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Rust en Vrede Restaurant

6 Reviews
Fine-dining food, French, Modern
Phone Number 0218813757 Opening Hours Dinner

Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday From 6.30pm



Menu

Menu - Rust en Vrede Restaurant menu - Updated in October 2023

Details

Cost
6 course Menu (R890, wine pairing R690)
Food
Fine-dining food, French, Modern
Corkage
No BYO
Cost
6 course Menu (R890, wine pairing R690)
Ambience
Groups, Special occasions
Payment
Amex, Diners Club, Mastercard, Visa
Facilities
Accepts credit cards, Booking required, Child friendly, Dinner, Dress code, Eat Out reviewed, Food, Licensed, Parking, Serves food, Smoking, StreetSmart affliated, Wheelchair

Critic's review

Food
Situated on one of the oldest wine estates in the Cape, Rust en Vrede is a homage to fine food and wine. The Cape Dutch buildings on the estate are national monuments, and Brazilian-Italian chef Fabio Daniel presents elegant food with immense care and precision using impressive technique, without it ever feeling contrived or overworked. A six-course menu is on offer, as well as a chef’s experience menu, which is created for diners for the occasion, so the menu is a surprise. You could expect the likes of a bread course with pillowy bread and rich butter with an unusual milk curd, and a chicken mousse canapé with a gossamer-thin potato starch crisp. Next up, you may be treated to a sophisticated pea-and-spinach mousse with mint, fermented cucumber gel and yoghurt granules – the flavour of the mousse is perfectly complemented by the cucumber gel, with the yoghurt granules offering an interesting contrast. Cured yellowfin tuna, sesame purée, cashew nuts, tataki gel, shimeiji mushrooms and pickled baby turnips is an ode to the popularity of Japanese cuisine in the chef’s home country. The dish is packed with umami flavours, with the creamy purée providing good balance. Flamed salmon crudo brings layers of salmon roe, pickled cucumber, seeds and nuts, puff pastry and a yoghurt espuma, all dusted with nori; while pan-seared salt- and orange-cured duck breast with rooibos gel and honey glaze is perfectly cooked and explosively flavourful. Venison (in this case blesbok) is served with farofa (toasted cassava flour, another Brazilian touch), which has activated charcoal added to it here, and black garlic purée, coffee-and-cauliflower purée, Romanesco salad with crispy kale and sweetbreads. The lean meat, rich sweetbreads and freshness of the broccoli are incredibly well balanced. For dessert, a riff on Brazilian cocktail caipirinha – a crumb topped with coconut sorbet, lime gel and milk gel, rolled in coconut and cloves with a clove tuile – and “doce de queijo”, a cheese course that’s a tribute to the chef’s grandmother, comprising a sesame sablé, a Parmesan dumpling, lime-and-coffee butterscotch, a meringue shard and frozen Parmesan snow. Whether you choose the six-course menu or the chef’s experience, it will be a memorable occasion. This is sophisticated dining with intensity and personality, and exceptional value given the quality of the food and wine.

Drinks
The wine list features wines from the estate, as well as others from nearby wine farms and those further afield. Both menus are available with an optional wine pairing for each course. The sommeliers are knowledgeable and able to suggest wines to complement the food.

Service
Service is professional and friendly, with waiting staff well versed in the menu, confidently explaining the complex elements.

Ambience
The restaurant is warm and comfortable, with a buzzing atmosphere. The chef interacts with guests, making sure they’re enjoying themselves. The historical setting is beautiful, and there are views of the gardens from the arched windows.

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User reviews

6 Reviews
    Our absolute favorite fine dining experience is always at Rust en Vrede. Every detail is thought of from the incredible views to the impeccable service, best wine, and not to mention the most delicious dishes. The best on every way!
    We saved up and went for the Estate experience (with wine pairing). We were blown away! John Maytham’s review says it all. Most memorable evening.
    Last week Thursday, the 11th of January, I got to be as lucky as one could be, to celebrate the most exciting day of my life at Rust en Vrede. With the help of the head chef Fabio and the head pastry chef, Izelle, I was blessed the opportunity to ask the love of my life to marry me. It was a yes, and it’s a heck yes to the question of whether we will return there for future celebrations. My fiancé and I have a considerable amount of history in the hospitality industry and this was the most wonderfully run kitchen I have ever seen. Every plate of food we had was perfect. Every wine that was paired with each course perfectly complimented the food served in that course. The service was incredible. Rust en Vrede is by far now my favourite restaurant even after just one visit. What truly made the experience though, wasn’t just the food. It was the love and care that everyone there puts into making sure that everything runs smoothly and that you as an individual feel comfortable and that you enjoy every aspect of your time there. I was a complete ball of nerves the entire day and once I arrived at Rust en Vrede and everyone gave me their support and went out of their way to make me feel more calm. Everyone who works there was in on the secret and they kept it and were genuinely excited to share the moment with my fiancé and I. Furthermore they in their own way celebrated with us while still delivering the best service and food to every individual in the restaurant. I am truly blown away. Thank you Fabio and your team. Thanks to you we had the most wonderful evening and got to celebrate the most exciting day in our lives with you and for that we are truly grateful. I would recommend Rust en Vrede to anyone for any occasion. They make five star feel like home. From the future Versfelds a huge thank you once again.
    ― Marco Pierre White, famous Michelin Chef once said: “Escoffier, whose philosophy was “Good food is the basis of true happiness.” Last Saturday night we dined at the elite Rust en Vrede in Stellenbosch and the remark above, was what we received in our food “True Happiness” Chef John Shuttleworth and his Team did a fine job of enthralling, captivating and testing every sensory taste bud that we had with an incredible array of food, from... Pan Fried Scallop served with Cauliflower, Chestnut, Braised Bacon, Apple and a Cumin Foam Crown Roasted Duck Breast served with Confit Leg, Fig, Fennel, Endive, Coconut, Cashew paired with 2012 Sumaridge Pinot Noir. Smoked Chalmar Beef Sirloin served with Pithivier of Beef Cheek, Red Cabbage, Parsnip, Broccolini paired with a 2011 Rust en Vrede Estate Shiraz. White Chocolate and Passion Fruit Cheese Cake served with Yogurt and Lemongrass Sorbet, Dehydrated White Chocolate Mouse paired with a 2012 Keermont Fleurfontein. These are only 4 of the 9 course meals we experienced at Rust en Vrede that night. We would like to mention a group of individuals who just rounded off the evening at Rust and Vrede for us. Barry the Sommelier what an incredible amount of knowledge you have and the flawless way you carry yourself a true gentleman... Head of Pastry and her team, I have always rated a meal in its entirety on the desert “and yours was flawless, beautifully presented and flavours bursting in my mouth, which I have never tasted before wow... Emma our waitress and all the other others, which served us so diligently, again impeccable... Lastly to the Whole Team of John Shuttleworth at Rust and Vrede well done, My last remark to John on Saturday night was” if I was in Europe right now, I would personally rate this Restaurant, “Michelin 3 Star” Many Thanks Lourens and Vanessa May 2015
    Another splendid lunch. I'm still struggling to get used to the Salmon on the lunch menu but as usual the Sirloin and Syrah was fabulous!!!! Best lunch by far!

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