Last night I attended the ‘I love Paris’ concert at La Motte’s old cellar, performed by Louise Howlett and accompanied by Albert Combrink, which set the French scene at the wine estate for the celebration of Bastille Day on Tuesday, but celebrated in Franschhoek this weekend. It was a natural to book a table at Pierneef à La Motte for after the concert, the menu having a French theme, but the experience disappointed!

I made both the bookings telephonically on Friday, and was treated with efficiency and friendliness by Angela for the concert, and by a grumpy disinterested-sounding person answering the phone at the restaurant, who told me that they were fully booked for last night. She did not ask for how many persons the booking would be for.  Luckily Restaurant Manager Pierre Theron was in the house, and he immediately told me that he would make a plan, as he always does with such friendliness!

At the concert I bumped into wine writer Samarie Smith and her partner Paul, and we decided to meet up in the restaurant, and to share a table. There was ample space in the restaurant, so one wonders why I was initially refused a table. Odd to see were parents with a 20 month toddler in the restaurant, which had already disrupted the concert, and continued to do so in the restaurant. I was told that the baby’s mother was an invited guest. Samarie shared her exciting news that she is starting a new Wednesday supplement to Die Burger, to be called ‘Kurk en Vurk’, with restaurant and wine reviews, from the end of this month.

Chef Michelle Theron (right in main photograph) has such a warm welcoming smile behind the open-plan kitchen, compared to her predecessor, who seemed less friendly. Chef Michelle lost Chef Ryan Cole to The Test Kitchen a few months ago, but has gained Pastry and Senior Sous Chef Vicky Gurovich (left in the main photograph), previously at the Belmond Mount Nelson.

The most French of the food we tasted was the French onion soup served in a little glass, which came in a too-large wooden box with a Gruyere cheese soufflé, and a cremesque, explained as crumbed pap and biltong, presented in a cone holder. The three items looked lost in the box.  This was sent to the table with the ‘compliments of the chef’.

It was hard to choose from the menu, which seemed to have gone beyond its introduction of ‘Bastille Menu‘, making one expect a truly French menu, but I suspect that many of the dishes are on the regular menu, not being French at all! A lot of French terms were used on the menu, which the staff struggled to explain and to pronounce! A generous bread basket arrived at the table, and our waiter Fortuin de Kock told us the bread types: sun-dried tomato and poppy-seed crisp, mini French baguettes, French ciabatta with onions and olives, Ouma se brood (the signature seeded bread), and a fruited rye bread with nuts.  The breads were accompanied by Shiraz butter, farm style butter, and labneh, which the waiter described as ‘hand yoghurt balls’.

For our starters I chose the foie gras (disappointing) with parsley crumbs served with brioche (and not on as claimed on the menu), disappointing in not being toasted, and dry, served with Calvados jelly, a colourless and tasteless jelly one could not see on the plate with the weak lighting at the table. Pan-fried apple slices were soft and juicy, but the dried apple slices were hard and did not suit the dish. I did not taste the ginger syrup mentioned on the menu. For a R110 starter the dish was disappointing, despite its appealing presentation. Paul chose marrow bones, served with pickled cabbage and radishes, and sourdough; and Samarie the guinea fowl and chestnut soup and aioli dressing, both starters costing R85. Other starter options were a warm fine bean salad with pears and walnuts (R85); and Franschhoek salmon trout tartare (R98).

We each wanted to order something different, yet we would all have liked to order the Châteaubriand-style beef fillet as the main course, so we allowed Paul to choose this dish, served with a warm tomato salad, and béarnaise sauce, costing a whopping R210. Samarie had the rich oxtail bourguignon, and expected it served as a stew, but the sauce arrived in a separate jug (at R198 expensive too). I was left with the choice of the more unattractive-looking mushroom risotto, served with black truffle and truffle oil, the oil dominating the dish and probably unnecessary (R165). Other main course options were a potato and mustard tart (R145); line fish (angelfish yesterday) with a tomato and olive ragout (R165); and quail on hay with a dried fruit stuffing (R185).

For dessert Samarie ordered a colorful guava clafoutis (baked French dessert), with roasted guava, cinnamon cream, almond nougatine parfait, Chantilly cream, and crème brûlée (R75). I chose the chocolate-rich Mille-feuille, with layers of finest puff pastry, rich chocolate, Nyangbo cremoux (sic) Valrhona 68% dark chocolate, and naartjie sorbet, the highlight of the dinner for me (R85). The pre-dessert of vegan cheese cake with guava purée, grapes soaked in rose water, and a pineapple crisp was a visual and taste disappointment (below right). Other dessert choices were a local and French style cheese board at an astronomical R175; a vanilla and lemon soufflé (R75); and a macaroon, pistachio financier, rose water Chantilly, dulcey crème, dark chocolate sorbet on chocolate open macaroons, a complex sounding dessert (R75). The dry cappuccino was excellent and super frothy, and was sent to the table with a plain cigar-box-like holder with apricot marshmallows, Madeleines, and chocolate financiers.

Pierneef à La Motte has come a long way since it opened  almost five years ago, with Chef Chris Erasmus at the helm. It is lovely to see a women chef team lead the restaurant kitchen, unique in the top restaurant league in our country, but it was not matched in quality on the floor with the waiters and managers, a concern given that the restaurant would be eligible to be considered for the 2015  Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards, having received a visit from main judge and editor Abigail Donnelly earlier this week. The staff wore Bastille berets, but there was no French music to add to the ambiance. The waiter stretched across me to place a fork on my left.  Surprising was seeing an ice bucket used to catch water from a leak from the ceiling close to our table after heavy downpours. The prices at Pierneef à La Motte seem out of line expensive, both relative to the quality of the service (or lack of), and ingredients and portion sizes!

Pierneef à La Motte, R45, Franschhoek.  Tel (021) 876-8000. www.la-motte.com  Twitter: @Pierneeflamotte  Breakfast on Friday – Sunday; Lunch on Monday – Sunday; Dinner on Thursday – Saturday.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Tel (021) 433-2100, Twitter:@WhaleCottage  Facebook:  click here