PAST perfect

“WE NEED TO ESTABLISH FOOD MEMORY IN THE HOME . ALL GREAT CULTURES ESTABLISH THEIR CULTURE AROUND FOOD, FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION . WE NEED TO ENGAGE WITH WHERE WE COME FROM .”
BERTUS BASSON

Tucked away in Dorp Street in the leafy university town of Stellenbosch is a restaurant where you’ll be transported down an edible memory lane. It’s here that TV personality Bertus Basson – known for his success with fine-dining restaurant Overture on the Hidden Valley wine estate, burger joint De Vrije Burger and the character-filled Spek & Bone – illustrates his roots and spends most of his time. Always devoted to using what’s local, his garden in nearby Jamestown is where the chefs from his restaurants vie for the freshest produce daily, watched over by Spek, his famous pig, and some chickens.

“Eike’s been a dream for a long time. For the past couple of years, we’ve been focusing on modern South African cuisine at Overture, but Eike’s more nostalgic,” says Bertus. “It took almost a year from finding the building to opening. Eike is the most ‘considered’ project we’ve done, because we used the space