This is the first real restaurant venture for The Forum Company. It is known for food events and for the beautifully-lit dinners in the dungeons of the Turbine Hall in Newtown. Even though L’Antico is only open for meals over weekends, it’s certainly worth the drive.

Fast Facts

Average main meal: R120
Parking: Plenty in the parking lot and beyond
Best for: Getting free of the city and enjoying the country
Star rating: Food 3, Service 2, Ambience 4

The arch at L’antico Giardino. Photo courtesy of restaurant.

Food

On Saturdays and Sundays, four breakfast items are available till 11am. Options include scrambled egg and bacon with an English muffin; baked spinach with chorizo, feta, cheese sauce and fried eggs; and an omelette with all the trimmings. For lunch you can choose items like the ‘Immune boosting’ carrot and ginger soup, which is nicely spiked with a dollop of pomegranate oil and a sprinkling of dukkah, then served with a homemade bagel. What is described as homemade focaccia with a trio of seasonal dips is scrumptious focaccia, served with hummus, homemade chilli sauce and a basil pesto that is unusually lemony, not very redolent of basil, and made with cashew nuts instead of pine nuts.

Breakfast at L’antico Giardino. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Groups of four are encouraged to order a sharing dish of 1kg of ribeye, fresh vegetables with a red wine sauce and walnut pesto. However, mains to share between two would include their meatballs – the beef with tomato and mozzarella, served with deliciously fresh pasta on the side. The promised basil was unfortunately not evident and the meatballs are small. Still, the pasta is delicious. Another main dish is the pan-fried baby trout with cauliflower mash, roasted leeks, tomatoes, carrots and a garlic, lemon and parsley sauce. Dry and cool, the fish is not the hero. However, the vegetables really do taste homegrown and the sauce is much nicer than the others. Vegetarians are catered for, with a vegetable tomato and parmesan pasta dish that looks good, or there’s the baby marrow tart in phyllo pastry. For children, there is a pizza and a chicken mac and cheese dish. Do keep in mind that the menu tends to change monthly.

Baby marrow spaghetti with field mushrooms, fresh basil, sundried tomato and parmesan shavings. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

The desserts are real treats. There is a choice of five, including an incredibly satisfying salted caramel panna cotta with praline and caramel sauce. The decadent chocolate pot is rich and moreish, quite firm rather than gooey, with whipped coconut cream and a scattering of pistachio slivers and toasted coconut. The frozen nougat looks promising, with berries, rooibos syrup and buttermilk biscotti.

The pan-fried baby trout. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Drinks

Half of the twelve wines – including two Forum Company house wines – can be had by the glass, a kindness considering the drive home necessary after your meal. The two managers do double duty as sommeliers. The small, well-priced range is perfectly adequate and has been picked with discernment. The reds range from Darling’s Cloof Duckitt Blend (R110 a bottle) to a Diemersfontein Pinotage (R220). The whites range from the house sauvignon blanc from Waterford (R155) to Allée Bleue Isabeau (R180). There are two local MCCs (Graham Beck and Steenberg) and a Veuve Clicquot.

Service

Booking and receiving information beforehand is shockingly difficult, whether it be online, by phone or social media. However, once there, the staff are welcoming and helpful. Service could not be warmer, though perhaps better informed.

The interior of L’antico Giardino. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Ambience

This is what most people come for. It is both wonderfully quirky and relaxing. The quirkiness is that this is really an outdoor showroom, so the tables are laid out among different fountains and concrete animals. The garden is beautifully kept and the sound of birds and water is calming for those with city stresses. It isn’t packed with guests but would easily accommodate noisy tables in the open if it were. Children love it, scampering gleefully along the paths.

L’antico Giardino’s fountains. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

And…

Indoors you’ll find a quiet lounge with a fireplace and there are locally-made preserves and pickles available to buy. Also, from 3pm to 6pm on the first Friday of the month, The Kitchen is open for drinks and snacks.

The fireplace inside L’antico Giardino. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.