South African-born head sommelier, Douwe Steyn stepped into Blue Mountain School’s art-and-craft crucible in February 2025. The six-storey Shoreditch townhouse, founded in 2018 by James and Christie Brown, layers exhibitions, residencies, and a fashion archive across its floors. At its heart is Cycene, the restaurant named for the Old English ‘cycene’ – kitchen
Despite the antiquated name, ‘this is very much a restaurant of the moment’ noted Michelin. At the apex of the team stands head chef, Taz Sarhane, bespectacled and born in south-east London to English-Moroccan parents. He took the helm in 2024 at 28, a forager with a preservationist streak, fermenting, dry-aging, and favouring mushrooms to power a distinctive, British-produce-led cuisine. Steyn’s task is to meet this intent in the glass.
The aesthetic of Cycene suits Steyn. Off the floor he carries an old-school film camera, his eye trained at night school, mirroring how he builds pairings – attentive to light, grain, and texture. ‘I studied at Cape Town Photographers College while working, always on film – I prefer it to digital. I focus on landscapes and nature.’
Before the lens came heat and steel, pastry benches and vineyard practicals – a hands-on beginning which set the course for everything which followed.
‘I went to catering college at 16, then apprenticed at the SA Chefs Academy. My block was at Klein Constantia and Santé Wellness Retreat in Paarl, on La Bella Vita Wine Estate. Then short stints in pastry at the Cape Grace Hotel on the V&A Waterfront, specialising as a pastry chef.’ The fascination with wine followed. ‘I got the wine bug, but there wasn’t WSET back then in South Africa, so I did basic wine studies at the Cape Winemakers Guild. Then I found myself front of house at The Test Kitchen, where I committed to wine.’ London, he judged, would be the place to gain WSET qualifications and chase opportunity. ‘I moved here 10 years ago – 2015.’
Mentors surfaced quickly. ‘It must be my faculty leader at chef school – Billy Swart. He instilled in me a passion for food and hospitality. But I’ve met so many amazing people in the Cape and London.’ Another formative chapter was Noble Rot, Soho, where Steyn worked as senior sommelier for four and a half years with Joshua Castle, now Head Buyer for Noble Rot’s Bloomsbury, Mayfair, and Soho branches, as well as its distribution arm, Keeling Andrew. ‘We’re still very good friends.’
From Carcass to Coravin
What matters most at Cycene is the dialogue between sommelier and kitchen. ‘At the start of each week, Taz and I sit down, go through the dishes which are changing, and do a little tasting together,’ says Steyn. ‘I Coravin a couple of things which might work. I’m lucky our palates are so closely aligned.’
That alignment runs through the food itself. ‘We’re hyper seasonal. Proteins are broken down by us – we work closely with Herefordshire farmer, Tom Jones, who raises native breeds; whole or half carcasses come in.’ The dry-ager is on view to guests, turning the dining room into a kind of studio where ideas cure in public.
The results reach the glass in three flights. ‘There’s a British pairing – homegrown wine such as Danbury Ridge, Tillingham, or Walgate, dry cider, and, because local sweet wines are still hard to come by, sometimes an ice cider. Then a Premium Classic pairing, mostly European – grower champagne alongside new-wave South Africa. Finally, the soft pairing is also Steyn’s domain. ‘All ferments and teas and kombuchas, a mix we make in-house.’
He recalls a standout pairing: ‘A summery dish of British line-caught tuna, using the rich toro, served raw with pineapple-weed custard, pickled green strawberries, and British plums. We matched it with The Wharie Experience, a dark saignée rosé. Its freshness balanced the fatty richness of the fish, while echoing the fruit in the accompaniments. The wine is the work of Guillaume Lagger, a Swiss oenologist we collaborate with directly. He launched a micro-winery in Hampshire in 2020, initially vinifying neighbours’ grapes while he established his own PIWI plantings. Today he works with Orion and produces a skin-contact Bacchus.’
The brief from Sarhane and James Brown was to tell stories via the producers, notes Steyn, who sees the list as a conversation rather than a catalogue. His own roots show most clearly in the South African section: ‘Eben Sadie with back vintages, aged Klein Constantia, Mullineux, Testalonga, and the raw energy of Sakkie Mouton. A movable feast.’
He is exacting about thresholds. ‘I’m sensitive to oak in whites if it’s too much, and to over-extraction in reds. I don’t gravitate towards those. Balance is crucial and key for any wine, as is context. And I love all grapes – it’s important to try as many things as possible.’
Portugal, he points out, offers superb white styles from the Azores, their volcanic soils recalling Tenerife and the Canaries. ‘We have a lot of seafood and fish on the menu – those saline, mineral styles really work.’ And then there is Greece. ‘Outside of Santorini, which suffered its worst vintage on record, there is Crete and the mainland.’
The dining room seats 16, while the rooftop garden suits more informal stand-up receptions. ‘We cater to the client: always British fizz on reception, then whatever else the cellar or their taste requires.’ A small, dynamic team – the focus is on making sure everything is on point. ‘We have the luxury of being slightly smaller and detail-oriented.’ Recent takeovers have ranged from a private seven-course N25 caviar event, to the launch of Highland Park 56, which ended with guests gathered around a fire pit.
For a last supper he would set two places for visionaries who bent time to their will. ‘Leonardo da Vinci and David Bowie. For Leonardo, a formidable grower Champagne – Ulysse Collin or Selosse – to blow his mind. For David Bowie, something more simple. I did some reading – he liked Spanish wine – a Ribera del Duero, or really old-school Tondonia from the 1940s or 1950s.’
And if not wine? ‘I’d have been a pastry chef. Though I still have dreams of starting an agriturismo – horticulture, cultivating – right up my street.
Perhaps Italy, Greece, or Portugal – I have roots in all three. Maybe in between.’ For now, the in-between is Shoreditch, where a film camera, a dry-ager and a list of growers draw a line between Cape Town light and London night – between precision and pleasure, the poles by which Steyn sets his course.
What’s On at Cycene
Glasses (via Coravin)
- Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 2016
- Montevertine ‘Pian del Ciampolo’ Rosso 2022
- Barolo ‘Monprivato’ 2015 – Giuseppe Mascarello
Bottles
- Yarn Edition 001 Classic Cuvée 2020
- Côtes du Jura Chardonnay ‘Chamois Paradis’ 2019 – Jean-François Ganevat
- Domaine Cécile Tremblay Morey-Saint-Denis ‘Tres Girard’ 2022
- Nicole Tapon, Saint-Georges-Saint-Émilion 2015
- Porseleinberg Swartland Syrah 2015 – Boekenhoutskloof
Cycene, 9 Chance St, London E2 7JB; 020 7739 9733; bluemountain.school/cycene
