Eat Out Honours The Werf Restaurant for Sustainability

The Werf Restaurant won the Woolworths Sustainability Award at yesterday’s Eat Out awards held at The Grand West Casino in Cape Town. The Sustainability Award was judged by a separate panel of experts including Abigail Donnelly, Pavitray Pillay of WWF-SASSI, Sonia Mountford of Eategrity and Karen Welter of Longtable Project. Eat Out has worked with these partners to develop robust criteria for evaluating restaurants for this award.

Christiaan Campbell, Boschendal’s Executive Chef is elated with the win. For Campbell, the award raises awareness about issues he has long cared about: farming and cooking with integrity. “One could say I am a farming activist before being a chef – if we are to eat meat and grow healthy produce, animals should live dignified lives and we should make every effort to improve soil health following each harvest. I am proud that our Boschendal food garden and farming teams are forging ahead with these restorative practices – and the Eat Out award gives credit to this awesome team effort.”

According to Sonia Mountford of Eategrity, “Christiaan paved the way for sustainability-minded chefs long before it became a trend”. Four years ago, Campbell took the opportunity at Boschendal to steer the farm’s development in pioneering agriculture, taking an active interest in the estate’s soil health and using The Werf Restaurant to educate diners. “He not only understands the connection between how our food is grown – including how livestock is treated, human health and the health of the planet, but he also actively pursues ways to advocate for the principle of respect.”, says Mountford.

For Matt Stevens, Boschendal’s General Manager of Hospitality – the award goes a long way to crediting the overriding philosophy of the farm: “We are thrilled to win the 2018 Eat Out Sustainability Award and thank the judges for this prestigious recognition. This honour really goes to the heart of what we do at Boschendal – a daily collaboration between our farming, food garden and kitchen teams. Like Wendell Berry, we believe strongly that ‘eating is an agricultural act’ and are proud that The Werf Restaurant is producing an exceptional dining experience rooted in regenerative agricultural principles”

The Werf Restaurant is open Wednesdays to Saturdays for lunch and dinner and on Sundays for lunch only. The new Werf Bar situated in the restaurant is open Monday to Sunday 12:00 to close. There is no better way to celebrate exquisitely grown farm produce!

Have you shopped at our Boschendal online store yet? If not, you are in for an amazing treat! If so, we hope you enjoyed the incredible experience of receiving a parcel of farm-to-fork fare straight to your door.

One of the reasons why our online farm shop is so popular with our patrons is the fact everything runs so smoothly. This comes down to the talents and determination of one very special person – our e-commerce coordinator, Cherné Lombaard.

Cherné has been a part of the Boschendal team since 2018, and started out as senior reservations agent in charge of guest queries and -support, customer service, payments and more. This suited her go-getter attitude and allowed her to make good use of the skill set she had developed working in hospitality prior to applying at Boschendal.

“I worked in hospitality for a long time, both locally and abroad. This included a fantastically fun three-year stint in America, during which I worked at country clubs. It was an incredible experience; I learned so much about different cultures, and how to get along with people from around the globe. Today, I still have friends who live in England, Brazil, Spain, and further afield,” says Cherné.

Boschendal decided to take the farm store into the online space in May 2021, and Cherné saw this as an opportunity to challenge herself by moving out of her comfort zone.

“When the e-commerce job became available, I was very comfortable in my reservations position – a little too comfortable, in fact. I believe that growth happens outside of your comfort zone, and decided to interview for the job. When I got the position I was very happy, but it was quite hard to leave my old team; we were like family.

“The great thing about working at Boschendal was that there were no bad vibes about making moves within the business. My manager supported me all the way,” she explains.

These days, Cherné has a blast ensuring that Boschendal’s online customers enjoy access to an amazing array of products, and receive seamless end-to-end service, from the moment they open the site, until they receive their goods at their door.

“The store is doing exceptionally well, and if our returning customer rates are anything to go by, we are definitely hitting the mark in terms of our offering and service,” she enthuses.

“Every now and again I like to take a drive and do our deliveries in person. This adds a little personal touch that our customer enjoy. It was especially welcome during the stricter levels of lockdown; it allowed them to put a face to the name of the person on the other side of the screen, and I enjoyed it just as much.”

Of all the products available on the shop, Cherné personally loves the ready-made meals, which makes dinnertime a breeze on those days that you don’t have time or energy to whip something up when you get home from work.

