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The Greenhouse restaurant, at the Cellars-Hohenort Hotel, delivers a magical dining experience, with herbs, exotic fruit and vegetables from the hotel garden forming a fresh and delightful starting point for some very special food. Kim MAXWELL learns a few of their secrets from Executive Chef Peter Tempelhoff.

An Orchard ofEATING ATTHE GREENHOUSE

He studied economics before switching to food, training locally at the Institute of Culinary Arts. He went on to win a merit-based bursary to the USA’s lauded Culinary Institute of America and has cooked under big names in the business, including Marco Pierre White and Giorgio Locatelli. Like most in the game, his work involves long hours and frequent travel. On the side, he’s involved in a boutique wine label. His wife put her career on hold to raise his three children, all under the age of seven.

Since 2008, Tempelhoff has been the Executive Chef overseeing the six Relais Châteaux restaurants that fall under banner of The Collection by Liz McGrath. These restaurants can be found at The Plettenberg (Plettenberg Bay), The Marine (Hermanus) and the Cellars-Hohenort (Constantia) luxury hotels. The Greenhouse restaurant at Cellars-Hohenort, however, is Peter’s pet project. Eat Out guide’s Restaurant of The Year and South Africa’s top restaurant for 2012,

Peter Tempelhoff is in the garden plucking the daintiest baby carrots, inspecting purple broccoli and considering uses for several mint varieties surrounding the citrus trees. Tender, white-stemmed Asian pak choi, sorrel leaves, red-fl ecked chilli plants and pink baby rhubarb sprout from the manicured Cellars-Hohenort hotel produce gardens near the Greenhouse restaurant, but the prize is the Jerusalem artichoke root. Knobbly, like fresh ginger roots, they smell nutty but are closer to potatoes in taste. “Jerusalem artichokes are really fantastic. They’re called ‘the poor man’s truffl es’ - one of my favourite things in autumn,” says the chef, rubbing off clumps of soil with excitement. He rattles off complex recipe ideas for roasting and puréeing vegetables, but when we head for the kitchen it’s to sweat sliced artichoke with diced onions and butter, add homemade vegetable stock and cream before blitzing the mix into a simple, frothy soup.

Templehoff is tall and of German descent.

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JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES ARE REALLY FANTASTIC. THEY’RE CALLED ‘THE POOR MAN’S TRUFFLES’ - ONE OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS IN AUTUMN

The Greenhouse also secured Tempelhoff a nomination as Cape Town’s fi rst (and South Africa’s third) Relais & Châteaux Grand Chef. It’s a big deal, putting him in company with culinary legends such as Raymond Blanc of Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons and Michel Roux Jr of Le Gavroche. It is a standard that has to be maintained. “They send over inspectors,” Templehoff confi des. “Your restaurant has to be the equivalent of a minimum one-Michelin-star restaurant to be considered.”

As we enter the kitchen, The Greenhouse team are in their fi nal hours of prep for dinner service. A sous chef is meticulously fi lling empty, cleaned eggshells with musky-sweet crayfi sh and leek custard, later to be topped with sweet potato mousse – the fi rst course of the evening’s six-course, fi sh tasting menu. The most popular menu option is four courses, where customers select their own starters, mains and desserts. The seven-course chef’s version means the kitchen does the selecting for you. Vegetarians and vegans are accommodated on request, and wine pairings highlight Constantia

producers where possible. Keep an eye out for The Greenhouse’s winter special menus – always excellent value and a quality dining experience.

While our soup is simmering, Tempelhoff checks that the components of the dinner plates are on track. A tasty plum sauce has an Asian soya kick that will be paired with the granola being created from roasted honey and assorted seeds, nuts and cereal, mixed with tiny puff pastry squares. Parsnip strips are crisped in fi ve-spice powder and separately whipped into creamy parsnip purée. To tie everything together, there is creamy, seared foie gras, salty duck jus and tangy onion marmalade. Tasting the fi nished “foie gras-nola” on the chef’s tasting menu a few nights later, I’m astounded at its cleverness and complexity. It’s a triumph of autumnal fl avours, colours and textures, arranged beautifully in a crunchy-sweet-sour-salty line-up.

Hygienic boxes of disposable spoons are located all around the kitchen, and are dipped into regularly - a reassuring sign that the staff taste while they cook. “I like things linear

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and everything structured,” Tempelhoff comments about his management style. “Chaos doesn’t sit well with me.”

Talented Head Chef, Gerald van der Walt, is a key element of The Greenhouse’s success. He’s heading, shortly, for a stint at an accomplished New York restaurant called 11 Madison Park. “It’s policy, every year, to send our head chefs to an overseas restaurant. They come back full of ideas – I have to reign them in a bit,” Templehoff chuckles, recently returned from a prestigious promotion in the Big Apple himself.

