbers, Peppadew peppers, and French fries, and in winter the menu swaps it for bunny chow—half a loaf filled with spicy Durban curry meant to be eaten with your hands. The spot feels intensely neighborhood—Hauptfleisch estimates over ninety percent of patrons live within walking distance, regulars have assigned tables, she doesn’t take reservations for parties under five, and the service can be charmingly communal (I was once sent downstairs for a gallon of milk and later asked to help pry open a jar of marmalade). There’s even a Kaia Taco Shop run by a longtime Mexican‑heritage staffer—dust it with peri‑peri and the fusion works—and dishes run roughly $5–$33." - David Kortava