In 2016, Luke and I met in the courtyard at The Biscuit Mill. That conversation became a 10-year journey, and our first project together with his wife Sandalene, was a reimagining of The Test Kitchen. Built around Luke’s vision of a Dark Room and Light Room, we introduced a mezzanine to house the cellar and layered the space with curated art and sculpture to create something truly singular.

For the Dark Room we used Yakisugi, the traditional Japanese technique of charring wood, to create deep, textured panelling. Hannelie Coetzee then took an angle grinder to the surface, carving her monumental burnt-wood photogravure Sibling Portrait 2016 directly into it. Egon Tania, in collaboration with Peter Forbes, designed the Jurassic-style metal pull-down platforms that cast dramatic, shifting shadows across the wood-clad walls.

The Dark Room feels intimate and elemental — smoky wood in the air, guests gathered around plates and cocktails — before you slip through a port-holed door, give the password, and emerge into the Light Room: an airy, linen-draped space where the main courses are served. A space designed to leave an imprint: a multi-sensory experience that lingers long after you leave.