Tempelhoff collects his cooks together when the time comes to brainstorm new menu ideas. Inspiration for new dishes comes from the seasons, not cookbooks. Often, a main ingredient from a previous dish will remain, while summer vegetables or fruits are replaced by wintery versions. “We try to use fi sh and ingredients [from] within the Cape, aside from foie gras and scallops that we import,” he says.

With bountiful gardens as another source of inspiration, it’s unsurprising that the restaurant often focuses its menus around fruit and vegetables. “I’m a South African chef and I realized we love fruit chutneys, raisins in dishes, stewed fruit. Foreign diners comment on how much fruit we use in our food,” says Tempelhoff of their decision to embrace local produce. A cold impala Carpaccio has purple Adam’s fi gs with toasted chestnuts from trees on the Constantia property, for instance. Personally, I’m a convert to the umami tastes of the local cepe and Parmesan panna cotta starter, served with onion and gorgonzola brioche and crunchy beetroot crisps: a fresh-salty-creamy-crunchy fl avour sensation, freshened by green apple balls. Even some desserts, daringly, use vegetables, including beets, pumpkin, fennel and white asparagus.

Flavour is always foremost at The Greenhouse, yet everything is visually enticing. Take the savoury goats’ cheese and beetroot “lollipops” served before the meal, for instance – pretty enough to fool most

children. There are also dishes painted like artworks against wooden, slate or hand-blown glass plates, and a sweet “Tree of Delights” served with coffee. “You eat with your eyes fi rst. If a plate is beautiful you’ll believe it will taste nice,” says Tempelhoff. A few magicians’ tricks are pulled out for diners at the table, but they’re always tempered by solid kitchen skills.

The restaurant décor forms a clean backdrop to the kitchen drama. The space is dominated by white walls and fl oral displays, with fern-themed wallpaper forming background detail. A glazed conservatory overlooks the garden, and the mood is stylish without seeming stiff.

Later that week, sitting down to dinner in The Greenhouse, I’m reminded of a statement made by Van der Walt. During my stint on the other side of the kitchen pass, he confi ded that he’d learnt a great deal from Tempelhoff. “He’s hard to please and expects a lot. But you can’t get a better boss,” he says. “If you give of yourself you’ll get back.” When the kabeljou course arrives, I can’t help but feel that the same can be said for diners. The course is a riot of seemingly disparate fl avours: fi sh on tomato-lentil dhal partnered with sweet aubergine ragout; salty, battered onion rings; creamy squares of coconut-milk jelly; smears of toffee-like sultana and lime puree; and a gentle froth of Cape Malay-spiced foam. Bizarrely they dance together. It’s a delicious reminder that the fi nest eating relies on enthusiastic, open-minded diners willing to trust skilled hands and palates to transport them to a magical place.

IT’S A DELICIOUS REMINDER THAT THE FINEST EATING

RELIES ON ENTHUSIASTIC, OPEN-MINDED DINERS.

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CAPCLASSIQUES

FINISH LINEto take you to the

Whether you’re celebrating victory or fi lling a fl utethanks to your Champagne tastes, the sound of a popping cork

never fails to bring out the party mood. Kim MAXWELL explainswhy South African Cap Classique is world class.

There is something about popping a cork and watching a fl ute fi ll with effervescence that awakens a sense of anticipation. Some reserve the fi zzy stuff for celebrations – weddings, birthdays and the like – but most don’t need an occasion. Drink bubbly and you can’t help but sport an agreeable mood. It’s pleasantly sparkly as a sundowner, richly tasty with breakfast croissants, and an excellent partner to smoky meats or creamy fi sh sauces.

This time of year, most fans are glued to their screens, absorbing the screeching tyres and adrenalin-inducing laps of the Monaco Formula One. My favourite part is watching the winners shower celebratory magnums of fi zzy spray over their fans from the podium as victory sinks in. Mumm Champagne has been the offi cial celebratory drink of Formula One for over 10 years. Jo Siffert unintentionally began the tradition after winning his category in a 24-hour Le Mans race, when the cork popped out of his overheated Champagne bottle, showering onlookers below. The next year, in 1967, Dan Gurney followed suit,

deliberately spraying the crowd and setting off a winner’s ritual that has continued to this day. The winner of the Monaco Grand Prix in May 2012 will do the honours with a jeroboam of G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge.

While die-hard traditionalists might insist on drinking genuine French Champagne, you’ll fi nd South Africa’s bottle-fermented Méthode Cap Classiques (MCCs) are made in the same way as Champagne, and will take you to the fi nish line in similar style. As the fastest-growing wine category in South Africa, the appeal of local MCC is the taste of sunshine in a bottle. In Champagne, the cooler weather conditions and chalky soils of one of France’s most northerly regions results in bubblies marked by lean, mineral notes. Sun is plentiful during South African summers, so it’s easy to understand the riper Cap Classique fl avours.

