Dining By Design

Restaurant plates and interiors work in partnership to impress at Franschhoek’s Le Quartier Français boutique hotel and its award-winning restaurant, La Petite Colombe. No matter where you cast your eye, there’s a lot to like

- Kim Maxwell

There were many sensory dining triggers during lunch at La Petite Colombe, but my most memorable was leaving our table to “meet the chefs”. As a diner settling in for nine courses, it’s refreshing to stretch your legs – and senses – mid-menu. “It’s the talking point of La Petite Colombe,” says chef and restaurant co-owner James Gaag. And it is part of the dining experience, even during the five-course reduced menu.

“Today, you’re having traditional Japanese ramen,” explains chef Kieran Gatenby as we stand at the chef’s table’s marble countertop facing the open kitchen. A sphere-like bowl holds an earthy, soya-based reduction and a dainty roll of noodles topped with a soft-boiled quail’s egg, spring onions, toasted sesame seeds and pickled celeriac. Kieran pours over a juiced celeriac broth, releasing horseradish and wild garlic oil. “Use your tweezers, give it a mix around. Don’t be shy to drink from the bowl,” he advises. Simple, fresh and with some woodier notes, it’s brilliant with a glass of Stony Brook Heart of the Lees wooded sauvignon blanc.

It is unsurprising that chef-patron at La Colombe (the globally acclaimed fine-dining restaurant on the Silvermist Organic Vineyards estate in the Constantia Valley), Scot Kirton, and James (who is also La Colombe’s head chef) opened La Petite Colombe in Franschhoek’s Le Quartier Français boutique hotel in August 2017.