There are dinners you remember and there are dinners you wake up from wondering if they actually happened. Naan Sense arriving at Shepstone Gardens for one delirious night only, this weekend on August 16 belongs firmly in the latter category. Its not so much a restaurant as a seance for the senses, conducted with the solemn frivolity of a magicians final trick.
The conceit is beguiling: a multisensory edible orchestra that reimagines Durban Indian cuisine via molecular gastronomy, live qawwali and theatrical sleight of hand. Founder Ivana Pillay calls it a love letter to her heritage. But its a love letter penned in edible ink, folded into an origami swan, set alight and served under a silver cloche.
There are two menu journeys: The Jungle Garden vegetarian and The Beach Front seafood, both seven-course affairs as secretive as a magicians pockets. Everything is Halal-friendly, though Ivana stops short of certification her intent is reverence, not red tape. Durban ingredients betel leaf, Tulsi appear not as homespun garnishes but as stars in an operatic performance of smoke, foam and liquid nitrogen.