THE MOST DELICIOUS LOCKDOWN POP-UP OF ALL
Happy stories were hard to come by in 2020, making the collaboration between Jess Shepherd and Luke Grant of Good to Gather and Rozendal Farm in Stellenbosch even more inspiring. Beautiful, seasonal food in a mindful setting? Nicely done
MANY WORDS WERE USED
to describe 2020. Unprecedented. Disaster. The ubiquitous “pivot”. Insert your favourite expletive here. But other words also came up: creativity, survival, collaboration. It’s this last in particular that has been the lifeline for many working in the hospitality industry, including Jess Shepherd and Luke
Grant of Good to Gather and Nathalie Ammann of Rozendal Vinegar and Guest Farm in Stellenbosch. Jess and Luke ran the award-winning and highly regarded
The Table restaurant at De Meye Vineyards in Stellenbosch for six years, where they served seasonal, close-tothe-Earth food using produce they grew themselves. They’re now doing pop-up lunches and dinners at Rozendal, following the same farm-to-table philosophy, as well as running a small Sunday market at the same venue where they sell fresh produce, bakes made by Jess and her sister Jené Steyn (including the best shortbread you will ever taste and brown butter almond financiers), bread from PJ Vadas at Spier, nitrate-free bacon and pork sausages from Ryan Boon, and freshly pressed juices from Harry’s Juice, among other pantry gems.
It is a partnership and collaboration with the place where they first met, 15 years ago when Jess was 21, fresh out of chef school and cooking for guests on Rozendal farm. Serendipitously, the events of 2020 ended up taking them full circle, back to where their journey together started.
After deciding to wind up The Table at De Meye in late 2019, the couple spent six weeks working on Fern Verrow farm in Herefordshire in the UK, a biodynamic farm run by Jane Scotter, which supplies acclaimed chef Skye Gyngell’s restaurant, Spring, with farmto-table produce and flowers.
“After the demands of the hospitality industry, it was a relief to get back to the basics of growing good produce,” says
Jess now. “It’s hard work though!” On their return to South Africa, they didn’t really have a plan. “But we’re pretty resourceful and started doing Friday lunches at Waterford Wine Estate.
Then lockdown happened.” This is another phrase that echoed through last year, and which has changed everything, including the way restaurateurs approach their businesses, and what diners want now – a more meaningful dining experience that respects the produce and its suppliers, as well as the people using it in their restaurants.
Respect for produce is something that is paramount for Jess and Luke. “I did my share of work in fine-dining restaurants and I realised it wasn’t what I wanted to do forever. I find expressing myself through food and cooking enjoyable, it allows me to be creative and to cook food that resonates with me and our customers. Being introduced to natural, organic food set the tone for me.”
In another ingenious move, Jess and Luke started selling weekly produce boxes online that are delivered in certain areas of Cape Town, and continue to do
“We honour the produce and seasonality and use what’s available” – Jess Shepherd