LET loose in the fertile Franschhoek valley, Chris Erasmus (ex Pierneef à La Motte) is realising a dream while expanding his culinary horizons.
This dedicated forest-to-table chef is doing what he loves best: feeding customers on just-picked food. You might find his boots drying in front of the fire after a foray into the forest to find mushrooms after the rain.
He can tell you what grows on which mountain slope or in each river bed, praises the young, tender tips of ferns, and enthuses about acorns (seems pigs know a thing or two). And yes, he tries the ingredients himself first, deciding how best to prepare and serve them. I sampled acorns à la Chris, and thoroughly enjoyed their nutty, crunchy flavour.
I have always admired his passion, which now spills out of the open kitchen in generous, innovative dishes. Even his bushy beard quivers with the enthusiasm that characterises his cooking. But it’s problematic for a critic: dishes change daily, even hourly, when the chef scents something new.
I gave him a week to settle in before descending on Foliage, but needn’t have worried about starting-up glitches. The welcome is personal and warm, the neat, smiling and informed staff eager to please, and the Franschhoek lunch crowd has adopted the venue as their own.
I confess I was taken aback by the dominant portrait of a cow on the restaurant wall, taking it as a sign that Chris was specialising in beef, which seemed uncharacteristic. Turns out that though he’s moving from Angus beef to Jersey, the painting was destined for the next-door gallery, and was hanging in the restaurant as an interim measure.
For the restaurant adjoins and flows into the spacious IS ART Gallery, owned by Ilse Schermers, and run by Chris’s wife Alisha. Here exhibitions by South African artists change every four-to-six weeks, and the restaurant décor changes as items are sold.
Take your time over the menu. There are so many new tastes and textures to explore. Decisions are difficult as ingredients are so tantalisingly different.
I was torn between starter options of truffled forest mushroom and haricot blanc soup; or pearl barley, charred corn and pine mushroom “risotto”. I chose the latter: a hearty, filling and warming dish, with goats cheese and pumpkin mousse, topped by crisply thin vegetarian chips, far more chewy and flavourful than conventional risotto.
For me, mains were a toss-up between crown-roasted organic baby chicken, with harissa and naartjie steamed bun, pine needle and shanghai broth; or crumbed boerbok (goat) so popular in Natal.
Having chewed billy-goat in the Greek Isles, I sampled Chris’s version. Presented as a boerbok and apricot roulade set on wild mushroom and lentil ragout with red wine jus, it proved to be a lightly-spiced, tender triumph.
Desserts were no contest. Though charcoal pears came with acorn frangipane, they were outclassed by picture-perfect flower-petal and honey iced nougatine (the sweetness cut by salted chocolate custard) with hazelnut and wild mallow ice-cream. I could have licked my hand-crafted plate.
l Starters round R70; mains round R125 and desserts from R50 to R70.