As part of a three-day stay in Franschhoek last week, I made a point of revisiting some older restaurants. One of them was Haute Cabrière, a restaurant which I had heard little of, other than its appointment in November last year of new Chef Dennis Strydom, of late.

I had become a Facebook Friend of Claire Blinkhorn-Street, the Sous Chef, and messaged her to check if she would be on duty on Saturday. She confirmed positively. On my arrival I was surprised to see the photographic frame on the grounds, similar to the Table Mountain ones in Cape Town, and a kind couple obliged in taking a ‘tourist’ photograph.

I was greeted warmly inside the restaurant, and I immediately asked if I could take photographs outside, given how dark the restaurant is, being built into what seems like a cave, and which could be depressing for some. This worked perfectly, given that there is no section inside the restaurant that has any strong lighting. I was shown a table which had been set for two persons, facing a corner of the restaurant rather than the rest of it, so I sat down in a different seat, only to recognize former friends from Cape Town sitting in the corner. They were described by the staff as ‘media’, despite running a commercial website attempting to market Cape Town, who cannot spell if they are not copy-and-pasting the work of others, and who acknowledge that they are food lovers and not food critics. In the house too was 9 Lives blogger Liezel Fourie, my table facing hers, and she appeared to receive no special attention. It was an interesting lunch as far as the personal politics alone was concerned!

The furnishing inside is the same as when it was updated in 2011, with white leather chairs, table cloths with a protea-motif overlay, material napkins, a vase with protea leaves and ferns, Finesse and Fortis cutlery, and tiny ceramic bowls with fine salt and pepper. There were no paintings by Haute Cabrière owner Arnim von Achim, which I remember from the past.

The staff told me on asking that the restaurant is 22 years old, an achievement in itself, one of two long-standing restaurants in the village (with La Petite Ferme), and have magnificent views in common. The tasting room is next to the restaurant, and is popular as a tasting destination for its well-known Pierre Jourdan MCC in particular.

Waiter Christopher served me initially, and brought the leather-bound menu, consisting of three sections: the A la Carte menu, ‘The Marriage of Food and Wine‘, and ‘Vegan Marriage of Food and Wine’.  My first reaction to the A la Carte menu was how limited it is, with only four ‘appetizers‘, five mains, and three desserts. Six dishes are offered for children, but there were none in the restaurant on Saturday. Each of the main courses come in two sizes, making a starter portion of each, which was not explained by Christopher.  Christopher brought a bread box, the second Franschhoek restaurant that seems to be into boxes! It contained ciabatta and a delicious raisin bread, as well as parsley butter and cumin Crème Fraîche, the latter which did not appeal to me.

I ordered my favorite Duck L’Orange, which is usually served with parmesan and thyme polenta chips, but I asked to have these replaced, the kitchen offering parsley mash instead. This was served with brandy and orange glaze. I chose the smaller portion size, indicated on the menu in two prices of R120 and R205. I had ordered duck at La Petite Ferme the day before, and whereas their portion was larger (and more expensive), the Haute Cabrière one had more meat and less bone, and was far more tasty. I Instagramed the duck dish, and chef Claire was very chuffed with it, it being one of my best liked Instagram photographs to date. Other main course choices are exotic mushroom risotto with Crème Fraîche (R75/R115), grilled Franschhoek trout (R85/R155), roast chicken (R85/R145), and duo of lamb (R120/R220).  Waitress Monise took over from Christopher, and was very friendly and helpful in providing information.

Starter options are soup of the day (R70), a Chef’s salad (R75), grilled Dalewood Camembert (R55), and squid salad (R95).  The dessert menu is written on a blackboard, and on Saturday they offered a vanilla panna cotta, mixed berry sorbet, oat crumble, served with a Ratafia (a honey-flavored aperitif and digestif) and Butterscotch sauce. I did not find this a particularly attractively presented dessert, but could not fault the lovely vanilla taste of the panna cotta, nor of the mixed berry sorbet. Ice creams and sorbets, as well as a pecan nut pie with butternut sorbet, plum sauce, orange cream, and choc chip crumble, were other dessert options. The board did not contain any prices, but Chef Claire informed that they cost R85 each.

Both the food and wine pairing menus cost R395 for three courses or R515 for 6 courses, each course paired with a Haute Cabrière wine.

I was very happy to meet Chef Claire, who came out of the kitchen to sit down and chat, giving me more background about herself.  She has been at the restaurant as Sous Chef for the past 18 months, but specialized as a pastry chef. She studied at the Christina Martin School of Food and Wine. Thereafter she worked at Coatlands Hotel, and the Le Franschhoek Hotel.  I was impressed that Chef Claire walked me to my car.

