Last year’s winner of the Boschendal Style Award needs no introduction. This year, the restaurant makes our nominees list for a second time, in addition to receiving a nomination for the Top 10 list.

The restaurant:
Situated inside boutique hotel, Majeka House, in Paradyskloof, Stellenbosch, Makaron serves up fine food in a sophisticated space with quirky touches.
 
The food:
Chef Tanja Kruger joined the restaurant just over a year ago, and her cuisine continues to evolve. Expect contemporary dishes made with farm-fresh ingredients, such as pan-seared springbok, porcini puree, sauteed Hemel-en-Aarde Valley mushrooms and gremolata butter. A veggie garden supplies the restaurant with the majority of its fresh fruit and veg; even the olives are picked by the chefs from the garden, and smoked and marinated on site. (Check out our gallery of some of the beautiful dishes.)
 
Love your wine? The restaurant also recently acquired a new sommelier, the talented Swede, Josephine Gutentoft.
 
The x-factor:
Award-winning designer Etienne Hanekom was responsible for the interior, which captures the feeling of an elegant French patisserie, with a smattering of humour. Parquet floors, plenty of light and a neutral palette create a calm, elegant interior in the restaurant. Gold and electric blue highlights like the golden plant pots floating on the walls make keep the contrast in terms of colour, while translucent Philippe Starck ghost chairs shaking up the raw wooden texture. Make sure you look out for the pigs and assorted other animals, who make their way into the design as statues, serving tables and gold-plated charms.
 
Does Makaron at Majeka House have what it takes to win the Boschendal Style Award at the Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards?