Clayton Bell is the owner of Empire Cafe in Muizenberg, a bustling little 'local' which is one of my favourite breakfast spots. With a pedigree as the former exec chef at iconic Cape Town restaurants he brings a wealth of hard-won experience to running his own place. We chatted about the shift of pace and scale from running a big corporate restaurant to operating his own 50 seater in a seaside retreat.

• www.rwm2012.com
• On Instagram @a_table_inthecorner
• Cover image sketched by Courtney Cara Lawson
• All profile portraits by Russel Wasserfall unless otherwise credited
• Title music: 'In Time' by Olexy via Pixabay