Chef Claire was in charge of the kitchen, as Chef Dennis was in Johannesburg on a joint Franschhoek valley marketing visit. I liked her bubbliness and freshness. I messaged her for the dessert prices while writing this post and she had the answer within 10 minutes, despite not being on duty.

When I asked for the bill, the very friendly Manager Tobeka Mfazwe came to sit down at my table, telling me at eye level that I was not to pay. I was surprised, and she explained that her GM Grant Morkels had passed the instruction on to her despite me not knowing him or having spoken to him about my lunch visit. Tobeka kindly printed out the three menus for me.

I was surprised at the freshness of the dishes I tasted. The menu reflects which of its dishes are vegetarian and which contain nuts. The menu announces that the restaurant is committed to sustainability, in respect of its seafood choices. Of all the restaurants I went to over my three-day Franschhoek visit, the staff at Haute Cabrière was the friendliest and most well-spoken, one not having to ask them to repeat anything they said, a problem I find increasingly in restaurants. The only disappointment is the dark interior, making one feel that one is in a dungeon, not matching the bubbly personality of its staff or the food served at Haute Cabrière.

POSTSCRIPT 14/5/16:  Hildegard von Arnim has responded to our review today:  ‘Thank you for your comprehensive article on Haute Cabriere, the restaurant that, in your view, frames the beautiful valley, and does so,  not only due to  the modern frame on the lawn! What a great caption for your article on our restaurant!

We are made aware, daily, that we are truly  blessed with our position above the valley. To think that an open quarry, left as an ugly hole by the municipality, across the road from the land where we were busy planting our Pinot Noir vineyard in 1989, caught Achim’s imagination to have an underground cellar built in the tradition of French and German cellars is quite a feat, in our humble opinion. Achim  had worked and got to understand the art and love of creating great wines over a 4 year period in century -old underground cellars during his long ‘semester holidays’ while he studied for his oenology degree in Geisenheim from 1968 – 71. Every holiday he would hitch- hike, being short of cash but  never of positive spirit, to France and enjoy his work in their cellars.  Ours is one of the few underground cellars in the Cape, it is a the traditional structure to produce quality wine, due to gentle gravity flow of the juice with no need for aggressive pumping, the darkness to prevent oxidization as well as it being a very  cool place while outside the summer heat sizzles. Maybe we should find a way to emphasize the ‘method in the madness’ of the structure of the building of which the restaurant has become a part. Simply because the best wine tastes even better with good food and good company, we decided to lift the roof of our cellar and built a restaurant on top of it.

I am pleased our staff’s friendliness and professional attitude gave you the company that is so needed for the enjoyment of both food and wine.  Originally, Achim wanted  to give people the feeling that they were part of a cellar while enjoying their lunch or dinner, and to get out of the summer heat, which the huge window at the back of the restaurant, overlooking the vaulted barrel cellar, emphasizes. To  him our restaurant is and will always be  “the Haute Cabriere Cellar Restaurant”.  Over the years we have changed  the lawn outside  to accommodate many guests, as we have learned that overseas visitors can never get enough of our sunshine, our blues sky and the breathtaking vistas of our valley. Even the most romantic cellar cannot compete with the majestic mountain ranges all around us. We are working on ideas to extend that option further. Takuan, now the cellarmaster of the second generation von Arnims,  being a  ‘nature lover’ keeps the ideas coming.

Your focus on- and positive impressions of the details of the  quality of the food, expressed in the freshness of tastes,  and the capable staff, is very encouraging,  taking into account that  new head -chef Dennis Strydom, fairly new GM Grant Morkel and quietly charming and talented chef Claire, whom you got to know, as well as  senior front of house staff like Thobeka and  Monice  have only had a few months to ‘gel’ as a team before facing  a busy season.  Dear Chris, I hope I have not bored you too much and would love to show you around our unique cellar when next you visit. I simple feel that your comprehensive article deserves a detailed response. As I have ‘flexi- time’ in my work schedule I would need to be given advance notice of your visit to diarize the date and look forward to hearing from you’.

Haute Cabriére, Franschhoek Pass, Franschhoek. Tel (021) 876-3688. www.cabriere.co.za Twitter: @HauteCabriere  Tuesday – Saturday Lunch and Dinner; Sunday lunch.

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whalecottage.com/blog  Tel 082 55 11 323 Twitter: @WhaleCottage  Facebook:  click here Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein