Omnivore - Restaurant Review: Yebo

• James Camp
• GAME BIRD: Yebo’s ostrich sliders and Parmesan popcorn

Mere feet away from the Bentley- and Maserati-choked valet stand at Phipps Plaza, an oasis of safari chic appears. Thick canvas drapes create a sense of seclusion from the mall hubbub. Inside, papier-mâché antelope heads grace a sunset-orange wall and the words of Toto, blessing the rains in Africa, grace another. This is Yebo, a new bar/restaurant from Justin Anthony (10 Degrees South), where the South again meets South Africa.

Yebo’s brand of fusion uses the cuisine of South Africa as a departure point for a more populist trip exploring the country’s flavors. It’s location in one of the South’s most high-end shopping destinations demands the menu be at once exotic and widely appealing. Where else in town can you plop down with your bags full of Gucci for a choice of ostrich or fried chicken, barbecue-sauced pork or bobotie bunny chow, and then wash it down with a $180 bottle of South African wine? As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti, a restaurant with such disparate aims is sure to hit a bull’s-eye in spots, and fall short in others. So it goes with Yebo.

Read the full review by Brad Kaplan here.