Pierneef à La Motte has announced by media release that its Pastry Chef Michelle Theron has been appointed as its Chef de Cuisine from 1 May. Chef Michelle has been at La Motte since the opening of the restaurant in 2010.
Chef Michelle takes over the kitchen from Chef Chris Erasmus, who is opening his own restaurant Folliage in Franschhoek in July. Chef Chris leaves when the restaurant closes for its annual winter break on 15 June. He took Pierneef à La Motte to an Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant last year.
Chef Michelle was involved from the beginning in the research and recipe development for the ‘Cape Winelands Cuisine’ cook book. She is inspired by leading female chefs such as Chef Margot Janse from The Tasting Room, Chef Clare Smythe from Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, and Chef Elena Arzak of Michelin-star restaurant Arzak.
The Autumn menu has been introduced, and new dishes are an interesting sounding Cape Winelands chicken pie, described as follows: ‘a Free-range Cape Winelands chicken with preserved lemon, fig saucisson sec, quail egg, white wine and preserved lemon sauce’. Other new dishes are fresh, pickled, 
and roasted beetroot with a double-baked goat’s cheese souffle (right), as well as a smoked snoek tortellini with grapefruit, red pepper, braised greens, and smoked sweet potato. Her love for pastry comes through in her new Milk Tart dish, served with cinnamon gel, honey ice-cream, puff crumble, as well as Lemon and thyme marshmallows with poppy seed 
tuilles (left).
To prepare herself for her new role, Chef Michelle leaves for Holland today, to cook at Michelin star restaurants ML Haarlem, Chapeau!, De Bokkedoorns, De Vrienden van Jacob, and Specktakel. She will also be visiting the food and fish markets of Barcelona. She returns on 18 May.
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 Twitter: @WhaleCottage
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