“All our frozen meals are made from scratch right here on the farm, using farm-fresh ingredients of excellent quality. I personally love the butter chicken for a mid-week meal, it’s so quick, easy and affordable,” she says.

This is high praise from this happily married wife and mother of two, who lives in Paarl and makes the commute to Boschendal every day. They are a very tight-knit family who likes to go for walks and get out and about over the weekend, seeking out places where the kids can run around and blow off some steam.

“When I work, I work, and when I’m at home, it’s all about my family. Working at Boschendal has been a great blessing for me in this regard, especially during those first panic-stricken months of the initial lockdown in 2020.

“We really felt that management had our back during COVID. The number one concern for everyone was what would happen next – will I be able to work, will I be paid? Everyone who worked at Boschendal was carried through with full salaries, even the waiters were paid tip money to keep up with life. Lots of other people I know lost their jobs or their companies could not afford them. So I felt very safe,” says Cherné.

We are very proud of the amazing job Cherné has done managing the e-commerce side of our farm shop to date, and we cannot wait to see how she grows in this position. It is a testament to her internal drive and tenacity that she was up for this challenge, and we commend her passion and willingness to learn.

Keep an eye on the Boschendal Diaries in weeks and months to come for more introductions to the great people who help us to make our Cape Winelands destinations such a fantastic place to visit and experience. We look forward to sharing more of their stories right here.

When I first came to Boschendal I thought that I would be doing the same thing that I have always done: farm beef. I have had a passion for cattle since I was old enough to open a gate, and I am privileged to have the opportunity to wake up every day to do something that I love.

I came here as a beef farmer. I have always been a beef farmer. I have picked bulls, mated cows, bred calves, weaned them, sold the oxen and then bred the heifers again. In my first few weeks of working at Boschendal, I came to a sudden realization that I am not a just beef farmer. While I may have a herd of five hundred Black Angus cattle that are arguably one of the top genetic herds in the country and I do the day to day chores of any beef farmer, I am not, first and foremost, a beef farmer. I FARM GRASS!

Grass is energy. Energy is weight and weight is money.

Taking care of your grass is the most important aspect of cattle farming. The beef is a product that comes off the grass.

There is a question, which Rob asked me over the phone once, that I continuously ask myself while I am out on the farm: “Is it natural?”

If you do a little research on animals that move in herds, you will see that the way the majority of farmers raise these animals is very far from natural. All ruminants have three things in common, according to Joel Salatin: “They mob, they move and they mow.” These three activities ensure that our pastures are eaten evenly with no selective grazing taking place. The animals are constantly moving over the grass, urinating and spreading the muck evenly over the pasture, which ensures natural fertilisation. The movement of the mob causes seeds to be spread and trampled into the grass, while simultaneously flattening the grass to ensure that the seeds are then protected and able to germinate in the moist environment. Most importantly, these animals are mowing the grass. They are eating grass, as nature intended, rather than grain or wheat or some chemical mix loaded with growth hormones and antibiotics that scientists have developed in a lab. Animals naturally MOVE in a MOB for safety, and they naturally MOW grass.

We have planted seven summer grasses into our pastures on Boschendal this year to emulate the natural grasslands that the cows would normally be grazing on. We also have winter grasses and legumes that grow slowly in summer and pick up in winter, thus allowing us to have fresh grass and legumes all year around. These diverse grass species are not only self seeding (the oxen themselves are an efficient seed distribution mechanism) but the range of nutrients and minerals that they provide for the cattle make additional supplementation unnecessary. The diversity that we encourage in our pastures will ensure that the animals get natural antibiotics, giving us a healthier animal and a healthier meat product, as fewer animals will fall prey to disease and require synthetic antibiotic injections.

The natural diet that our animals eat makes our meat not only delicious but also nutritionally beneficial to the consumer. The long-term effects of hormones and antibiotics that are fed to livestock and subsequently consumed by humans are only now beginning to be investigated, and the results are far from encouraging. Raising our livestock the natural way allows us to produce meat that is lower in saturated fat, higher in vitamin E, and has a balance of omegas 3 and 6. This is good news for the consumer’s health.

