Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

TGIFood

TGIFood

JAN Franschhoek: This ain’t your grandmother’s cooking

JAN Franschhoek: This ain’t your grandmother’s cooking
Escargot with mieliepap and oxtail, left, and right, JAN Franschhoek’s shaped butters. (Photos: Georgina Crouth)
Georgina Crouth
By Georgina Crouth
21 Jun 2024
Facebook
0
There’s nothing ‘uit die oude doos’ about Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen’s seasonal restaurant in Franschhoek. Rather, it’s an embrace of South African cuisine, with the best bits given a bit of a French fondle or finesse.

If dinner at JAN is theatre, then lavender — the powerful and potent herb used throughout antiquity as perfume, medicine and protection from evil — is the evocative fragrance that transports us back in time, triggering a wash of memories, from the starched linens of childhood, to our grandmother’s dressing-table drawers, and halcyon sunny days.

On the first of Spring, Van der Westhuizen is set to open for the third season of his exclusive run at La Motte wine estate, JAN Franschhoek, this time for an eight-month run instead of six.

Restaurant JAN in Nice, Van der Westhuizen’s original and flagship, operates throughout the year, as does Klein Jan at Tswalu in the Kalahari.

Klein Jan, a collaboration between Van der Westhuizen and the Oppenheimer family, places the spotlight on the rich heritage and unique ingredients of the Northern Cape, where the seasonal menu is inspired by the arid landscape of the southern Kalahari and the resourcefulness of the local people.

Van der Westhuizen — South Africa’s first Michelin-awarded chef — worked for two years with Tswalu’s executive chef, Marnus Scholly, on a deep dive into the soul of Northern Cape cuisine, during which they unearthed the region’s authentic flavours, heritage foods, and vibrant cultures.

JAN Franschhoek is similarly reflective: It’s a step back in time and a homecoming (of sorts, if your mother was an accomplished Michelin chef) on a plate.

Read more in Daily Maverick: The Rise and Rise of Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen

Led by chef Lara van Heerden, the JAN Franschhoek team leans heavily on local regional traditions, with some French polishing, to elevate locally sourced ingredients as the stars of the show.

Van der Westhuizen is not only chef-artiste, but also the man behind the wildly successful brand that includes his restaurants (one of which, the “Nice” JAN in France, has that Michelin star), television shows, best-selling recipe books, the spectacular JAN Journal which is now in its 13th edition, the Innovation Studio, culinary tours, olive oil, wine, and dinnerware, glassware, cutlery and high-performance cookware — some ranges available exclusively at YuppieChef, others through his online shop.

On Thursday, Jan hosted an exclusive lunch as a prelude to the launch of their upcoming season with lavish’d, a premier tableware manufacturer, who has created his homeware ranges of stackware, blanc noir, cookware, cutlery and a gold-rimmed collection.

lavish’d also supplies Jenna Clifford, Marks & Spencer and Omada, and it is this latest JAN range that will be used at the pop-up.

Pop-up of plenty

Lavender fields forever. (Photo: Georgina Crouth)



Along the perfumed path to the historic Veepos cottage just off the R45 towards the town, guests were welcomed with a refreshing lavender hand wash ceremony before being led inside.

The curated experience builds from there: from the theatrical setting inside the historic cottage, the elegant jazzy soundtrack, to the communal 18-seater long table, the cheese table, the open fireplace, the spectacular view of the lavender fields, vineyards, mountains and blue sky, and the melding of kook kos (South African comfort food) and French cuisine. Without the photogenic Van der Westhuizen and his slick team, the experience could verge on the contrived, but with both heart and soul injected into making memories, if not perfection, guests are in for a feast.

Of course, the wines — a white Chenin, Chardonnay, Viognier, Roussanne blend produced in partnership with Zevenwacht, and a 2019 Rhone-style syrah (with a dollop of Mourvedre and touch of grenache) by De Grendel — are all bottled under his own name (also available on the website).

Dinner was served along the communal table, bedecked with the branded tableware, candelabras, and fruit and flower arrangements.

