THE HAPPY ACCIDENT
MANY WORDS WERE USED
to describe 2020. Unprecedented. Disaster. The ubiquitous “pivot”. Insert your favourite expletive here. But other words also came up: creativity, survival, collaboration. It’s this last in particular that has been the lifeline for many working in the hospitality industry, including Jess Shepherd and Luke Grant of Good to Gather and Nathalie Ammann of Rozendal Vinegar and Guest Farm in Stellenbosch. Jess and Luke ran the award-winning and highly regarded The Table restaurant at De Meye Vineyards in Stellenbosch for six years, where they served seasonal, close-to-the-Earth food using produce they grew themselves. They’re now doing pop-up lunches and dinners at Rozendal, following the same farm-to-table philosophy, as well as running a small Sunday market at the same venue where they sell fresh produce, bakes made by Jess and her sister Jené Steyn (including the best shortbread you will ever taste and brown butter almond financiers), bread from PJ Vadas at Spier, nitrate-free bacon and pork sausages from Ryan Boon, and freshly pressed juices from Harry’s Juice, among other pantry gems.
It is a partnership and collaboration with the place where they first met, 15 years ago when Jess was 21, fresh out of chef school and cooking for guests on Rozendal farm. Serendipitously, the events of 2020 ended up taking them full circle, back to where their journey together started.
“ We honour the produce and seasonality and use what’s available”
– Jess Shepherd
After deciding to wind up The Table at De Meye in late 2019, the
