Star-rated dining at Gabriëlskloof with the GK Cellar Family
THE FARRO restaurant at Gabriëlskloof, Bot River… As per the Eat Out guide, one of the best places to lunch at in South Africa, not just in the Cape winelands! And the wines on offer are rather special too: the Landscape Series, Estate Range and Projects under the farm’s label, but also those of Crystallum, Thorne & Daughters, Anysbos, Momento, Weather Report and Colombo – on the Farro winelist and available from the cellar door.
Views of vineyards, olive groves, fields of wheat and yellow canola are reason enough to drive out along the N2 between Elgin and Caledon. But wend your way off the freeway, put up with the winds that can blow in these parts, and at the top of a hill just before the tarmac gives way to gravel there’s a destination that makes the detour all the more worthwhile.
Calm vibe, friendly service, unpretentious, sheltered veranda overlooking rectangular ‘ponds’, with the wine-tasting room off to one side, the cellar across the way. In charge are husband and wife Alex and Eloise Windebank – chef and front-of-house respectively – who worked the London restaurant scene before relocating. The menu is “about embracing simplicity in dining. Comforts and classics are at the heart of everything that is served.” Think “modern European eatery… embracing butter, cream and wine…
“A small restaurant [and tiny bakery] with a lot of heart.” The coffee is good too.
