The tastes of South Africa

The culinary journey begins without even having to leave the hotel. One&Only Cape Town is an indulgent lunch spot where the Table Mountain views are only outdone by the fare – especially the sushi in Africa’s only Nobu Restaurant. Then dinner is at the Pier Restaurant, where the attentive service will treat you as a VIP with theatrical touches like dishes cooked table-side and shells opened up to reveal boat-fresh seafood. Salsify’s 13-course tasting menu fills up another evening, overflowing with explosions of colour, from grapefruit-cured sashimi with hibiscus pickled radish to poached prawns atop chive gnocchi. The Japanese influences continue as they fuse with African décor in Fyn Restaurant where a kaiseki-style experience defines the highest ranked restaurant in the continent.

At the heart of South African cooking is family-style communal dining and handmade food, coupled with a genuine love of hospitality. That’s what you’ll find in Nicky Gibbs’ home, sitting down to a lunch crafted from ingredients from the surrounding landscape. As she chatters and chops, she explains how she built Crofters Kitchen – where a shared table of 13 reach for slices of hot biltong-spiced ostrich rump and bowls of steaming Noordhoek mushroom risotto. Later, with the Atlantic lapping below your table, tapas are served on the terrace of Chefs Warehouse at Tintswalo Atlantic.

The Cape Winelands beckon with grape growers, vine experts and seasoned sommeliers acting as your guides to some of the finest wine tasting in the country. A passion for vino flows as freely as the vintages themselves, especially at places like Leeu Estates. In partnership with the ever-so-talented husband and wife team behind the world-renowned wines produced at the estate, tastings in The Wine Studio are wholly immersive – with guests choosing from either the Signature, Single Terroir and Leeu Passant tasting options. Their learnings are put to the test over dinner in La Petite Colombe restaurant.

Between June and December, there’s excitement bubbling below the oceans’ surface as southern right and humpback whales, often with their offspring in tow, pass by on their migration. While it’s these gentle giants that lure people to these parts, it’s the wine that makes them stay. Nourished by the sea air, it’s the region’s unique terroir that makes its pinot noir grapes so distinctive and a tasting just has to be done. Come evening, the twinkling stars make a Boma dinner in the enchanting 1,000-year-old Milkwood Forest even more ethereal.