A leisurely afternoon of fun, fabulous food and fine wine at The Foodbarn Chef’s Table
There’s a sybaritic appeal to starting the weekend at Friday lunch, especially at the Foodbarn Chef’s Table, where chef Franck Dangereux pushes his creative boundaries, inventing new dishes paired to the cellar treasures of one of his winemaker friends.
The May Chef’s table was one of firsts: Matthew Day of Klein Constantia had challenged Franck to a whole meal paired with the estate’s various Sauvignon Blancs, something neither of them had tried before. Seven courses, eight different wines all from the same varietal. “The biggest misconception about Sauvignon Blanc is that you need to drink it on year of release,” Matt told us. “We need to change that. It’s an incredible varietal, it’s the cultivar that expresses a sense of place more than any other.”
Franck rose to the challenge with some intriguing gutsy dishes. Fynbos smoked mussels with citrus, seaweed, oysters and togarashi launched us off in style and the Organic 2015 held its own with the strong flavours. Next we sampled two vintages of the Klein Constantia Estate, herby 2010 and smooth buttery 2003 together with a scallop sashimi with grapefruit and spinach. Roasted celeriac and chevre paired beautifully with classic Metis 2015. With four glasses lined up, we got into the spirit of comparative tasting, all now convinced of the versatility of Sauvignon Blanc.
Single vineyard wines accompanied the next dishes, the Perdeblokke 2015, light and very elegant paired with steamed white fish in a gorgeous grape and cassis fondue, picking up the fruit in the wine. Block 382 showed a deeper side to Sauvignon Blanc and paired with our ‘meat” course, a rich seared quail, then we enjoyed an earlier, mellow vintage of the same block with Bayonne ham, raclette and tangy pickled mushrooms. Conversation and laughter levels had risen as the afternoon progressed, the fun and informality encouraged by Franck’s intuitive, unpretentious approach to pairing. “I just sip the wine and think what would work with that. Sometimes a pairing is not for me about trying to retrieve an element of the wine in the food, it just washes down nicely. Sometimes that is all it is.”
Finishing off with an autumnal dessert of chestnut mousse, almond milk ice cream and quince with the 2002 Noble Late Harvest was a decadently rich end to an adventurous feast of flavours. The next Chef’s Table is on 28 July.
There’s a sybaritic appeal to starting the weekend at Friday lunch, especially at the Foodbarn Chef’s Table, where chef Franck Dangereux pushes his creative boundaries, inventing new dishes paired to the cellar treasures of one of his winemaker friends.
The May Chef’s table was one of firsts: Matthew Day of Klein Constantia had challenged Franck to a whole meal paired with the estate’s various Sauvignon Blancs, something neither of them had tried before. Seven courses, eight different wines all from the same varietal. “The biggest misconception about Sauvignon Blanc is that you need to drink it on year of release,” Matt told us. “We need to change that. It’s an incredible varietal, it’s the cultivar that expresses a sense of place more than any other.”
Franck rose to the challenge with some intriguing gutsy dishes. Fynbos smoked mussels with citrus, seaweed, oysters and togarashi launched us off in style and the Organic 2015 held its own with the strong flavours. Next we sampled two vintages of the Klein Constantia Estate, herby 2010 and smooth buttery 2003 together with a scallop sashimi with grapefruit and spinach. Roasted celeriac and chevre paired beautifully with classic Metis 2015. With four glasses lined up, we got into the spirit of comparative tasting, all now convinced of the versatility of Sauvignon Blanc.
Single vineyard wines accompanied the next dishes, the Perdeblokke 2015, light and very elegant paired with steamed white fish in a gorgeous grape and cassis fondue, picking up the fruit in the wine. Block 382 showed a deeper side to Sauvignon Blanc and paired with our ‘meat” course, a rich seared quail, then we enjoyed an earlier, mellow vintage of the same block with Bayonne ham, raclette and tangy pickled mushrooms. Conversation and laughter levels had risen as the afternoon progressed, the fun and informality encouraged by Franck’s intuitive, unpretentious approach to pairing. “I just sip the wine and think what would work with that. Sometimes a pairing is not for me about trying to retrieve an element of the wine in the food, it just washes down nicely. Sometimes that is all it is.”
Finishing off with an autumnal dessert of chestnut mousse, almond milk ice cream and quince with the 2002 Noble Late Harvest was a decadently rich end to an adventurous feast of flavours. The next Chef’s Table is on 28 July.
Taste for yourself:
- The Foodbarn | 021 789 1390 | thefoodbarn.co.za
This article originally appeared in Neighbourhood, Sunday Times.
