Mountain Café opens it’s doors to the public
Sitting in her open-plan office at the book publishing arm of Times Media, Reneé Naudé (31) dreamt of a career that didn't involve books.
HAENERTSBURG – She dreamt of opening her own restaurant to provide customers with the freshest ingredients and delightful meals.
Her dream came true on 24 September, when the Mountain Café opened its 45-seater restaurant to the public. The restaurant is situated on the Blueberry Heights farm, 7km from Haenertsburg towards Tzaneen. Once a tractor shed, the building has been converted into an airy interior with doors leading out onto a long verandah with a view over Stanford Lake.
The kitchen is centrally situated so customers can easily watch their food being prepared with a bar near the corner fireplace.
The washrooms include a changing and feeding room for mothers and one wall is lined with books from Reneé’s literary past.
She grew up in Polokwane, went to Hoërskool Pietersburg (PHS) and studied publishing in Pretoria. She travelled to Brisbane, Australia for 18 months to complete a post-graduate degree in publishing at the University of Queensland after which she returned to South Africa to work at Penguin Books for six years.
For years, Naudé travelled the world, learning about different cuisines, going on cooking courses and eating out at various restaurants. Her favourite restaurant during her recent European trip was a tiny restaurant in Naples, Italy. She had the best service and the best food, her favourite being a tomato and strawberry salad and pasta with seafood. Her latest cooking course was in Provencé, France where she learnt basic French cooking provincial style.
Reneé’s mother, Irene, is an excellent baker and will be part of the Mountain Café team. She will use the wood fire oven to bake bread and has her own sour dough plant. Besides her mother, Reneé has three more personnel members clad in jeans and black T-shirts. She says the mark of a good restaurant is that the service must be just as good as the food.
The slow-food menu will change seasonally. Herbs and vegetables will come from the newly planted garden outside the restaurant or from suppliers within a 50km radius to ensure freshness. There is a selective wine list to choose from and the food will be served in a variety of interesting crockery Reneé has collected over the years.
Her parents bought a stand at Clearwaters Cove some 15 years ago and moved there permanently six years ago. Her father, Charl Naudé, continues to travel to Polokwane daily where he has his own law practice. Reneé has two younger brothers; one, an IT technician in Pretoria, the other runs the neuro-biological research department at the University of Cape Town.
Reneé’s ancestry is deeply rooted in the Haenertsburg area. Her great-great-grandparents owned Goedvertrouwen before and during the Anglo Boer War. Great-great-grandfather Charl Naudé’s grave is on the farm close to where he was shot and killed, presumably by English troops. It’s believed that he had malaria and was hiding in the nearby indigenous forest. Her great-grandfather was born at Goedvertrouwen and was only two years old when he and his mother were sent to the concentration camp. They survived and the great-great-grandmother sold the farm, remarried and settled in Polokwane.
Mountain Café is open seven days a week from 09:00 to 21:00 during the Spring Fair for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Thereafter, Mountain Café will be open Wednesdays to Sundays but stays closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
For any information or bookings, contact Reneé at 063 816 8206.
