Harvest Tables: The Best Sunday Lunches in the Winelands

Head to the country for a long, lingering, delicious lunch with family and friends. At these eateries, the chefs keep it simple, serving a set menu of the best of what’s available right now. But that understates the experience somewhat.

This is true fine dining – freshly picked produce turned into beautiful bowls and platters of food, served with fantastic wine, in a setting that adds that extra magic ingredient you won’t find in the city. The menus change often, so this is an experience you can enjoy time and time again.

JAN Franschhoek

Chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen (of Michelin-starred JAN in Nice, France) invites you to his Franschhoek summer table, in a historic cottage in the lavender fields of La Motte wine estate. Lunch is served only once a week, on a Sunday. To experience his eight-course tasting menu and wine pairing at this sublime pop-up is to surrender to a culinary magician. An 18-seater dining table is set against a kaas en konfyt (cheese and preserves) cornucopia that looks like a Van Dyck still life. Look but don’t touch, yet… There is much to savour before the final course – such as a slap-pap-tjip, evoking memories of the corner café; the nostalgia of cinnamon and delicate doilies with dessert, moerkoffie made in the fireplace. And much more…
Good to know It’s open from January until 30 April 2024. No children under 12 years old.
Opening times Sunday, 12pm for 12.30pm
Wednesday – Saturday, 6.30pm for 7pm
Cost R2 850
Contact 021 876 9115, jan.franschhoek@la-motte.co.za
Where to find it La Motte Wine Farm, R45, Franschhoek
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Good to Gather at Rozendal

Rozendal started off with vineyards but serendipitously pivoted when a visitor helped transform a flawed wine harvest into gourmet vinegar. The vinegar cellar doubles as a restaurant on Friday evenings and weekends – spilling into a tree-shaded courtyard with views of the picturesque farm and a meadow where two alpacas, two cows, a pig, two horses, three dogs and some chickens reside. For chef Jess Shepherd and her husband Luke Grant, respect for produce is paramount and you’ll taste it in their three-course, sharing menu. It’s inventive, wholesome, bounteous and truly, deeply farm-to-table.
Good to know Arrive earlier to do a tasting of the barrel-aged, botanical-infused vinegars.
Opening times Saturday + Sunday, 12pm – 5pm
Friday, 6pm – 10pm
Cost R495
Contact 071 610 0855, jess.chef@gmail.com
Where to find it Rozendal Vinegar & Guest Farm, Omega Road, Rozendal, Stellenbosch
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The Table at De Meye

It’s the stuff of dreams and the epitome of la dolce vita: long, sybaritic lunches in the country with people you love, delicious food and good stuff to drink. Leigh Williamson and Brendan Thorncroft offer an honest-to-goodness experience on the beautiful (yet under-the-radar) De Meye wine farm. In a charming garden, at tables laid with vintage crockery, guests tuck into a three-course sharing menu of refined, slow-cooked comfort dishes that change often depending on what’s in season – along with freshly baked bread, homemade butter and decadent desserts. In cooler weather, the white-washed farmhouse with large windows and wood-burning stoves is an equally attractive setting. It’s the kind of place you’ll return to time and again.
Opening times October – April: Wednesday – Sunday, 12pm – 5pm
May – September: Thursday – Sunday, 12pm – 5pm
Cost R550
Contact 072 696 0530, bookings@thetablerestaurant.co.za
Where to find it De Meye Wine Farm, Muldersvlei Road, Klapmuts, Stellenbosch
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Rykaart’s at Longridge

