Divine, Delish
The Western Cape is usually windy and wet in winter, but get one of those crisp, still, sunny days and it takes my breath away. The day I meet chef Marcia Tyobeka at De Hoop’s Fig Tree Restaurant is one of them. The De Hoop Nature Reserve, on the coast about 50 kilometres from Bredasdorp, is a magnificent treasure of the Overberg. Turns out so is Marcia.
When we arrive, the stoep basks in the sun, the restaurant doors are wide open and the light streams in. The music is mellow and the pelicans are bobbing on the De Hoop Vlei like origami boats. And Marcia Tyobeka is as sunny and welcoming as the day.
“I’ve always worked on game reserves, never in a city,” she says, inviting us in to meet the friendly staff, who have finished serving breakfast and have the airy, elegant restaurant polished and shining, ready for lunch. “I love being surrounded by nature, and the quiet and calm of the bush.”
As she shows us around the restaurant, she tells us that it was once a workshop on the estate. “And the restaurant was named after the grand Natal wild figs that grow here on the werf.”
