We were delighted to hear that Babylonstoren were adding a teahouse to their offering, earlier this year. Sure enough, the results – a vast glass conservatory – are breathtaking, and a very deserving nominee for this year’s Boschendal Style Award.

The restaurant:

Owner Karen Roos and GM Terry de Waal conceptualized The Green House as an informal alternative to the estate’s fine dining restaurant, Babel. With a focus on seasonal, home-grown produce, the structure also gives gardener Liesl van der Walt the opportunity to grow everything from exotic granadillas and pinapples to dragonfruit and a baobab on the estate.

The food:

Sumptuous country-style food is on offer here; expect sandwiches constructed with bread made at the estate’s own bakery, charcuterie and boerewors – also made on site,  and salads fresh from the garden.

On the sweet side there are freshly baked scones with rose petal and eureka lemon curd and home-made strawberry preserve. Lighter summery options include garden-flavoured popsicles. “We will do a fig and beetroot early in the year when all our varieties figs can be harvested.  Or Peckham pear with mint or rose pelargonium,” says chef Simone Rossouw.

The x-factor:

At 26 metres long and almost 6 metres tall, the glasshouse cuts quite a silhouette, despite the oaks which are growing up around it. Constructed with dark green steel, and 3 682 panels of hardened glass, it has all the elegance of a Victorian exhibition structure. Patrice Taravella was called into design the building. In the summer months, bamboo shade mats can be rolled down to provide shade, and fans are also called in to keep things cool. In the height of summer outdoor seating under the oaks offers a cooler option. Perspex cutlery, bright chairs and Delft themed napkins finish off the look.

Does The Green House at Babylonstoren have what it takes to win the Boschendal Style Award at the Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards?