A culinary journey awaits at JAN Franschhoek season III
Passing by the tree-lined entrance towards the La Motte Manor Home in Franschhoek, I gasped audibly on the lovely setting, realising that I used to be extra excited than I’d thought attainable concerning the prospect of eating at JAN Franschhoek Season III.
Upon coming into the Manor Home, the employees smiled warmly and handed us glasses of La Motte Cap Classique 2020 and a canapé unfold of biltong lamingtons, smoked tomato consommé with fynbos and walnut, inexperienced fig and Boerenkaas mousse, setting the tone for a scrumptious menu.
Our chariot awaited exterior, a blue-and-white, two-toned 1974 VW Kombi, to take us on a brief drive to Veepos, an 18th-century cottage amid lavender fields within the Franschhoek Valley. I headed down a footpath towards a towering oak tree, stopping to make use of a conventional hand-washing station earlier than coming into the cottage.
In entrance of me stood an impeccably set 18-seater eating desk, prepared to move diners on an unforgettable gastronomic journey. Monogrammed linen napkins hung from the thatched ceiling whereas a fireplace roared on the far aspect of the room and music performed softly within the background, including to the already spectacular setting. After I say no element was spared, I imply it wholeheartedly, as even the butter accompanying the deliciously heat anysbrood et beurre de baroque (a model of mosbolletjies (candy bun) that was so good I even dreamt about it that night time) was a murals, formed into mini, churned busts that have been nearly poetic.
Waitrons emerged from behind a doorway behind the room, carrying our first course. They positioned in entrance of every eagerly awaiting diner a plate of delicate Trout within the Backyard, paired with La Notte’s vin de Joie Rosé 2024 with its notes of melon, nectarine, rose petal and Turkish delight.
Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen
Then got here the course that I used to be most cautious of: Pap, Slak and Gremolata, paired with La Motte Chardonnay 2023. I’d by no means eaten escargot, and I had not thought I’d, however when Jan Hendrik and Head Chef Lara van Heerden spent three months in France engaged on a brand new menu that ‘wouldn’t solely showcase worldwide fantastic eating but in addition place a particular emphasis on hearty native delicacies’, who would have stated no thanks? Not me, that’s for positive. So, I dug into the elegantly plated molluscs atop conventional South African maize meal, finely blended with varied cheeses and overlaying a mattress of marinated lamb. The dish left me pleasantly shocked and feeling moderately satisfied with myself for having been courageous sufficient to attempt it.
I stepped exterior for a second to soak up the great thing about the night time sky earlier than they served the following course. A well mannered tapping on silverware grabbed my consideration whereas heading again inside. Frozen apple, Tête de Moine, sea bass and smoked haddock milk awaited. I smiled as waitrons introduced the dish, questioning, Is {that a} carnation? Certainly it was. Not the type rising in your backyard however Swiss cheese, carved right into a likeness of a carnation in full bloom! This delicate, tacky murals was nestled in a frozen apple base with sea bass, a touch of chorizo and seasonal greens, completed with a haddock velouté and paired completely with the JAN White 2023 Mix.
Kook kos adopted, served household fashion. Head Chef Lara defined, ‘Kook kos is an Afrikaans time period for a Sunday lunch, the place you eat lovely, considerable meals that takes hours to organize and share together with your family and friends, creating lovely recollections.’ And what recollections this course supplied. A complete roasted leg of lamb with roasted apples and asparagus, a quail, mushroom and leek pie, fynbos pickled butternut, white-pepper inexperienced beans with toasted almonds, crispy baked potato, slaphakskeentjies (little candy and bitter pickled mustard onions) with a rosette (which we later realized was the equal of a pancake), topped with jus so scrumptious you could possibly swim in it. They paired this course with La Motte Syrah 2020, with its full-bodied character and naturally fruit mulberry and purple berry notes. To name it a feast could be an understatement, and to inform you that I used to be planning to pickle the butternut I had at dwelling the primary likelihood I may attempt to replicate what I simply eaten wouldn’t be a phrase of a lie.
One thing candy adopted: a peppermint tart that had me questioning how good my household recipe for this South African traditional actually is.
The tables cleared, the door separating diners from the kitchen opened, and the house the place all of the night time’s magic had occurred beckoned, not only for a peek inside, however to savour the Kaas en Konfyt (cheese and jam) set out on the principle desk in the course of the kitchen. A choice of native and French cheeses (I used to be a fan of the Époisses that I used to be able to e book a flight to France simply so I may gorge myself foolish on it), breads, marmalades and extra. It was like Willy Wonka’s chocolate manufacturing unit for cheese lovers, and I used to be in heaven.
We wound down our night time of feasting with a cup of moerkoffie (with condensed milk, in fact) and mignardises (chocolate-coated truffles) earlier than heading out once more to soak up the star-filled night time sky over the Franschhoek Valley. We piled into the VW Kombi and returned to La Motte Manor Home. I left Veepos and JAN Franschhoek Season III sated, and travelling dwelling, I couldn’t assist however consider Swiss cheese carnations and fynbos pickled butternut.
Safe your seat on the desk
JAN Franschhoek Season III is open for bookings from Wednesday to Saturday till 30 April 2025. The expertise begins on the La Motte Manor Home at 6.30 pm, adopted by dinner, promptly at 7 pm. On Sundays, the eating expertise is an prolonged lunch that commences with a welcome at 12 pm and lunch at 12.30 pm.
For extra data, go to la-motte.com/pages/jan-franschhoek
Comply with us on social media for extra journey information, inspiration, and guides. It’s also possible to tag us to be featured.
TikTok | Instagram | Fb | Twitter
ALSO READ: Street security suggestions for the vacation season
