I was invited to try the new Tapas Menu at Grande Provence yesterday, a day after it was introduced in the attractive industrial steel-decorated Tasting Room on the wine estate in Franschhoek.  While The Restaurant at Grande Provence may be perceived to be on the expensive side, the Tapas Menu is excellent value for money, and in a class of its own, compared to very average offerings generally available.

The Tasting Room was buzzing at the counter made of steel, with its funky bar stools for which the seats are made to resemble tractor seats, very comfortable and stable seating.  A group of about twenty filled the Tasting Room, having arrived with the Franschhoek Wine Tram, it being their fifth stop of winetasting.  They are fetched from the Wine Tram railway line stop and taken to the Tasting Room by trailer linked to a tractor.  The driver told me that they are very busy due to the Wine Tram on weekends.

I sat at the only table in the far corner of the Tasting Room, and Chef Zayne Grobler (deputy to Executive Chef Darren Badenhorst who was out of town for the weekend) came to greet me, and talked me through the new Tapas menu.  There is a big board on the right hand wall as one enters, listing the Tapas items and the prices, and a mobile one, which was brought to the table.  As Chef Zayne and I went through the menu,  we noticed some spelling errors, Continue reading →