De Tafel: Foraging for Fine Dining Treasures in Unexpected Places (like Wynberg)

Wait, Wynberg has a fine-dining restaurant?

When you drive past something as often as I drive past the Palm House Boutique Hotel in Upper hen you drive past something as often as I drive past the Palm House Boutique Hotel in Upper Wynberg, it’s easy to forget that it is even there. I was completely caught off guard to discover that this surprisingly remarkable hotel that’s been hiding in plain sight has an on-site restaurant (two in fact) and one as impressive as De Tafel.

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The Palm House Boutique Hotel and Spa 

The Palm House Boutique Hotel is centred around a stately century-old residence, a National Monument, overlooking manicured lawns and a swimming pool. Stepping through the grand pillared entrance, we were immediately transported somewhere rather more glamorous than Wynberg. There's plenty of old-world charm here, from the wood panelling around the lobby fireplace to the beautifully crafted sweeping staircase, with contemporary touches.

I was there to experience De Tafel for a restaurant review for a print magazine I was working for at the time, and my date for the evening was my brother. I promise I do have friends, but as adults we do actually get along surprisingly well, and with him having two kids, we don’t really get to hang out just the two of us. 

Our evening began with cocktails and a few bar snacks in the intimate lounge. We were then led into De Tafel, a dinner-only dining room decorated with crystal chandeliers, plush seating, quirky but classy flamingo wallpaper and a single pincushion protea on each table, perfectly illuminated by its own table lamp. It's elegant without taking itself too seriously - kind of like us, except we may have been a bit lacking on the elegance side.

Forager Chef Gregory Henderson

At the helm of De Tafel is executive chef and dedicated forager Gregory Henderson. While it’s trendy to claim that one has a passion for sustainability, this chef lives out his passion in the kitchen with an authentic fervour. He incorporates decades of experience into a menu of contemporary Cape cuisine that takes inspiration from the land and sea. Henderson is incredibly knowledgeable about the indigenous flora and flavours of the Cape, and it came through in each of the six courses of the “My Cape Inspired Journey” menu.

My Cape-Inspired Culinary Journey

The first course was The Sewejaartjie, a beautifully plated appetiser inspired by the fynbos shrub with paper-like leaves. This appetiser consisted of an olive bubble resting on petals of beetroot with a base of orange sweet potato terrine, presented to appear like the flower. 

Even the Amuse Bouche was quite the spectacle

After a dish that celebrates the earth’s richness, we moved on to the coast for the next course, “Oesters”. Saldanha Bay oysters with smoked mayo, buchu gremolata, bokkoms and truffle pearls captured the essence of the Cape's coastline. Hints of buchu, which featured a number of times throughout the menu, brought out some special notes in the oyster and inspired some silly banter between my brother and I. (If you’ve never noticed that ‘buchu’ rhymes ‘moegoe’ and sounds more like a sound you make to try clear your throat than something you would actually consume at a fine dining restaurant, you are obviously significantly more sophisticated than we are.) 

Peruvian Scallop, a WWF green-listed species, was the third course with sea lettuce salt, feral fennel espuma and nutmeg pelargonium. Henderson explained that in keeping with his commitment to using sustainable ingredients, all the other seafood items on the menu were sourced through ABALOBI, a company that supports ethical and ecologically responsible seafood harvested by small-scale fishers. The scallop shells were local, foraged from Hout Bay. 

When he was safely out of earshot, my brother called out after him, asking if he could have some tomato sauce to go with his. We both found this considerably funnier than two grown adults probably should have, and spent the next few minutes trying to both enjoy our scallops and compose ourselves before the staff returned.

An Elgin Valley-inspired apple sorbet with fennel fronds and suikerbossie nectar was served as a palate cleanser before the main course, which included two options. One was Kaapenaar made from silverfish (endemic to the Southern Coast of South Africa) with seaweed candy and Strandveld oil, a reflection of the Cape's maritime heritage. We, however, opted for the perfectly tender Joostevlakte Duck Breast, rich with earthy flavours from buchu (ahem, there it is again), beetroot and Borrie parsnip.

A Sweet Finish, with a Little Help From the Bees

While “Bioclimate” doesn’t sound like the most delicious of desserts, like everything else we experienced this evening, it was pleasantly surprising. 

As someone who is not just a chef and a forager but also a beekeeper, Henderson explained the importance of honey to him and how that was incorporated into the meal. The dish, consisting of fynbos honey panna cotta and heuning boegoe creme glacée with fallen nut brittle and a nuance of indigenous honeybush, was created to capture the delicate balance of the Cape's ecosystem and the role of the honey bee in it. That's quite a lot of responsibility for a dessert! Despite the weight of the backstory, it was delightfully light and not too sweet.  

Wine Pairings by Richard Goza

Each course was perfectly paired with wines from De Tafel’s impressive collection, which centres on boutique Cape wine estates. Our sommelier Richard Goza was on hand throughout the experience. He drew from 23 years of experience at a host of impressive restaurants to guide us through each course and its perfect pairing. Was this to blame for our behaviour? No, I maintain that 'buchu' still sounds funny to people who are 100% sober!

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A Taste of the Cape, Quite Literally

When we asked Chef Henderson how much of our meal was foraged, he said “A lot”. He explained that he has been researching the fynbos biome for over 20 years and has collected a list of 7500 ingredients endemic and indigenous to South Africa. He believes that we haven’t truly discovered the flavours of South Africa and that this is a journey towards that. 

It's an interesting concept, and one that makes you look at the familiar landscape around Cape Town a little differently. We tend to celebrate the region's wine, seafood and farm-to-table produce, but there's an entire world of indigenous ingredients and flavours that rarely make it onto our dinner plates. He certainly seemed to capture the flavours of the Cape in a way we had never experienced before. 

My brother and I may not have gone foraging, but we did find a culinary treasure in an unexpected place. De Tafel is easily the most impressive of Cape Town’s best-kept secrets, but if this meal is anything to go by, it won’t be a secret for long.  

Click here to find out more about De Tafel or to book