La Colombe has placed No.35 in the 2026 ranking from The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The result makes the Silvermist restaurant Cape Town’s highest-placed entry and the only African restaurant in this year’s top 50.
It completes a strong showing for the city across the organiser’s full list, with FYN at No.65 and Salsify at the Roundhouse at No.71. All three Cape Town restaurants appear within the top 100.
At La Colombe, executive chef James Gaag’s connection to the kitchen stretches back to 2010, when he joined as a student. He went on to work with Raymond Blanc in Oxford before returning to lead the team at Constantia Nek. The restaurant’s tasting menus bring theatrical presentation into a meal that unfolds through a sequence of courses.
The current Chef’s Menu moves from celeriac with wild mushroom and truffle to dishes including quail with langoustine and sweetcorn, then coal-fired lamb with tomato and rosemary. A choice of cheese and honey or artichoke with apple and hazelnut comes before a final course inspired by childhood memories of frozen yoghurt.
The vegetarian menu develops its own sequence, with dishes including beetroot, cauliflower with tandoori and coriander, and wild mushroom with cannelloni and sherry. Alongside the Chef’s Menu, the Spring Lunch Menu gives weekday visitors another way to book a meal at Silvermist this month.