Rykaart’s opened with a splash on Stellenbosch’s Dorp Street in 2022, but husband-and-wife owners Alex and Ella Rykaart decided to give up their pavement perch for a new home on a wine estate (and who wouldn’t?). They haven’t changed their winning food philosophy, though – simple, contemporary flavours, unfussy, welcoming and delicious. Long, country-style tables on a wide terrace offer never-ending views (all the way to Table Mountain) and the three-course set menu, served family-style, is perfect for lazy lunches. The food pairs perfectly with Longridge’s award-winning biodynamic wines; and the chefs have beautiful organic herb and vegetable gardens within arm’s reach…
Good to know There is a simple menu for children under 12 years.
Opening times Wednesday – Sunday, from 12pm (kitchen closes 3pm)
Friday + Saturday, from 6pm (kitchen closes 8.30pm)
Cost R495
Contact 021 855 2005, rykaarts@longridge.co.za
Where to find it Longridge Wine Estate, Helderbergpad, off Eikendal Road and R44, Raithby, Stellenbosch
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Klein Goederust

For Paul Siguqa, the son of a farm labourer, a long-held dream was realised when he bought Klein Goederust in 2019. He’s created a boutique Franschhoek wine farm that’s all about ubuntu, sharing fine wines and South African farm feasts. He’s restored the historic buildings, replanted the vines and created a serene, beautifully decorated wine-tasting room with a wide verandah overlooking manicured gardens, a koi pond and the mountains. On weekends, the lamb spit-braai is the main attraction, serving as a melt-in-the-mouth anchor for a farm-style buffet lunch of elevated SA classics – chicken potjie, roosterkoek (flame-baked bread rolls), sweet-potato rolls, curried fish, salads and gorgeous desserts. It’s all served in the simple but elegant 1920s homestead, with tables spilling onto the stoep and under the oaks.
Opening times Saturday + Sunday, 12pm – 4pm (braai buffet)
Cost R395
Contact 066 483 4549, info@kleingoederust.co.za
Where to find it Klein Goederust Road, off the R45, Franschhoek
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The Kraal at Joostenberg

The fifth-generation Myburghs offer generous country-style hospitality every weekend at The Kraal, tucked in a corner of their farm beside the winery. Enclosed by whitewashed stone walls, it conjures a simple, almost-Mediterranean aesthetic. Lunch guests dine alfresco at long tables under umbrellas and the dappled shade of fruit and olive trees, with views of the farm in all directions. Chef Garth Bedford’s fine-dining yet fuss-free, three-course menu is based entirely on seasonal, organic produce – much of it from the farm itself. Bread is baked daily and other ingredients sourced from nearby farms. Joostenberg’s superb range of organic wines are the perfect accompaniment to your three-course set-menu meal.
Good to know Children are welcome but there is no specific children’s menu.
Opening times Friday – Sunday, from 12pm (last booking 2.30pm)
Cost R485
R200 (child 5 – 12 years)
Contact 079 641 1320, kraalrestaurant@joostenberg.co.za
Where to find it Joostenberg Wine Estate, Hoopenberg Road, Muldersvlei
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Kleine Zalze Restaurant

The relaxed Winelands setting at Kleine Zalze centres on the spacious bedouin-tented terrace for summer (with a cosy farmhouse feel indoors). Chef Nic van Wyk’s classic, upscale bistro food adds to the appeal of the postcard-worthy views and gardens. By now an institution, the Sunday lunch harvest table has regulars returning again and again, on a culinary world tour that takes their taste buds to a new destination each month. Whatever the destination, you can enjoy four courses of relaxed deliciousness. There is always a vegetarian option, too.
Good to know For the rest of the week, the “Taste, Explore, Relax” menu is a casual, concise selection of plats du jour in three portion sizes (tapas, starter or main) – all easily paired with a glass or bottle of Kleine Zalze wine.
Cost R395 (Sunday harvest table lunch)
R105 (tapas), R135 (starters), R235 (mains)
Opening times Monday – Sunday, 12pm – 4.30pm (last orders at 3.30pm)
Contact 021 880 8167, restaurant@kleinezalze.co.za
Where to find it Kleine Zalze Road, off Techno Avenue and Strand Road (R44), Stellenbosch
Book through DinePlan

Where are your favourite harvest tables? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

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