Picture: Jim Freeman
One of the highlights of an end-of-year vacation in the Western Cape is dining out in the Mother City and neighbouring Winelands.
While many visitors have developed personal favourite restaurants and bistros over the years, this year – as always – there are dozens of new eateries for them and first-time culinary explorers to savour.
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Heritage Square, Cape Town CBD.
www.vue-shortmarket.co.za
There’s more of a hammering than a buzz at this city centre eatery on weekdays at lunchtime but this abates by late afternoon and, in any case, the annual builders’ holidays will soon allow midday patrons to enjoy their food, drinks, and spectacular Table Mountain and Signal Hill views in peace.
Located in the foodie paradise known as Heritage Square, VUE is one of those restaurants that one should visit with a partner… if only to eat from each other’s plates.
Star of the kitchen is Darren Allsop who serves up starters of butternut ravioli and coal-smoked puttanesca risotto followed by a shared main of black-crusted (garlic, sesame, tahini, and squid ink) tuna served on a charred corn puree with a chakalaka prawn bisque.
I hesitate to say that the best was saved for last but your relationship would have to be rock solid to give away a mouthful of your slice of orange and polenta cake, vanilla ice cream, and Cointreau syrup.
Heritage Square, says VUE coowner Günter Boisits, has been Cape Town’s foodie hub “since the early 2000s”.
It says a lot for the vibrancy of the city’s restaurant scene, he adds, that none of these still exists; they’ve either closed or morphed and moved on.
An added benefit of evening dining at VUE is a surfeit of secure parking.
121 Beach Rd, Mouille Point.
www.sotanorestaurant.info
Almost directly across the road from Mouille Point’s red-striped lighthouse is Sotano, which opened 14 years ago as a Mediterranean tapas-style eatery, but has since evolved into a predominantly seafood restaurant whose dishes reflect Spanish, French, Italian and Lebanese influences.
Sotano, the Spanish word for cellar pays homage to the owners’ personal love of Iberian gastronomy and their annual “food exploration pilgrimages” to San Sebastian, is a must-do if you love seafood done deliciously but without pretension.
After a scrumptious chicken liver (with a hint of anchovy) pate and buttery sourdough toast pre-starter, my partner and I decided to forgo the signature paella and entrusted our appetites to the whims of the owners; Brendon Crews, Marc Langois, and Jean-Yves Muller.
What followed was possibly the finest seafood meal of our lives.
It featured calamari tubes stuffed with feta and chorizo, baked feta prawns, lemon and dill risotto with steamed clams, and a prawn, calamari, and kingklip espetada.
The calamari and hake were tender, the prawns firm… just as they should be. The dessert was a burnt Basque cheesecake.
Nitida wine estate, Durbanville Wine Route.
www.nitida.co.za
Cassia (a bold spice also known as Asian cinnamon) at Nitida (the endemic Waboom protea) has been a favourite with Durbanville residents for some time but it was only with the fairly recent establishment of the regional wine route that the restaurant began to attract a wider following.
Chef Amoré Botha-van Dyk has been in the business for 11 years, cutting her teeth first as a pastry chef at Camps Bay’s Twelve Apostles Hotel before joining Hartford House in KwaZulu-Natal. Both are five-star establishments.
Subsequent stopovers on her personal journey included the restaurants on Newton Johnson and Avondale wine estates, and Bushman’s Kloof Wilderness Reserve in the Cederberg. She joined Cassia earlier this year.
Among the wines that put Nitida on the map are their sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon.
I tailored my meal accordingly, starting off with a not-so-humble fishcake served with fennel and cucumber slaw before progressing to one of Botha-van Dyk’s specialities, rolled roasted pork belly with a soy and orange glaze, mustard mashed potatoes, caramelised apple and Swiss chard.
On a particularly hot day, you might want to try the mixed platter (for two) of cured meats, local cheeses, homemade chutney, preserves, and a selection of toasted bread and cheese straws.
Nitida wines are also sold by the glass at reasonable prices.
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Joostenberg Wine Estate, Muldersvlei.
www.joostenberg.co.za
This is one of the hidden gems of the Winelands, similar to its near neighbour Table at De Meye in that the menu changes every weekend but is not so popular that you have to book months in advance.
Joostenberg Wine Estate is situated just on the “wrong” (northern) side of the N1, so it misses out on the appellation of being a Stellenbosch attraction by less than a kilometre.
Muldersvlei is a mixed farming area and the restaurant has access to a wide variety of fresh produce from which to prepare a slow-cooked, fixed three-course lunch menu from Fridays to Sundays.
This is not a venue for vegetarians with healthy appetites, while vegans and pescatarians are completely out of luck: think hearty main courses featuring lamb, beef, and venison.
Booking is essential, not only because it is popular but also because the sibling team of Tyrrel, Susan, and Garth Bedford prepare just enough food to ensure little goes to waste.
Don’t think of pitching up Sunday midday with a large party and expect a table.
The cost is R485 per person or R695 paired with Joostenberg’s organic wines.
Dunstone Country Estate, Wellington.
Website under construction
Having opened its doors to the public only a few months ago, this elegant bistro on the slopes of Wellington’s Limietberg is so new that it hasn’t had time to become a well-kept secret! Belgian Dirk Vaeye purchased Dunstone last year and decided the restaurant needed a less extensive menu, partly because Wellington remains largely off the beaten track for Winelands tourists.
He decided to refurbish the old Stone Restaurant as plans progressed to revive the Wellington Wine Route and launch the GoWellington tourism initiative, bringing in Paarl chef Rudi van Dyk (another one who’s spent time at Bushman’s Kloof!) to steer the ship.
At the same time, the dining area as well as a large adjacent room that had been used as a children’s play area was converted into an art gallery.
I was a guinea pig and Van Dyk told me the menu would change to incorporate more venison and fresh produce from Wellington and nearby Riebeek-Kasteel.
Nevertheless, if my lunch of thinly sliced beef carpaccio with shaved Parmesan, Norwegian From farm table to haute cuisine Western Cape holiday-goers spoiled for choice salmon with avocado tartare (two starters enjoyed as a main) and colourful Belgian-South African marula cheesecake with berry compote were anything to go by, the future is bright indeed.
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