Pork and chorizo casserole with tomato and rosemary.
An accomplished chef opens a little French Bistro in a small two room restaurant in downtown Stellenbosch. It has a pretty courtyard, and the day I was there, the lemon tree hung heavy with fruit in the crisp, blue skied, Autumnal air.
Salad of marinated goats cheese with olive oil, herbs and roast tomato.
A recipe for success?
Yes, if the chef is Christophe Dehosse, yes if his style of cooking is pared back French country Bistro style, and yes if the man in question is a real live Frenchman who has been classically trained in France.
This is what Christophe has achieved in the few months his small restaurant has been open. His “Traditional French Cuisine” has been attracting customers and praise in equal proportions.
While in Stellenbosch on a quick visit for meetings I had the “Business Lunch”.
This is a short menu with three starters, three mains and three desserts.
Starters were a delicious marinated goats cheese salad and a creamy mushroom soup. High quality ingredients and intense flavours and textures were the reward. The mushroom soup was easily the best I have eaten in a long time.
We both had the pork and chorizo casserole with tomato and rosemary. It was winter comfort food at its best. More intense
Creamy mushroom soup.
flavours and the yum factor that will allow you to remember a dish long after having eaten it.
Service was snappy and assured. I loved that little room, with its green walls and artwork. The atmosphere was intimate, comforting and informal.
Christophe came to greet customers and chat after service was over. He’s a charming fellow, his Burgundian accented English mashed with an Afrikaans twist, rolling off his tongue, and a great friendly smile on his face.
I liked everything on the more extensive menu; mussel and saffron soup, pan fried quail salad with a mushroom ragout, braised beef brisket in red wine and potato and onion mash, roast tiger prawns with a bearnaise sauce, ratatouille nicoise and polenta fritter.
I can’t wait to go back and have dinner and try the larger menu, which has me already reaching for the car keys and the babysitters phone number.
Business Lunch 2 courses R130, 3 courses R150.
Main menu, Starters R60-R130, Mains R115-R145, Desserts R45-R60.Restaurant Christophe,
44 Van Reyneveld Street,
Stellenbosch.
021 886 8763.
The kitchen door.
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I agree, this is a little gem. Wait until Summer and you can dine out in the courtyard under the Lemon Tree.
I have happy memories of Christophe and his food, going back to his days at The Vineyard Hotel and, more recently,the Joostenberg Bistro.
Christophe’s food is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
Lovely comment. Could not put it better myself.
I was so dissapointed after having read your reviews we decided to take friends for their 40th Anniversary to Christophe
Dining out in my opinion is a total package – ambience, service and food. Regretably the evening was a dissapointment. Seating is very close to other diners – lighting is too bright (no candles to create atmosphere – if there was any background music we couldnt hear it) other diners spoke in hushed tones to avoid sharing their conversations with their neighbour tables – waiters did not introduce the menue – merely asked what we wanted – what we had, was o.k.
The wine list was limited in terms of “price” choice Mostly R150.00-R200.00 and Upwards – corkage R50.00.
The waiters hovered while we finished our coffee and dessert anxious to issue the bill,
They clearly wanted to go home.
Chistophe, its not only about the food, its time to change the awful painting on the wall and add some atmosphere, If you wish to charge in excess of R100.00 for a starter course – no matter how you describe it mains ie. Sirloin (approx 30gm) in jus – with small side serving of potato baked in cream” (meat and potato) as a main course R120.00 you really need to improve on the ambience and service to justify Im not surprised that on a Saturday night the restaurant was far from full.
Norman, after reading your comments I’ve been wondering wether we visited the same Christophe’s restaurant, or wether you are perhaps a jealous competitor.
1. The seating is fairly typical of most Parisian restaurants- extra space comes at a premium and I do believe that Christophe has had to work within the limitations that the Skuijnshuis, one of Stellenbosch’s national monuments, had to offer.
2. The paintings, and the decor in general is far from “tired”- most of the artwork is supplied by a major gallery, all works are for sale and are carefully chosen- once again with a significant amount of Gallic flair. But then again, in a country where the monied opt fot “Boere-Tuscan” by default, I won’t expect you to understand…
3. a Corkage fee of R40-50 is standard in most restaurants these days. That doesn’t mean I like it or agree with it- but that is the norm these days. And we should consider ourselves lucky; corkage is an absolute no-no in Johannesburg. As fro Christophe’s winelist- it is quite a bit more comprehensive than what you imply. There’s no Distell wines, for starters; it is well thought out and offers an extensive range by the glass; the bottles vary from bargain basement Joostenberg fare to a Burgundy at R5200. It is well thought through, and the markups are not the usual 300% I have seen at most other establishments.
4. Let’s talk about the food then, shall we? it’s cuisine de la grandmere, and a limited choice of 4-5 dishes each for starters, mains and dessert. You seem to be a fairly straightforward meat-n-potatoes man which is why the fresh foie gras at over R100 would affront you. But what about the linefish or scallop tartare at R60, or the fresh soup, if you are really experiencing a middle-of-the-month banking moment? The lambskidneys are a superb, rugged countryside dish, and there’s almost allways at least two spectacular fishdishes on the menu- one of Christophe’s areas of expertize. As for portion sizes- look, I’m a fairly big bloke, and I hardly ever manage more than 2 courses when eating there.
Live a little, Norman, expand your horisons. Go back there on a weekday afternoon (take your own wine if you must) but go and sit in the shaded courtyard and choose the dishes you normally wouldn’t. Life is beautiful, after all…