Food & Service deserving of Accolades
David Higgs and co at work
Rust en Vrede has been on my rather long list of restaurants in Cape Town to visit before year end and on 18 December I finally got around to it. Chef David Higgs and his team swept the floor at the recent Eat Out awards in the three most important categories: Chef of the year, Best Restaurant (in South Africa) and Service Excellence. I teased the Eat Out team on twitter, that they needn’t go to all the effort of organising a competition for tickets to the event, with all the associated admin such as auditors and that I’d gladly oblige. Alas, my pleas fell on deaf ears. What I would have done to be a fly on the wall that night!
Front of House
Dinner at Rust en Vrede is a treat. At the outset, we were welcomed graciously by a host before we entered the charming Cape Dutch styled restaurant and greeted by every member of staff on duty. Chairs are pulled out and tucked in, service is warm with the right balance of attention and space to enjoy
We informed our host that we had to leave to get back to Cape Town in two hours, selected the four course tasting menu and food was brought out to accommodate our time schedule.
Food, as can be expected, is plated artfully and a premium is placed on flavour. My favourites were the “spring has sprung” Asian ceviche of Walvis Bay crab and Norwegian salmon and the loin of lamb served with amongst other things a dab of smoked raisin puree which was sublime. I also enjoyed the pre-dessert of dark chocolate, banana and caramel- classic combinations that will always please.
If you’re looking to treat someone special, or yourself for that matter, this is the restaurant to do it at- next time, we’ll go for the 6 course tasting menu and enjoy it at leisure.
Below are some pictures from our delicious meal.
Asian Ceviche of Walvis Bay Crab and Norwegian Salmon
Crown roasted duck, butternut and nutmeg puree, banana bread and pumpkin seed crumble and salted caramel
Loin of springbok with tamarind gel, cauliflower puree, coco beans and shitake mushrooms
Cardamom and white chocolate parfait with pistachio, chocloate, raspberry and chilli “sphere” and a blueberry “trifle”
Chilled cherry and Grand Marnier soup, apricot and sour cream mousse and a lemon parfait
For more information, please visit: http://www.rustenvrede.com/restaurant/about-restaurant or call (021) 8813757
Prices
R440 pp for 4 courses
Also available paired with wine.
R580 pp for 6 courses and R880 pp with wine pairing.
all of those dishes look [almost] too beautiful to eat!
Wow – I really need to go there! Looks so delicious.
Nice site, nice and easy on the eyes and great content too.
Oh, i have been meaning to eat here! We went one day, but it was fully booked so we ended up at the long table instead which was also lovely. I won’t forget to book in advance next time!
I’m really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one nowadays..
[…] wine farm is situated on Haskell farm, in the heart of Stellenbosch and neighbour to Rust en Vrede. The farm is named after the surrounding dombeya trees, which bloom spectacularly in […]
I took my husband there for his birthday this year. It really is an absolute treat. Definitely one of my favourite restaurants of all time. The service, food and ambience – all impeccable. The experience, an absolute treat!!
It’s wonderful. Must check it out again, now that David has left. Hope the standards still the same. Thanks for reading!
Very nice site!
lovely restaurant , picture perfect , exciting flavours.
Thank you for visiting the site! I must return to see what they’ve been up to.
Food is absolutely fantastic,and we would love to go again soon 🙂