Franschhoek: Culinary Capital of the Cape
Huguenot refugees planted these vines in 1688. Now Franschhoek has more top restaurants per square kilometre than anywhere in Africa. Leeu Estates, La Residence (#1 hotel in the world, Condé Nast 2013), and the Wine Tram connecting 100+ estates.
A Wine Memories experience · winememories.fi
How to Complete
4 steps curated by Wine Memories
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This exact dining room used to house The Tasting Room, where Dutch chef Margot Janse brought the multi-course tasting menu concept to South Africa in the early 2000s. A regular fixture in The World's 50 Best Restaurants. The first South African restaurant to break into that elite global club. Janse put Franschhoek on the world culinary map. When she closed in 2017, chef Peter Duncan opened La Petite Colombe in the same space under the mentorship of Scot Kirton (whose La Colombe in Cape Town now has three Michelin keys). Same walls. Same mountain view. The legacy continues: modern fine dining with traditional South African ingredients like biltong and snoek. You're eating in the room where South Africa learned that fine dining didn't have to copy Europe. It could be proudly African and world-class at the same time. Book weeks or months ahead via Dineplan or email. La Petite Colombe serves a chef's tasting menu format (R1,800-2,500 per person with wine pairing). Le Quartier Français hotel, Franschhoek town centre. Open lunch and dinner. If fully booked, Reuben Riffel's Reuben's Restaurant offers fine-casual (chilli salted squid, crispy prawn fritters, signature pork belly). Easier to book. Still world-class.
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Franschhoek has 17,000 permanent residents. Thirty-plus restaurants that would hold their own in Paris, London, or New York. The per capita restaurant density is insane. Higher than anywhere else in Africa. The reason is 1688. French Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecution arrived from Champagne, Burgundy, and the Loire Valley. They brought vines, yes. But they also brought food culture—the French obsession with terroir, seasonality, and the multi-course meal as art. That DNA never left. Three hundred and thirty-eight years later, Franschhoek is still defined by a French reverence for food and wine, now fused with Cape Malay spices, indigenous ingredients, and global culinary education. You're not just eating well here. You're eating the legacy of people who crossed an ocean to preserve their right to cook and drink as they pleased. Walk Huguenot Road, the main street. Count the restaurants. Notice the French names: La Motte, Haute Cabrière, Le Quartier Français, Maison, La Petite Colombe. Read the menus posted outside. Notice how many offer 5-7 course tasting menus paired with local wines. For the full story, visit the Huguenot Memorial Museum (R20-30 entry). See the original family Bibles, portraits, and silverware the refugees brought from France.
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French Huguenots planted the vines and brought formal European culinary technique. But the people who actually cooked in the kitchens were enslaved Cape Malays—Muslims from Indonesia, India, Madagascar, and Mozambique who brought turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, tamarind, and clove. The result is a cuisine that exists nowhere else on Earth. French structure (the slow braise, the multi-course format, the wine pairing) meets Cape Malay spice (bobotie with curry and raisins, waterblommetjie bredie with lamb and wild water flowers, sosaties with apricot jam). The dishes were invented by people who were not allowed to own anything. Yet they became the defining food of one of the world's great wine regions. When you pair bobotie with an off-dry Chenin Blanc, you're experiencing 350 years of cultural fusion in a single bite. Order bobotie (curried mince with egg custard topping), tomato bredie (lamb stew with cinnamon and cardamom), or sosaties (lamb skewers marinated in curry and apricot jam). Ask for an off-dry Chenin Blanc pairing. The fruit and gentle sweetness complements curry spices and raisins better than any other wine. If Franschhoek menus lean too European, drive to Jonkershuis at Groot Constantia (20 min). They specialize in Cape Malay-inspired bistro dishes paired with wines from the oldest estate in the country.
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A vintage-style tram combined with open-air buses, hopping between estates every hour. Five colour-coded routes covering 8 estates per line. Each line is curated to include at least one estate with a serious restaurant or picnic experience. Orange Line hits Babylonstoren (Babel restaurant—book 9 months ahead—or picnic baskets from the garden). Blue Line includes Grande Provence (gallery + restaurant). Conductors in period costume. Commentary on Huguenot history. Vineyard views the entire way. You can eat a 5-course lunch at one estate, hop the tram to the next for dessert wine, and never worry about driving. This is the only wine region in the world where a tram takes you door-to-door between Michelin-grade restaurants. Book online at winetram.co.za. Tickets cover the tram transport; wine tastings and food are separate (R60-260 per estate). Departures 8:45am-1pm. Departs from Franschhoek town centre. Plan a full day and eat at 2-3 estates. Kids under 3 ride free. If the tram is booked, hire a private driver for the day and create your own route. Key estates for food: Babylonstoren, Grande Provence, Boschendal, La Motte.