It takes courage to do things differently, so when restaurateur Chris Stroebel decided to open Equinox in the space underneath his iconic beach restaurant, The Lookout Deck, it could have been very easy to replicate his upstairs formula – laid-back, all-day, affordable classics like burgers and baskets of calamari.
Instead, he brought in his cousin – author, international restaurant consultant and former Mount Nelson chef Garth Stroebel – to advise on a new strategy to really maximise the site’s unique location and make a strong impact on the dining scene. “We wanted to do something different, and the idea of a fire pit came up. It’s not something entirely new – we all braai – but it’s rarely done, and done well, in restaurants,” says Chris.