In Amsterdam, a Cape Town-born restaurateur and a tight-knit team of South Africans are redefining hospitality abroad – not through nostalgia, but through warmth, openness and exceptional food.
The way South Africans gravitate towards each other in a foreign land is incredible. South London could be Cape Town’s southern suburbs with its concentration of South Africans working in the finance industry. Australia and New Zealand have proud, booming South African communities, and the comments section on SA Rugby Magazine serves to confirm this. “PROUD SAFFA LIVING IN AUS LAST 10 YEARS GREAT COMMUNITY HERE!!!”. I have a very good friend who is half South African, half German, born and raised in Berlin. Her dad, talking about immigrating, said that they had hung around South Africans when they first moved over to Germany, but quickly realised that if they didn’t make an effort to expand, their new life risked being characterised by Peppermint Crisp chocolate, Mrs Balls Chutney and a friend circle more interested in reminiscing about South Africa than experiencing Berlin. Their 14-year-old pug’s name is Thandi, though.
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My sister, Jules, moved to Amsterdam to study at the end of 2024. Her girlfriend is Dutch, her classes centre on global politics and her circle seems to comprise a steady balance of internationals and locals. I found one bag of Rooibos tea in her apartment and very little other indication of ties to South Africa. She’s not the find a local biltong maker type of person. But, she is Cape Town born and raised, and in her makeup is that Msanzi magnet that pulls South Africans towards each other, or at least towards some reminder of home. For the past year, she has been working at the Cape Town Social Club.
Cape Town Social Club is a celebration of South African hospitality, privately tucked away on Raamstraat in Central Amsterdam, but actually just a short walk from the touristy hum of Leidseplein. Amsterdam’s ability to contrast buzzing main roads and plazas with quiet side streets and lamp-lit canals is one among many of the city’s endearing qualities, as I found out on a trip towards the end of 2025.
On my second day in Amsterdam, a Saturday spent recovering from a harrowing 12-hour night bus from London (never again), Jules invited me to the restaurant. She would be working, I would enjoy the six-course signature menu and a never-ending pint of Moretti, and gain insight into the slice of South Africa that has hopefully kept the warmth of home close if ever Jules has felt faraway since leaving. As the sun set through the cloud-wrapped sky and the auburn-leaved trees of a city in shoulder season, I grabbed my camera, swerved a swarm of cyclists and meandered ten minutes to the restaurant.
Cape Town-born founder Seb Erasmus, who was kind enough to host me at the restaurant during my time in Amsterdam, explained that the idea for the Cape Town Social Club was inspired by a gap in Amsterdam’s dining scene. “Places either leaned heavily into formality or were entirely casual. I wanted to create something in between, a restaurant that delivers high-level food and service without losing the social, relaxed energy I grew up with in South Africa,” he said.
So much of South Africa’s appeal lies in our openness and warmth, qualities that are distinctly absent in many service-industry spaces throughout Europe and the United Kingdom. The friendly collection of Durban accents I met before sitting down (who came over individually to introduce themselves) was a testament to the energy that a South African-curated waiting staff brings abroad.
I asked Seb how his personal memories of South Africa shape the restaurant’s concept, menu or atmosphere. “They influence the way we host. South Africans are direct, warm and attentive, and that style of service is central to CTSC. It also appears in our wine list, which is a big part of my own connection to home. The menu itself is not traditional South African, the influence is more about attitude than recipes.”
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To his point about attitude over recipe, I can confess that my dad had never whipped out braai’d octopus during a Springbok game or Sunday lunch, so that was a delicacy enjoyed for the first time in my life, five courses into the meal. “Our food isn’t South African cuisine. It’s a contemporary menu shaped by a mix of influences. “South African-inspired” for us means pulling from the techniques, spice profiles, smokiness and acidity common in modern Cape Town dining, without replicating heritage dishes. It’s interpretive, not representational,” Seb continued. “There’s usually one dish each season where all our influences meet, South American technique from our chefs, global touches, and a South African element in the flavour profile. Those dishes reflect what CTSC is: layered, international, and not tied to a single tradition.” Currently, that would be their trio of Braai’d duck.”
The menu changes regularly, but the warm intimacy of the space stays the same. The materials and colours are inspired by places Seb knows well in South Africa, but the goal was to create a modern European dining room that carries subtle cues from home through service and food. I sat by myself, kept company by book, beer and the nervous grin from Jules every time she turned on her waitress voice to explain the intricacy of the next South African-inspired dish. Throughout the night, I watched couples arrive quietly, settling into the dim-light, private comfort of the restaurant, and nodding attentively to the enthusiastic explanations of South Africa’s finest wines.
“South African wine is a major part of the identity of the restaurant. It’s one of the most direct and authentic ways to bring our background into the experience. The wines speak for themselves, they’re high-quality, expressive and still underrepresented in Europe, so showcasing them makes sense both personally and professionally,” says Seb.
The food was fantastic, and it was interesting – and by the time you have read this and hopefully had the same privilege of visiting, a quirky new set of courses will have replaced the South African-styled, South America-infused delicacies I enjoyed. What will be the same is the welcoming atmosphere that speaks to the best parts of South African service.
The Cape Town Social Club was my first proper meal out when I arrived in Amsterdam, and beyond a fascinating culinary experience, it was a beautiful insight into my sister’s home away from home, a fitting place of reunion for the two of us and a wonderful reminder of the pride and influence that South Africans can carry across the world, without being caught up in nostalgia. Or Mrs Balls and Peppermint Crisp. As Seb says: “Good food, good wine, genuine hospitality. We’re capturing the attitude rather than the aesthetics: openness, a mix of influences, and a straightforward approach to hosting. Cape Town is diverse and layered, but it isn’t self-conscious about it, and that’s the quality we try to bring into the restaurant.”
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