Well, that was meal and a half. Actually probably worth about 4 meals. Or if just judged on quality, perhaps ten. This was just the starter! Those olives exploded in your mouth!
Full marks to Kat and Tom. Whatever their relationship with the owner/chef/proprietor of La Petite Colombe in Franschhoek, someone there seriously knows how to cook. What a meal. And to illustrate how serious it was, I wore trousers, and a shirt! (And sandals but lets gloss over that bit - so did the women!)
And to start it off a bottle of top class local bubbly courtesy of the young Mr Pallas. You know how to get a good mention in this blog Tom. I'm quite happy to sing your praises at every hotel we visit should you wish to bribe me again 😉😂
I have been fortunate enough to have eaten in some pretty fantastic restaurants in the UK, but none have compared to the Colombe. From the first course of … know what, I can’t even remember what each course was, it was just all spectacular. Food as theatre and a taste experience I have certainly never had before in my life. I am guessing that somewhere like the Fat Duck or La Gavroche, or some other 3 Michelin star restaurant, provides something similar, but at probably about 4 or 5 times the price. Perhaps more. This was not cheap but for us lucky enough to be buying in sterling, was nothing like a bank breaker. The meat course! Melt in the mouth.
All I can say is if you are ever in Franschhoek, get a booking here, if you possibly can. "Just" the bread course.
The restaurant is even in the most fabulous setting, surrounded by the landscaped gardens and grape vines of the Leeu Estate (which means lion in Afrikaans, I understand, and is owned by one Mr Singh - lion in Hindi. Geddit?) This weird light effect, taken on the way out, is due to camera shake, in turn due to overeating!
Sculptures by the celebrated artist Dylan Lewis adorn the entrance and the service is nothing short of impeccable, without being overbearing.
To say this is a once in lifetime experience is for once, probably not hyperbole. Unless of course you are a billionaire, like Mr Singh.
The meal was 4 hours of taste explosions, texture and theatre. Food as art. We all fell into bed somewhere between 11 and midnight with full tummies, magnificent memories and lingering taste bud sensations. What a night! Final picture (video) of the preparation for ... the sorbet palate cleanser!
So how could we follow that up? Well, we couldn’t, but we could try out some of the wineries scattered along the Franschhoek valley, made accessible by the Franschhoek Wine Tram. Despite a somewhat over complicated timetabling set up, once you got on the tram or bus (depending on your first destination) it was a breeze to stop off at numerous wine farms to sample the rather delicious offerings, paired with chocolate, cheese, biltong or simply, lunch.
Sadly the wineries are just a touch too generous on the sample sizes and whilst Nareesa and Elisa abstained, by the time we reached our third, Andy and I needed a well earned rest. A nap was called for before we headed out to watch the England v Japan rugby (which was barely worth the effort).
Well that will do for now. Quite a few pictures of happy campers touring the wine farms to follow. Tomorrow we head for Cape Town and it might be a few days before I fire up the laptop again. You could get to love this place.
Here comes the tram.
Don't they look happy.
And them
Ditto
Great name for winery.
All aboard
Selfie on the tram. Had to be done.
Nice end to the day. You can just see the new moon.
Alan - you wore trousers and shirt, but not necessarily in the right order …(M&W reference for those who don’t know). Looks amazing!
Not speaking to you now.