As in Champagne, the juice of the fi rst pressing of whole grape bunches, the cuveé, is made into base wine. Local base wines typically favour the Champagne varieties of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and occasionally

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2006. Mid 2012 sees the third release of Colmant’s Brut Chardonnay NV. The second batch sold out after news of their John Platter 2012 fi ve-star achievement. Epitomised by elegance and creamy balance, you’ll struggle to put down your glass. Chardonnay from the Franchhoek farm contributes crispness while Robertson grapes add fruit ripeness and minerality.

“Lots of people confuse my wine with Champagne, which I take as a compliment,” says Colmant.

FROM BOSCHENDALBoschendal winemaker, Lizelle Gerber, has

crafted bottle-fermented bubbly since 1999. On joining Boschendal, near Franschhoek, she’s added a feminine touch to their fi zz.

“People overseas aren’t always familiar with Cap Classique, but when they taste our bubblies they love them,” she says.

Premium Boschendal Grand Cuvée Brut 2007 (R110) is the business: a 50/50 Chardonnay Pinot blend with no wood, producing an elegant mix of citrus, yellow apple and biscotti fl avours. This wine won the vintage category in South Africa’s Cap Classique Challenge in 2011. Gerber attributes the creamy mouthfeel to a standout vintage and over two years of bottle time.

“You can drink it with something clean such as oysters, but it’s big enough with richer, creamy chicken or fi sh dishes too,” she says.

FROM SILVERTHORNIf you fi nd “sunshine” wines a little too

full-bodied, Silverthorn offers an appealingly lean alternative. Their secret is lime-rich, shale soils in Bonnievale, near Robertson, similar to those of Champagne in France. John and Karen Loubser released their fi rst 3 500 bottles of The Green Man all-Chardonnay bubbly in September 2006, and followed with The Genie pink version three years later. Silverthorn The Green Man Blanc de Blancs 2009 (R165) offers zesty green apple notes, but it’s the Rosé bubbly that’s most in demand at restaurants. Silverthorn The Genie Rosé NV (R165) is my pick for freshness and muted raspberry tones from a 100% Shiraz base. Only 3500 bottles of The Genie are made. Partner with sushi.

Pinot Meunier, although local terroir and climate bring out slightly different characteristics in the grapes. Unlike cheaper sparkling wines, Cap Classique then ferments for a second time in the bottle, while being matured horizontally for at least one year. Some MCCs are left longer, depending on the style and vintage. After riddling (twisting the bottles to dislodge the yeast) and disgorging, corks are then inserted for a fi nal bottle stint, resulting in bubblies that many agree give their French counterparts a run for their money.

TRY THESE HOMEGROWN HEROES TO FEEL LIKE A MILLION DOLLARS:

FROM SIMONSIGFrans Malan made South Africa’s fi rst

bottle-fermented bubbly under the label Kaapse Vonkel (translating as Cape Sparkle) in 1971. At R3 per bottle, Kaapse Vonkel was the priciest wine around. Today, serious Simonsig fans ask for “the blue label”. They’re referring to Simonsig Cuvée Royale Blanc de Blancs 2005 (R190). The crème de la crème of Simonsig, it’s a dryer Chardonnay-only style where nearly 40% is wooded to enhance creaminess. Disgorged after nearly six-and-a-half years, the 2005 vintage won best Blanc de Blancs and was the overall winner in the 2011 Cap Classique Challenge.

“My greatest compliment was when the president of a big Champagne house told me that Cuvée Royale could slip into a line-up of the best Champagnes unnoticed,” says cellarmaster Johan Malan.

FROM GRAHAM BECK“If you want to get to the fi nish line then

Cuvée Clive has to be part of that journey,” says Pieter ‘Bubbles’ Ferreira. “It’s a stand-alone Cap Classique made in exclusive quantities without a recipe.”

Indeed Graham Beck Cuvée Clive 2005 (R450) is at the top of the bubbly tier. Ferreira’s team cherry-picks the best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes on their Robertson farm, blends wine from only the best barrels, and disgorges the bottles after fi ve years on their lees. This unfailingly results in a standout vintage. Close behind is Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 2008 (R205). This all-Chardonnay wine is Ferreira’s favourite Cap Classique to make. Its elegance and gentle, oak-matured complexity makes it one of my personal favourites to drink.

FROM COLMANTFor a creamy, individualistic fi zz, Colmant

Brut Chardonnay NV (R168) is up with the best. Belgian Jean-Philippe Colmant established a boutique Franschhoek winery and harvested his fi rst Cap Classique in January

STYLE GUIDE

The Cap Classique sipped most often is a non-vintage brut blend of two varieties. If an MCC is labelled Brut Pinot Noir it means Chardonnay is left out. A Blanc de Blancs is 100% Chardonnay (more often than not it’s a vintage wine), while a pink Brut Rosé can use a selection of red cultivars and may contain white grapes. A vintage-dated MCC includes 85% of grapes from that year, and normally spends over one year in the bottle.

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