The new spring menu at Greenhouse Restaurant

I recently attended the launch of the spring menu at Greenhouse Restaurant at the Cellars Hotel in Constantia. It was a perfect day with the gardens looking particularly exceptional this year after taken a beating with the drought. They are in fact so pretty they are hosting a Spring Garden Rose Party this weekend so if you are in the mood to wander around one of the prettiest hotel grounds in Cape Town enjoying a roses-themed high tea, then you can find get all the details here, but I digress.

This was my first visit to The Greenhouse to experience the restaurant under the helm of head chef Farrel Hirsch. I loved some of his combinations of flavours and thought the three rice risotto with aubergine, asparagus, black garlic and sake was inspired. The playful and generous amuse course was a delight, and the bread course, which included monogrammed tiny brioche rolls and flavoured butter was delicious. His food philosophy is around conserving ingredients and foraging sustainably using hyper-local plants and ingredients in the menu. He is interested in his food telling a story and preserving local culture and history and I was very impressed.

Two tasting menus are available during the dinner service. Either the Discovery tasting menu or the Journey menu. The restaurant is now also open for lunch and serving a limited choice a l a carte tasting menu and this is what we experienced on the day. It is a little lighter than the more robust evening tasting menus.

‘a muse’ bouche

l’ormarins brut rosé NV

false bay canapes

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eryngi mushroom

ponzu, root vegetables, coriander, dashi
fable mountain ‘belle flower rosé’ 2017

sashimi

seaweed, avocado, rice, cucumber, sesame

adam fume NV

the game

springbok tataki, foie ‘rocher’, glüwein, parsley, chilli

fram cinsault 2017