Visiting Franschhoek in South Africa was such a different place to run into all of a sudden. The culinary level that was there was really exquisit and there was so much choice all of a sudden, and I had no idea where to start because there was so much choice.
On the other side, also the prices were at a whole new level again and compared to all of those other places in South Africa this was different to head into again. But still, when you compare it here to European prices, it is absolutely a joy to head out for some fine dining here.
Protegé
We decided to head to the cool restaurant of Protege which also has a chef's table setting.
The meaning of Chef's table is that you sit at the counter where the kitchen is open and all of the food is prepared right in front of you. I had never done this before, and this gave a whole different dimension to an evening.
And what kind of food! This was a whole new level of all small kind of little plates which were all a piece of art on itself.
And then the logistic machine started!!
The cool thing about sitting at the chef's table is that you can really see everything behind the scene. When we reached we were almost the first people there. But in the time more people came on in and also started ordering food and that is when you could really see all of the stations start to work on all of their separate orders.
And wow...seeing all of these small ingredients put in there with military precision being placed on a plate. It takes minutes per plate to get everything in place. This was really something to see and experience how much love there is put in just a single plate.
At the same time on another station also stuff is prepared, and at some point all of these beautiful dishes come together at exactly the time where they should be.
And the calm in the kitchen is so special
Again, this is all an open kitchen so you can literally see and hear everything that is going on in the kitchen. When an order comes it, it gets called out by the head chef and from there on all the stations that are going to work on the order reply with 'oui chef'. As if is was a choir. So harmonious!
The stations go to work and it is just all order and discipline in this kitchen. Every station looks super neat and clean and organised (again you can look straight onto every station just sitting at the table) and it all worked exactly how it should
Okay this was all about the setting in Protegé. We didn't even talk about the food as yet. Because the food was beautiful! It tasted good, it looked good and the dishes were just super fun and experimental.
There was also an option for wine pairing but with that tremendous amount of dishes for me that seemed like a bad idea. So I just stuck to some local favorites. After all, Franschhoek is one of the wine regions in South Africa for a reason and the taste of what comes out there is just beautiful.
And ofcourse...
It wouldn't be South Africa if there wasn't any load shedding going on at that time. This is (apart from being super annoying for anyone working there) also a bit of a logistical challenge when the power goes out.
Because te place goes dark and all of the equipment (apart from gas stoves) goes out. Not the easiest way of working when you are preparing such delicate food.
But again...nobody seemed stressed out and everyone had a way of dealing with it until the generators kicked in again.
This whole experiene at the Chef's Table was to me really a special dining experience. Seeing everything being prepared right in front of you and also how it all works in a kitchen like that. It is just a full evening entertainment!
That was truly a special experience and I would recommend this to everyone if you have the chance to stop by!