Against an idyllic countryside landscape in Midrand, the new LIFE Grand Café shows how homey luxury can be at one with nature. Here’s why this restaurant made the nominee list for this year’s Boschendal Style Award at the Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards.

The restaurant

Maira and John Koutsoudakis’s LIFE interior design and lifestyle brand is world-renowned for its pioneering approach to luxury game lodge design. The recently opened Midrand branch of LIFE Grand Café, brings a taste of this design-with-a-conscience methodology to the urban jungle – albeit the serene natural setting alongside the Waterfall polo fields.

The food

The brand’s executive chef Jonathan Roos unpacks the philosophy – “food you want to leave home for, food you feel at home with” – across a range of different cuisines. From rustic wood-burned thin-crust pizzette and seven-hour lamb shank to cosmopolitan tapas, a healthy raw food and sushi bar and a diet-can-wait patisserie bar, there’s something for every palate.

The style

Making the most of its context with expansive outdoor areas and unimpeded views, the café also pays homage to the equestrian and avian presence. The grey and beiges of worn wood, leather and marble floor stones are brought to life by contrasting accents of verde guatamala marble feature stones and bright teal velvet diamond-buttoned sofas. Adding a historical layer, ancient olive trees from the Hemel-en-Aarde valley grow in pots and spent gold bullets are imbedded in the floor.

Does LIFE Grand Café (Waterfall) have what it takes to win the Boschendal Style Award at the Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards? The winner will be announced at the Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards on Sunday 16 November. (Buy your tickets now.) See the other nominees here.