Page 54 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2020 South Africa

Each restaurant welcomes diners to stylish, un-
crowded rooms with tall view windows. Reached
via a long steep driveway shared with Silvermist
Winery, La Colombe is perched in the treetops for
views across vineyards to distant bays, while La
Petite Colombe, part of Le Quartier Francais bou-
tique hotel in the heart of Franschhoek, is se-
cluded behind hedges like a private oasis. (In
spring 2020, La Petite Colombe was to move to a
new garden setting in nearby Leeu Estates but
that was postponed amid the country’s COVID-19
shutdown.)
Both Colombes upend expectations as soon as
diners walk arrive. Just inside La Colombe we
plucked an amuse-bouche from a mossy log before
decamping to our table for a deconstructed gin
tonic and savory bites “plated” atop wooden
mushrooms. The bread course gets the Colombe
touch too: at La Petite Colombe butter morphs

54 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020