Gravel Road Adventures doesn’t ALWAYS spend time in the dusty, gravelly, stony gramadoelas … sometimes we go a little off-piste … and sally off on a foray into gastronomy-land with, um, perhaps just a little wine thrown in to mark the occasion. Which is what we did recently. So, for now, it’s not about cat sightings or large raptors or amazing owls. (Although we did get serenaded in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley by at least four Spotted Eagle-Owls having a social chat at dusk. Magic.) This time the post is about delicious food accompanied by delicious wine.
Franschhoek
With the current trend for female warriors (look at the Black Panther movies and their Wakanda women, and now, The Woman King), this impressive-looking lady outside an art gallery garnered a lot of attention from passing visitors (LOTS of foreign tourists in Franschhoek!).
We visited the truly sublime Le Coin Français restaurant and were in heaven for an afternoon …
3-hour cured, 1-hour cold-smoked trout with an unbelievable carrot and horseradish emulsion. The chef Darren Badenhorst wanted to do a whole “foraging in the forests” theme, hence all the flowers and plants and herbs, and there is also a “soil” (!) — see the black crumble — made of edible ingredients.
This, believe it or not, is a palate cleanser … a blob of sorbet with cucumber, fruits and flowers.
New York cheesecake with citrus curd as well as tiny lemon droplets that pop on your tongue and, of course, edible flowers; the interior of Le Coin Français (which is French for “Fransch Hoek”!).
A mushroom-inspired dessert replete with chocolate-crumble “soil” and brownie matcha “moss”; the ice-cream was rosemary-flavoured (and truly yum), the stem was a bit mushroom-savoury, filled with an orange creme, the cap dark chocolate. Ingenious!
Genevieve, Bot River
So, on to Bot River, where winemaker Melissa Genevieve Nelsen has decided to focus only on making very delicious MCC bubbles — solely from the Chardonnay grape (except for her rosé, which has Shiraz in it). What’s special about Melissa’s Genevieve blanc de blanc sparkling is that the wine is left for 4 years on the lees, that is, in contact with the yeast, before disgorgement. After that, the wine is sometimes left in the bottle for a year too, so the flavours are amazing. Melissa’s Zero Dosage MCC, meaning no sugar is added to the wine, has incredible body and flavour for an extra-dry champagne.
Exterior and fun, painted interior at the Genevieve wine cellar.
Funky wire-and-foil-cap stools with the Genevieve female-bust-logo on the seats.
Champers on the Move …
Bot River
On to Gabrielskloof Wine Estate (groovy wine logo!) for a casual lunch. Standout on the (small) menu was a starter of “torteletti” pasta filled with truffle and ricotta, and sprinkled with Parmesan. Very, very yummy.
Hemel-en-Aarde
Plaaskombuis, a fun place to have coffee or breakfast or cake or fudge in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley.
And then, always, the cream of the crop, lunch at Newton Johnson’s restaurant with views over the valley and all the way to the sea … and it’s where you will find chefette extraordinaire, Tullishe le Roux. She always gives us extra special attention, and even though the restaurant was very busy (weekend) she devised a 7-course meal for us, only. (Maybe it’s all the ooh-ing and aah-ing we do, plus we drain our plates porcelain to mouth; we also lick them, and use our fingers to clean up whatever’s left behind. That’s why she tucks us away in the corner so no-one can see us. Actually, that’s not true ‘cos she loves it when we lick her plates.)
Views all the way to the sea.
Marinated beetroot with citrus wedges, watercress and pistachios on creamed feta.
This was so simple yet sooooooo delicious … broccoli stems on a smoky-paprika tomato purée with Parmesan shavings and a crushed almond crumble. Give this to me every day, please.
No, this is the one I’d like every day, and simply the broth will do. A Thai-inspired broth with prawns and kingklip and all the Thai flavours … lemongrass, ginger, garlic, chilli … … … this is when we lifted the plates to our mouths and drained every drop.
Very apt way to end the blog, a crème caramel in a burnt-sugar-butter-caramelly sauce. Just the jus would have been good enough for me. (By the way, we DID bring our running shoes … and used them too.)