While gastronomes laud Spain and the Nordic countries for their innovative cuisines, top restaurants in Cape Town and the Cape Winelands are emerging from the wings and creating distinctive meals that are worth a plane ride. Kim Maxwell reports from the city

Quality homegrown produce or game and expert skill are in abundance. A Mediterranean climate means small farmers and produce suppliers deliver unusual micro-herbs, old-fashioned vegetables and artisanal buffalo mozzarella cheeses. At Stellenbosch’s Overture restaurant at Hidden Valley wine farm, Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine, or Franschhoek’s The Tasting Room, suppliers and country neighbours routinely turn up at kitchen doors to offload their pigeons, excess fruit or veggies. Menus change frequently to accommodate the different produce that chefs receive each day. The Tasting Room’s Margot Janse, for example, serves five flexible dinner courses and a nine-course chef’s surprise. The culinary repertoire acknowledges the ingredients’ origins, whether it’s lamb breast from Klein Karoo free-range stock, crayfish from the Transkei, or duck from a neighbouring Cape farm. Janse calls it “embracing heritage”, saying some local chefs are becoming micro-focused on the source of every detail, down to nuts and seeds.

Read the full Epicure Feature here…