On Youth Day my friend Justin Miller and I took a road trip to Franschhoek, packing in a shopping stop at Dalewood Fromage and at Babylonstoren, a stop at Country Grand, and walking the main road of the village from bottom to top and back, to record all the restaurant changes that have taken place since I last visited in 2020.
I did some additional research to find details of any other restaurants that have opened or closed since I last visited the village.
Saturday 27 March 2021, 1st anniversary of Lockdown, 27 th Day of Level 1 😷
Corona Gratitude 🙏
#Grateful for a long day focused on Foooood, and mainly spent in Stellenbosch; for rain that fell overnight and light rain on the way to Stellenbosch; for a Brie and egg purchase at Dalewood Fromage outside Franschhoek, my favorite farm shop with excellent service always; for a quick walk in Church Street, not being able to resist the fabulous ice cream at Crème de Levain; for discovering Eike restaurant and its Snoepie (Tuck Shop) off Dorp Street, buying a Tex bar for R2 less than the price at Pick n Pay 😊; for a lovely spoiling lunch at De Vleispaleis on Dorp Street, belonging to my friend Stuart Bailey, trying the new Set Menu which starts next week from 1 April, and meeting his new dog baby Max; for a visit to Stellenbosch Square, shopping at Woolworths, finding a nice fitting pair of shoes but with poor service, with long queues at the tills; for getting back to Peppertree Café on Kloof Street just in time to collect figs I’d ordered; for a walk through Bakoven; for a visit to Anatoli, trying and photographing new dishes made by Chef Jacques du Toit, and photographing Beth the belly dancer ; for my cat babies forgiving me for leaving them at home alone all day; for it being so quiet in our building, half the renters spending the weekend elsewhere 👏; and for being happy and healthy. 🙏💙 Continue reading →
Last week I spent two days in Franschhoek for a catch-up visit, after not having been to this lovely village known for its eateries and good wines in eight months. From having heard that the village was so quiet, and that many restaurants had closed down, I was pleasantly surprised to find the village bursting with excitement about new restaurants about to open in October, and later this year. I could not resist eating at Orangerie at Le Lude, what to me is one of Franschhoek’s best restaurants. Continue reading →
Thursday 24 September 2020, Heritage Day 🇿🇦, Day 4 of Level 1, Day 182 of Lockdown 😷
Corona Gratitude 🙏
#Grateful for a lovely day to celebrate our country’s Heritage; for a smooth drive to Cape Town, after stops at Good Food & Co to drop off a bottle of ADHARA extra virgin olive oil to Joey Stiglingh, one of two sisters owning the Franschhoek Deli, and buying cheeses, eggs, and yoghurt at the Dalewood Fromage Farm Shop; for the fabulous restringing of my pearl bracelets and repair of a favorite brooch by Caroline Smith in Claremont; for the collection of my Heritage Day treat of Duck Spring Rolls at Pilcrow & Cleaver; for receiving the scoop from Chef Darren Badenhorst about all his restaurant ventures coming up, a story I wrote this morning before leaving Franschhoek; for the lovely breakfast spoil at Maison Montagne; for the love connection with my babies on my return, having missed each other 😻😻; for the Jerusalema Dance Challenge we did on the Tidal Pool Beach, and later on the Tidal Pool wall, guided in doing the dance by Brazilian Eloah who lives in Camps Bay too, whose idea it was, it being hard to dance in the sand; for a wonderful sun relax on my terrace on this third great weather day,at 24C, in a row; and for being happy and healthy. 🙏💙 Venishree Mayer Continue reading →