Knysna’s on a health kick at Grain Mill Organic Bistro, where all the good stuff – either made on site or traced to its source – is served to hungry customers.

Food

Owner and chef Adelheid Schmid calls her establishment ‘the future’ because of her emphasis on local, sustainable, organic, free-range and unprocessed food – starting with the organic spelt flour ground on the premises. This is baked into loaves, rolls, cheesy pizza bread (addictive), sweets such as brownies and rusks, and tasty pastas.

Grain Mill Organic Bistro. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

The adjacent organic market provides high-quality cheeses and locally made, probiotic-rich yoghurt that tastes like sweet cream. The basic menu includes simple breakfasts of eggs or granola and fruit, vegan salad with delicate spirals of raw seasonal veggies and hefty burgers – either free-range beef or scrumptious veggie patties. Your best bet is whatever’s on the chalkboard menu of the day: pastas like tagliatelli with mushrooms, soups, slow-cooked vegetable and lamb dishes and, if you’re lucky, spelt apple strudel.

Drinks

They’re not licensed but coffee drinks are robustly flavoured and teas such as rooibos choc and mint are especially tasty.

Grain Mill Organic Bistro. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Service

Dishes are made to order so you can watch as your meal is being prepared, but keep in mind this takes time. The small group of waiting staff is friendly and do their best to please.

Grain Mill Organic Bistro. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Ambience

A charmingly planted rustic outdoor patio meanders around the building and provides a play area with a sandbox and toys for kids and picnic tables for adults. Inside, long wood tables strewn with felted flowers are great for large parties or for sharing.

And…

Freshly milled spelt flour, pasta, baked goods, breads as well as farm-fresh vegetables, fruits and eggs are all available to take home.

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