Lucky for me, the Diner’s Discovery list for the Middle East and Africa list was announced just before we were due to depart for South Africa. While there were two restaurants on the list in the country, due to our schedule we were only able to stop at one, and I’m so glad we did. Foliage, a defined ‘terroir-driven modern South African’ dining experience (a nice play on the ‘forest to table’ concept the restaurant is known for), is a smallish low key venue located on the main street in Franschhoek, located next door to an art gallery. Although we didn’t have a reservation, we walked in for a late lunch and were immediately shown to a table (although, for the record, I would judge the restaurant to be about 70% full during our visit, even at the end of the season). Perusing the menu, I was impressed to find a…
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]]>When planning our trip to South Africa, I knew I wanted to sneak away to Franschhoek for at least one night (we’d visited previously for a wedding and fell in love with the town). When I saw that friends had visited The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais in December 2016 (and their collection of stunning food photos), I knew I’d found the right place. With a 3.5-hour tasting menu, I hoped I’d made reservations for the perfect birthday dinner. While I so (so!) much wanted to like this restaurant, perhaps after our incredible meal at The Test Kitchen, overall, I found The Tasting Room disappointing in a number of areas. While I realize Chef Margot Janse is a celebrated and talented culinary professional, I felt the menu was underseasoned, not equipped with enough food to truly be a full degustation (!) and I wasn’t impressed with some of the…
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