‘The Kitchen’ at Maison Estate: Franschhoek’s new hotspot

Posted by Vanessa Berger on 21 November 2011

Franschhoek, the food and wine ‘capital’ of the Western Cape, is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places in South Africa for both travellers and locals wanting to enjoy a majestic view, accompanied by a delicious glass of wine and scrumptious food.

Maison is a small wine farm nestled in the Franschhoek Valley owned by the creator of the well-known Weylandts designer furniture store, Chris Weylandt. Chris has taken the design inspiration from his natural organically designed furniture and implemented these ideas in his approach to the design of his new restaurant and tasting room at Maison. The new restaurant, ‘The Kitchen’ along with the ‘Tasting Room’ offers guests an opportunity to try a selection of the vineyards vintages made by wine maker, Antwan Bondesio with an exciting new menu. Chris is interested in promoting his concept of “Good Living” by creating a relaxing environment for guests to enjoy themselves. The aim is to remove the intimidating stigma associated with the wine industry and instead encourage people to enjoy their wines in a friendly, more personalised way.

The farm has a small vineyard where they produce mainly Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Viognier (only using their own grapes). The limited quantity of wines they produce means that the winemaker focuses on maintaining a quality product, rather than supplying in bulk to everywhere else in South Africa. Each bottle label is elegantly designed and stamped with the thumbprint of Antwan, the winemaker. Maison wines can be bought at various shops in Franschhoek, nationwide Weylandts stores as well as some smaller boutique wine shops in Cape Town (I recommend the Chardonnay and Shiraz, both quality easy drinking wines).

I was lucky enough to attend the launch of ‘The Kitchen’ at Masion in Franschhoek where I sampled a selection of delicious dishes from their new menu. The chef, Arno Janse van Rensburg combines fresh quality ingredients to produce dishes that are simple, yet sophisticated. The restaurant décor is clean, sophisticated and modestly furnished with Weylandts products. There’s a wood fire oven (for yummy pizzas) and a fireplace to keep things toasty during the colder winter months.

Our menu for lunch included:

• Pink salt and pepper squid  (my favourite!)

• Cured salmon trout, asparagus, watercress, lime dressing, fresh plums

• Kudu bresaola, nectarines, rocket, lemon dressing, cucumber

• Wood-fired pizza with artichokes, mozzarella and wild mushrooms

• Pecan and malt tart, gooseberries, grape sorbet

All the dishes are served on rustic wooden boards and shared across the table which encourages guests to try a number of different flavours, further enhanced by tasting a variety of their wines.  I ended off my tasty meal with a pot of steaming rooibos tea served in a charming glass teapot. The prices are relatively similar to other upmarket restaurants in Cape Town (yet not overly priced like many other wine farms).

The Kitchen @Maison and The Tasting Room are open to the public from Wed to Sun 10h00 to 17h00. They also serve late afternoon/early evening tapas and wine which you can enjoy in the outside patio area overlooking the vineyard. Don’t forget to look out for their pet pig that you may even get to feed (not wine!).

For more information visit www.maisonestate.co.za

 

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