JAN Franschhoek started as a pop-up but it’s been such a triumph, it’s set to solidify its existence by planting its feet a little deeper in the ground with construction already under way on a new venture a few hundred metres apart from JAN Franschhoek.

He doesn’t think JAN Franschhoek is a pop-up any longer: “I think it's a seasonal restaurant. And what that means, I have no idea but it’s open for the season.”

Franschhoek is also particularly slow in winter. “For me, it’s also nice for that space just to breathe and for everybody to kind of catch a breath. Then we can rotate our chefs. When we come back in September, we reopen it with a new element.”

Cheese is a passion and certainly foundational to his restaurant experiences: To mark the tenth anniversary of his “mothership” JAN in Nice, Jan opened the Maria cheese room, named in honour of his beloved ouma, directly opposite his restaurant.

As a culinary destination, JAN is all about the story, which is why taste — as much as the backstory — is so important to the cheese selection and the cheese table is the heart of the experience. The JAN Franschhoek team tasted over 30 local cheeses and settled on eight (current) favourites: two from Belnori because Jan believes Rina Belcher is one of the most gifted cheesemakers in the country and they couldn’t decide on just one; Dalewood Languedoc (a semi-soft washed rind cheese made from Jersey milk, similar to Camembert) because it a local signature; and Klein Rivier, which has won numerous awards at international cheese competitions. Many of the preserves they serve have been made in his family for generations, slightly tweaked.

Between Restaurant JAN, Klein JAN and JAN Franschhoek, there are now already over 100 cheeses that are served between and after every meal, and each tells a story: many of which are seasonal, much like the n’abbas (Kalahari truffles), which are only available for five weeks in a year and only in a very specific environment.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Jan Hendrik shares a trio of favourite recipes from his past

N’abbas (Kalahari truffles) served with brussels sprouts and pumpernickel. (Photo: Georgina Crouth)



Slivers of n’abbas were also served atop the sauteed brussels sprouts and pumpernickel that accompanied the juicy seared duck breast, which was served with a wild mushroom, truffle and vanilla sauce.

The table bread — mosbolletjies — were served with homemade smoked onion butters, shaped to resemble composers Bach and Beethoven.

Escargot with mieliepap and oxtail, left, and right, JAN Franschhoek’s shaped butters. (Photos: Georgina Crouth)



Sticking to the whimsical theme, there was a little cup of fun (escargot imported from France and oxtail topped with a mieliepap mousse), and the signature JAN dish of frozen apple with chorizo, Tête de Moine — which was invented in Switzerland eight centuries ago — shaved into a diaphanous rosette and set atop delicate haddock milk.

Dessert was a meringue shell, with Ideal milk, sago and apple, followed by mouthful-sized koeksisters with a milk tart jelly, and lavender sherbert.

Don’t expect a predictable menu: next service, the menu could offer anything from his famed “garage pie”, melkkos with caramel rice pudding, or a stampmielie risotto.

Forget stuffy fine dining halls. JAN Franschhoek whisks you away on a whimsical culinary adventure in the vineyards of Franschhoek. Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen isn’t just serving food; he’s weaving memories. His focus on “kook kos”, or Afrikaans soul food, elevates it to an art form.

The communal table is a stroke of genius. It breaks down barriers, fostering conversation (as does the vino) and camaraderie with your fellow diners.

It’s hard to think that the person behind the influential brand once flunked business economics, with a 17% score besmirching his rapport card in standard 8. Every story, he reasons, has a beginning, middle, and end, posting on Instagram: “I am grateful that my story, with a 17% footnote, is filled with fellow dreamers, creators, and makers. Because success isn’t something you can achieve alone. You grow through the experiences of others.”

Ordinarily, dinner is served from Wednesday to Saturday, starting at 7 pm while Sunday lunch starts at 12:30 pm, with guests arriving at the La Motte Manor House before being transported to Veepos across the road.

Read our interview with Jan Hendrik here. DM

For details on the launch date and bookings, visit https://janonline.com/jan-franschhoek-veepos-la-motte/

Categories:

Tags: