Adventures in Cuisine

The Month visits the Dish Restaurant at Le Franschhoek Hotel | The Month May 2012

Responding to a recent invitation to visit the Le Franschhoek Hotel’s Dish restaurant, as the guest of Executive Chef Oliver Cattermole, I was particularly keen to see how the 2011 World Luxury Awards winning hotel would take to what their PR people referred to as a “a new culinary direction”, and to food that Oliver describes as “a little rustic but still elegant.”

Having arrived and parked, my date and I were greeted by smiling faces at the hotel’s main reception and shown to the Dish restaurant and an intimate spot at a table for two next to a large window overlooking the glass conservatories of Le Verger (the hotel’s other restaurant) and the beautiful Franschhoek valley below. Despite a number of tables playing host to patrons on the terrace off the main restaurant, and bodies dotted about the little ‘glass houses’ of Le Verger, our intimate spot was made even more so given that it seemed that many of the hotel guests were enjoying their sustenance outside, and
served in a glass.

In general the restaurant décor is understated, in a typical opulent hotel kind of way, and the tables were mercifully bare of extraneous table and glassware, leaving us space to catch up on a day rapidly passing, as candlelight flickered flatteringly in eachother’s eyes. “You look good in this light,” said my date. I thought about thanking her, then turned to order a glass of still water instead.

Service was brisk and friendly and as we enjoyed the occasional boom of Oliver’s broad accent emanating from the kitchen I caught myself singing quietly along to a piano version of Piano Man, played by a real pianist. Ever the clever one, my date smiled and said “You’ll sound great after a glass or two of wine.” I didn’t ask who she thought should consume it.

Our waitress arrived back at the table with glasses of Maison Chenin Blanc, courtesy of the chef, and an assistant bearing a beautifully presented salad of Beetroot with feta, salted orange segments and pickled walnuts. Even those who don’t count beetroot as a favourite will marvel at the sheer number of textures Oliver is able to extract from the humble veg and the many ways he plays with its flavours: sweet, savoury, smoky, smooth, crisp, delicate and full were all scribbled down as we oohd and aahd our way through the starter. The Chenin was a great match and highlighted some of the nuttier, earthy aspects of the beetroot, which in turn brought elements of the wine’s crisp white-fruit flavours to the fore. We were off to the perfect start – and certainly rustic, yet elegant.

A Mont Rochelle unwooded Chardonnay appeared next with a Woodland Mushroom soup and roasted cherry tomatoes, hot on its heels; and whilst the wine sparked some debate due to its robust nose, the soup hardly touched sides. “Is ‘smelly socks’ and acceptable descriptive term?” asked my date, looking at my notes. I hastily scribbled “Would have been interesting with a rose,” in its place and noticed the same date running her finger along the inside of the bowl to get at the last sweet and creamy soup smudges.

A Vrede en Lust Jess Rosé paired perfectly with our third dish, a ham hock terrine with mustard fruit and white bean puree – arguably Oliver’s Dish signature. A salty medley of textures, the presentation of the dish is all attention to detail, and I couldn’t help but signal as he greeted the recently-arrived patrons at a nearby table to suggest that keeping this up would be impossible on a busy night. “I’ve just had ten guys arrive and take my last 20 portions of fish; and each plate will be worth looking at,” he smiled, without a hint of sarcasm or arrogance. Ironically our next serving was fish too – a smoked, slow cooked salmon with tartar, citrus mayonnaise and brown bread that had me Tweeting the kind of thing that most would attribute to the equivalent of a culinary stalker. Paired with a Groote Post Sauvignon Blanc it was, without a doubt, the highlight of my night.

A perfectly cooked Maple Glazed Duck Breast and a fruity Hoopenberg Pino Noir then preceded a pause to stretch our legs and a chance to prepare for the Chocolate and Hazelnut Dacquoise with salted caramel ice cream and orange syrup, served with a not-too-sweet Muscadel.

As I sipped the last of my wine and gave in to the temptation to end the evening as my date had started – by cleaning every hint of food from the plate – I reached for my pencil to make a list of the dishes I plan to try on a subsequent visit. “Please just take a picture of the menu,” said my date, “we both know you’re going to copy down the whole thing!”

Their new winter menu:

To commence

Duck bon-bon with parsley root puree and hot pickled vegetables

Oak smoked salmon with tar-tar, citrus mayonnaise and brown bread

Forest mushroom soup with semi dry tomato and mushroom soil

Pan seared scallop with celeriac, golden cauliflower and ras el hanout

Roasted beetroot with whipped goats cheese, pollen and cured figs

Compressed pork with apples and croissant crisp

To follow

Chicken Bourguignon with boudin blanc, mash and sauce périgourdine

Line fish du jour

Dry aged beef fillet with stout braised barley and onions

A taste and textures from the garden

Roast rump of Karoo lamb with minted mash and young carrots

Pissaladière of red onion, spinach with artichokes and goats cheese

Thyme roasted venison, milk poached turnips with potatoes boulangère and bread sauce

To finish

Apple and sultana crumble with white chocolate ice cream

Goats milk pannacotta with mulled pears and walnuts

Barrel smoked chocolate fondant with cognac ice cream with home made nutella

Brioche treacle tart pain d épice anglaise with winter jelly  

Carrot cake textures with golden sultana puree and walnut candy