Rossouws Restaurants

On Friday, The Hungry Man, Bevan Newton Johnson and I ate at David Higg’s Rust en Vrede restaurant. It was my first visit and it will not be my last. From the greeting along the garden path, to the relaxed but sexy interior of this renovated old wine cellar to the proficient staff, the experience was top class even before we touched a morsel of food.

They warn you on the phone that here you have only three options: four course a la carte; six course chef’s menu; or six courses with wine pairings. It’s serious stuff. We were all set on the six course, planning to trust our own wine pairings - though it must be said that the matches proposed by sommelier Neil were good (not something you can always take for granted). But by the time our excitement at launching into the six abated a little and we looked at the four course a la carte, we jumped sides. The four seemed to have more adventurous options on the night.

Mine were: Fois gras terrine with smyrna fig and brioche in a cylinder; goat’s cheese souffle; lamb on a bed of finely sliced green beans with a sublime truffly jus; and a berry tart to finish. The flavours were poised and elegant, the plating (on own design crockery) enticing. Higg’s is a “less is more” man, understating rather than obliterating the fine ingredients he employs.

This is one of the Cape’s, and South Africa’s, great food experiences. THM had to agree that even his morose mood (apparently a regular Friday occurrence) was mitigated and excised by the evening. A last detail - for being housed on a wine farm, their wine list is not only interesting, but also very politely priced, so that you can properly enjoy all the delights detailed on the menus.