Page 7 - Cornwall Issue 5 2021

DINING OUT

KAROO ESCAPE

WITH ROD & MATT WALKER

BY NICOLE ZERWICK • IMAGES BY IVAN MULLER
FOOD IMAGES SUPPLIED

od Walker is a familiar site events he organised and the famous entertainers
walking around the estate and he hosted fill a wall in a section of the Karoo Grill
also chatting to patrons of his and Bar and Rod has an anecdote for each of them
restaurant, Karoo Grill and Bar that gives one insight into the entertaining world of
at Irene Village Mall. He and his showbiz and celebrity, pun intended.
family have been residents of
RCornwall Hill Estate for nineteen It was during this final period of his career in casinos
years since moving into the estate in 2002. Based that Rod began looking around for a transition
on the positive reviews of Karoo Grill and Bar, it is project to take him into retirement and, as luck
fair to say that Rod Walker is a good restaurateur. would have it, he met a franchisor with a concept
After spending a very pleasant afternoon chatting restaurant called Karoo Cattle and Land that was
with him over a glass of Chardonnay, I think I know planned for a new shopping centre called Irene
why. Rod strives to sell more than just a meal to his Village Mall close to his home in Cornwall Hill Estate.
customers. He and his management team, which Within four months the restaurant was open and
includes son Matt, work hard to make sure that each trading. After the ten year franchise agreement
person dining with him has a good experience: ran its course, Rod was able to continue as an
quality ingredients cooked well, served by attentive independent restaurant now called Karoo Grill and
waiters in a warm and friendly setting. It seems he Bar. He has made the restaurant unique by not
has the winning recipe. becoming distracted by faddish food trends, but
rather focussing on being a family friendly restaurant
His telling of what he calls his “Heinz 57” career, that offers good, hearty meals for people who
because it currently spans 57 years, is peppered with appreciate quality. Over the years many diners have
anecdotes and fond reminiscences. Growing up in become regulars and now even their children are
Glasgow, Scotland, Rod dreamt of becoming a pilot returning with dates, or spouses, for a special night
and so jumped at the chance of a summer holiday out. The large menu, which is a drawcard, offers a
job working at the Glasgow airport restaurant. wider variety of choices than many other restaurants
Starting right at the bottom of the pecking order in and includes options for vegetarians and vegans.
the kitchen he gradually progressed up the ranks,
learning as he went along, until it was evident The area where we are sitting is relatively new and
to everyone that this was the career for him. He fitted out in an informal saloon-style. Rod tells me
left to study a Higher National Diploma in Hotel that in the original planning pre-Covid, this area
Management. From college he moved to work was to have been a glitzy cocktail bar with a backlit
at hotels in the city of London, part-owned and window of exotic spirits and whiskeys. Alongside it,
managed the Machrie Hotel and golf course on with a bank of windows overlooking the square, a
the Scottish island of Islay. Islay is well known for lady’s lounge was planned too, with pink accents,
its peaty single malt whisky, but more so for Rod tapas menu and display fridges filled with sparkling
because that is where he served tea to Queen wines. The spaces are now furnished with tables for
Elizabeth. There is a beautiful twist to this tale – diners, necessary to maintain social distancing within
ask him to tell you about it the next time you are the restaurant. This leads us onto the subject – like
in the restaurant. In 1982 he settled in Lesotho as almost every conversation nowadays seems to do - of
the deputy general manager of the Maseru Casino how Covid lockdowns and trading restrictions have
Holiday Inn. affected him. Rod explains that the landlord of the
Irene Village Mall has been extremely understanding
Over the next almost three decades he worked his and helpful towards tenants, but that the realities of
way across various hotels and casinos in South and restrictions on alcohol sales have been particularly
southern Africa - the names read like a tour across devastating because without a glass of wine or a
the length and breadth of the country: Lesotho, beer with a meal, somehow the “special” of eating
Swaziland, Venda, Bophuthatswana, Johannesburg – out is gone and sales during that period plummeted
until finally he was appointed group entertainment to 30% of the usual trade. He has put various
manager for Sun International. Photographs of the strategies in place to survive. Firstly, to shrink the

Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment,
until it becomes a memory – Dr Seuss

Cornwall View • Issue 5 2021 5