The lush Grande Provence Estate in Franschhoek has a new Executive Chef, Peter Tempelhoff, who has relocated from London in order to take up the post.

Previous chef, Vanie Padayachee, gave the food an Asian spin, but now the time has come for Peter’s guiding hand and the cuisine has come full circle back to the original French influences of the 300-year old estate and surrounding valley.

Originally from South Africa, Peter is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Arts in Stellenbosch and from there went on to the Culinary Institute of America.

Then starting off at Grande Roche in Paarl, Peter went on to London to work with the great Marco Pierre White and various other English spots, including Hambleton Hall and Zafferano before ending up as Executive Chef at the well-applauded Automat in Mayfair.

Automat took off in London winning plenty of awards and popular appeal.

Looks like Grande Provence has an exciting future ahead of them.

Q&A with Peter
Q. What are your plans for Grande Provence?
I would like to take Grande Provence back to its French roots, it has over 300 years of history and I am sure that the original Huguenot had a wonderful repertoire of recipes. I don’t want to try and find these recipes; I would just like to infuse the estate with some long lost Frenchness.

My immediate plan is to complete this first season with a strong and dynamic team on board. Then we plan on menu development, cooking demonstrations and other things to stay productive during the quiet winter period. A cookbook is not too far off either. The last three months have been challenging and exciting.

Q. Any changes?
There are many changes planned. We are changing the style of menus, the feel of the menus and obviously the dishes. We are adding a 7 course tasting menu for dinner as well as a lighter menu for lunch – sort of al fresco style.

Q. And the culinary direction?
I would like the kitchen to go in a classical French direction, with very modern techniques – just like fashion and art, I predict that food is going to be returning to its roots soon. How much more strange and scientific can we (chefs) get?

Contact
Grande Provence Estate
Main Road, Franschhoek
Call 021-876 8600
www.grandeprovence.co.za