Day 8 - Cape Town+ Franchhoek by Eashan

I was woken up by someone hammering on the wall. Lazily I opened the door to a stressed dad telling us we had only 30 minutes till breakfast was done. I hurriedly packed my bag and got ready before heading down to breakfast. Because we had very little time, I had a small breakfast as well as needing to build an appetite for our posh lunch later. We returned upstairs to grab our bags and put them in our car while Millen and mum checked us all out. They met us in the car park and we said our final goodbyes to the hotel before setting off.
With 2 hours before our lunch slot, we decided to head up signal hill and lions head. Lions head is so called because of the rock formation at the top that vaguely looks like a lions head. Although mum had to explain it quite a lot before I saw it. And signal hill is what used to be called lions rump as it was connected to lions head, but was changed as it was historically used to signal to the locals signs of invaders.
We drove up to halfway between the 2 hills for pictures of the scenic view. Before long, we realised we had to leave for the resturant and so we descended the hill and drove half an hour where the restaurant was. Waiting for us at the car park was a guard. He showed us to the front of the restaurant where the receptionist was and, after signing in, we were shown to our table. On the table was a beautiful gold cutlery rest in the shape of a twig as well as a note from the owner which read "food is our theatre, we hope you enjoy the show". Already we were feeling the excitement of the atmosphere and the effort that had been put into every tiny detail. We were then greeted by our waiter, Nasa, who showed us the menu. There were 2 different menus. You would choose one as a table and then you would get all the food from that menu. As we were choosing we were brought the firat dish which was the same on both menus. It was called a vegetable garden and had 3 different mini plates. One was a smoked tomato tart which even Arushi agreed was delicious. It was like a crispy wheel-like tomato with a sauce filling. Then there was an aubergine flatbread which was a small, crsipy flatbread with lots going on but with aubergine being the main event. As I tasted it, i wondered how aubergine could taste this good! Finally there was what they called "herb garden extraction". It was a shot of a delicious drink that i can't even begin to describe.
We then decided on the menu - a winter special, and Nasa told us a bit about the history of the restaurant, including how half of the current head chefs family is vegetarian and that he takes pride in his vegetarian options and that he hopes we enjoy it. We were pleasantly surprised by this, and with our first meal done, we went straight into the second.
For the second meal, we had a king oyster mushroom presented in 3 different platters, while for mum, dad and Millens meal, the mushroom wws replaced by meats. The whole meal was not on a plate, no, it was in a ceramic tree branch with leaves and nests. On the nests and leaves were the meals. The first was a broth, which mum LOVED, this was on the side of the branch as a drink. Then there was a slider (mini burger) with a mushroom/ meat filling. It was absolutely delicious! This one was on the leaf of the branch. Finally there was a mushroom and artichoke chawanmushii. This was my absolute favourite of the whole experience. It was a delicious mix vegetables and sauces that worked so well together. This was presented as a cracked open egg on the nests.
The next dish we were served was a bread and butter where the butter was made in front of our eyes. They showed us how they made the butter using a wooden turner, then adding in various nuts or other ingredients to the butter. We were then given a massive chunk of bread decorated with flowers around the plate. We each tore of a bit and tasted the butter which was incredible! We slowly chowed it all down savouring the taste in our mouths. But before long it was all gone and as quickly as the waiters had layer out our cutlery, they picked it all back up.
Next up was the tuna "la colombe" (or beetroot "la colombe" for me and Arushi). This was something the restaurant was famous for and was beautifully presented in a tin like tuna usually is. It was delicately placed inside the tin alongside various herbs or sauce to further elevate the taste. Once we finished this, the waiter told us we were only now about to start the mains. Amazed by the sheer amount of dishes, we continued on to the next dish.
The next meal was a girella with pine nuts, hazelnut butter and artichoke. It was like one massive, singular pasta with a deconstructed pesto sauce inside. And it was, once again, incredible. Meanwhile the others had a lamb dish.
Then onto the penultimate dish. A popcorn, lemon and milk based dish with many components just like all he other dishes. It had lemon mascapone, miso curd, popcorn namelaka, roasted corn nuts, lemon ginger gel, cereal milk ice cream and lemon palenta cake. With all these weird combos and with so much going, it felt like it should have been too much and yet, somehow it all worked so well together. It was presented on a hole, glad dish filled with popcorn inside of it. And then, finally, after 6 dishes before it, came the very final one. The menu had simply said rose with no ingredient list like the others. It was so random that we wondered if it was even a meal. But sore enough the waiters soon brought out an edible rose. It was small, yes, but the artistic talent of the chefs was clearly evident and some through in the final dish.
With all 7 meals done and 3 hours of eating, we lazily walked back to the car, on the way passing a wall of all the various "plates" they had used to serve meals including the branch that one of ours was served on. Anyone could have been excused to have mistook it for art! We then drove all the way to Franshhoek, a village renowned for its wine. Franshhoek literally means French corner because of the French who first asked and at up wineries all over the place. Our hotel was called little Paris and, fittingly, had a small model of the Eiffel tower outside it. We made our way in being greeted by Lovemore, the manager who showed us to our rooms. Tired from the 3 got drove and the extensive eating we crashed as soon as our head hit our pillows without even needing to have any dinner.Read more