Last night I felt that Christmas had come early, when I was lucky to be one of eight invited guests to eat a 10-course dinner at Jan Cape Town, the private home of Grant Bacon and Chef Jan-Hendrik Van Der Westhuizen, whose Nice restaurant Jan was awarded one Michelin star in February.
Chef Jan told us that he does three weeks a month in Nice and one week in Cape Town, on average, 
but this visit was only four days long, he and his fiancé Grant Bacon flying to Nice today, and then they travel to Porto in Portugal on a short holiday trip. Chef Jan cooked three dinners over the past three evenings, hardly a break for him. He had two students assisting him last night.
Grant poured each of us a glass of Graham Beck Cuvée Clive 2009, chosen as the best South African sparkling wine at the 2016 Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships, as a welcome drink. Chef Jan was busy creating the starter and butter whilst we were introduced to each other, most of us not having met before. An arrangement of red proteas on the kitchen counter, and orange pincushions in the lounge attracted attention. The Higgovale house has been featured in House & Leisure, designed in conjunction with one of the guests Andre Carl Van Der Merwe, and is unusual in being elevated above the ground, and being set in a forest-like environment to make it appear to float between the trees. Chairs have green upholstery, reflecting the forest environment of the house. I recognised the playlist from my lunch at Jan restaurant in Nice in June 2015, a lovely mix of French, Sinatra, and even South 
African music.
We were seated at a French oak table, with lit candles, three glass bowls of tulip bulbs, and two tall glass wine decanters. I was lucky that I sat in the middle of the table, closest to the overhead lamp, which was beneficial for the photography. In welcoming us, Chef Jan toasted to ‘Food and Friends‘, wishing us enjoyment of the food, but also to leave having made new friendships around the table. I had a few moments to speak to Chef Jan, and he shared that he is living his life differently now, putting his personal happiness first, as if he is not happy, it will show in his plates. He is planning to launch a new pop-up 
restaurant concept in our country, of which he will release details soon.
An unusual place to put the material napkin on the table was inside an overturned water glass, on which Chef Jan had placed the first starter of salmon, cream cheese, and pea macaron, topped with compressed caviar. The sheet of caviar had been air-dried, much like one would 
make biltong, Chef Jan explained. Our sideplate was made by ceramicist Diana Ferreira, and the cutlery was unusual, in being rose titanium. A Mosbolletjie bread baked in a tea cup was brought to the table with a ball of homemade whipped butter containing popcorn and ostrich biltong, topped with a sheet of Marmite gel.
These two courses were paired with Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Chardonnay 2015.
The third course of langoustine ravioli, with squid ink spaghetti and Durum pasta, deep fried tofu, yuzu, a hint of coconut, beurre blanc, pine nuts, and spitzkoppen cabbage was served in a small brass pot (left).
Chef Jan had paired Diemersdal Grüner Veltliner 2015, which spent six months with skin contact, and was recognised at the Michelangelo awards for being the most innovative wine, with his asparagus, trout, fynbos honey sauce Vierge, 
trout, Hamilton Russell olive oil, avocado and basil infused Burrata, and watercress. The plate used for this dish was from LIM on Kloof Street.
I had noticed two very tall glass holders on the table, which looked as if they contained a red liquid. Grant told us that it was red wine, a bottle going into each holder, which Chef Jan had decanted yesterday morning already. The wine was Rupert & Rothschild Baron Edmond blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot 2009. The wine was paired with a double 
main course, one bowl (from Continental China) served being an organic carrot which had been confited in duck fat for a number of hours, and which had been stuffed with duck rilette. It was accompanied by a slice of beef fillet with gold leaf and caviar. The jus was created from veal bones cooked for 24 hours. 
On a wooden board was a slow-roasted cauliflower, bacon, artichoke and apple butter, thyme, and dried banana, to share amongst two guests. I asked Leon to divide our cauliflower, being a doctor.
We did not realize that four dessert courses were to follow. The first was ‘gebraaide’ guava, dried yoghurt, and guava sauce, served in a LIM plate.
The second had a foundation of Chef Jan’s grandmother’s quinces, vanilla, and naartjie, 
which he had 
cooked into a jam. To this he added slices of a Boerenkaas, and thin slices of Apple. This course was paired with Creation The Art of Pinot Noir 2015.
The third dessert was sago pudding, blueberries, and hibiscus ice cream, covered by a thin meringue layer, topped with strawberry hair, and Chantilly cream drizzled over each plate by Chef Jan at the table. It was served in a plate by Diana Ferreira.
The pièce de résistance was a piece of food art which Chef Jan had created around a cluster of shells, on top of which he placed koeksisters, Valrhona chocolate mint, crystallized vervienne leaves from Nice, chocolate ganache, pistachio, and what looked like edible worms. This last course 
was paired with Paul Cluver Liquid Gold Noble Late Harvest 2009, and brought to the table on a board with small lit candles! I was blown away that Chef Jan remembered my preference for a dry cappuccino, 15 months after I ate at his Jan restaurant in Nice. Grant made it perfectly, with a beautiful swirl in the foam.
We had a sparkling evening, talked food and restaurants, and enjoyed Chef Jan’s creations and the wines he paired with them. We noted how silently the three chefs worked in the open plan kitchen, and how Chef Jan worked non-stop, even offering his assistance to the chef interns. Grant looked after the drinks in the main, topping up our water and wine glasses. We realized that we were extremely fortunate to have been invited to the dinner, to experience the creativity of Chef Jan. A highlight for each of us was receiving a copy of the menu, handwritten by Chef Jan, a very special momento of the evening.
Disclosure: We received a Jan ‘The Big Dipper’ rusk pack, as well as a two-bottle Fleur du Cap Laszlo gift pack. Christmas has arrived early this year!
POSTSCRIPT 9/10: Due to a technical glitch caused by a resetting of our website by our American hosting company, we lost the comment received to this post. We have been able to resurrect it and post it here:
# Paul
It was an exceptional evening Paul, still pinching myself.
I would comment if the dish was too sweet/too salty/meat too tough etc. Obviously none of these applied to and of the dishes created by passionate Chef Jan-Hendrik.
Jan Restaurant, 22 Rue Lascaris, Nice. Tel +33 04 97 19 32 23 www.restaurantjan.com Twitter : @JanHendrikvdWes Instagram: @JanHendrik2016 Tuesday – Saturday Dinner, Friday Lunch
Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whalecottage.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@WhaleCottage Facebook: click here Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein
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