Boschendal is one of a growing number of farms, such as Farmer Angus at Spier, which are leading by example in a world that is becoming more centred on going green and treating animals humanely. We are raising our cattle the way that nature intended by allowing them to move around in a natural habitat while simultaneously eating what their bodies are made to process. The movement of the cattle encourages natural growth and fertilisation of our pastures, thus eliminating the need to use synthetic fertilisers. Our cattle are naturally healthier than those that are fed synthetic materials, and therefore produce a healthier meat product. We care about our animals and we care about what our guests are eating. We are raising good, hearty, natural beef and we control the whole process from farm to plate, thus allowing us to guarantee that our product is of top quality.

Boschendal, with its backdrop of sweeping mountains, deep ravines and imposing peaks are renowned throughout the world for its beauty. The farm is situated in the Cape Floral Kingdom, the smallest yet richest plant kingdom on earth with an astounding biodiversity of plant and animal life.

Although over the centuries many of the larger animals have been hunted out or had their habitat destroyed by agriculture, Boschendal is still populated by an abundance of indigenous creatures such as duiker, klipspringer, porcupine, mongoose, caracal and even leopard. Striking indigenous trees including ironwood, yellowwood, stinkwood and wild olive are still to be found on the farm. Invasive alien species, such as acacias, hakeas and pines are the target of on-going asserted clearing projects to prevent them from choking the water supply and unsettling the natural ecosystem. The clearing of more than 500 hectares of alien vegetation has had a significant and positive impact on the birdlife, the free movement of wildlife and most noticeably on the flow of the small rivers that are fed by the mountains. ‘’Four big steams now flow all year round; before we cleared the alien vegetation they were dry for most of the summer months’’ says Andre Lambrechts who has been the driving force behind the successful clearing operations.

A substantial portion of the protein served at Boschendal is from free-range animals. Not only does this reduce the food miles, but contributes significantly to the productivity of the soil, reducing the need for traditional fertilizer programmes. Cover crops in the vineyards not only helps to enrich the soil, but also inhibit weed growth and help with the control of pests and manage soil erosion.

Water saving strategies includes the removing of alien trees and plants and thereby securing a natural, more constant water supply, investing in conservation efficient irrigation systems, and using cover crops which also preserve soil moisture.

It’s 7:00 a.m. and the sun is rising on the lush grazing fields on Boschendal farm. A content looking herd of Black Angus cattle soak in the morning rays and beside them is their passionate caretaker, Mark Muncer. Mark is the kind of passionate that oozes, it’s heart on the sleeve stuff that makes you want to consider a career in farming. His enthusiasm is infectious and he’s on an uncompromising mission to produce nothing short of brilliant beef.

As far as Mark is concerned, the three ingredients for brilliant beef are: sunshine, rain water and grazing. Luckily sunshine and rain water take care of themselves, leaving Mark to tend the grazing. It’s not a job he takes lightly, as the quality of your pasture determines the quality of your meat. There is no monoculture or single plant type that exists in Boschendal’s fields, but rather a variety of plants such as herbs, legumes, grass and fynbos, all existing together. Every plant, even the weeds, have a part to play in the harmony of these fields.

The farm has a strict all natural approach and that means no pesticides, no chemicals or any nasty stuff. They don’t even use fertiliser and for good reason. A cow is a walking fertilising machine that’s full of living microbes. These microbes go back into the soil and enrich it. The farm uses a ‘constricted eating’ approach, which means the cows are moved from patch to patch around the fields. The patches are grazed on and their hooves work to turn the soil, while the manure fertilises it.

Mark’s philosophy on grazing is that it’s an art form. There is no set time that the cows spend in one patch of grazing. Rather it’s judged by his keen eye and intuition for the fields. It’s a little known fact but grazing is as important to beef as terroir is to wine. Just as you can taste the difference in a wine with impeccable terroir, the quality of grazing and personality of the farm comes through in the beef. Boschendal’s beef is all about the subtle flavours of a pasture in perfect harmony with nature.

As much as quality grazing is important to great beef, so too is cattle health and well-being. The cows at Boschendal are free to roam and be social, as nature intended. Black Angus is a Scottish breed and they’re like the friendly labradors of cattle. It’s this good nature that makes them easy to raise and care for. The calves are born and raised in the fields, and all the cows have access to trees for shade during the hot summer months. There’s plenty of space to lie down and chew the cud. These are social, happy cows and happy cows make for tasty beef.

Unlike commercial beef which is slaughtered at 12 months, Boschendal’s cows are slaughtered later and are done so according to weight and not actually by age. This added time is integral to quality fat development. Cows have four stages of fat gain, and marbling – the most prized fat in beef – occurs last. There is no way to develop marbling other than time. This is why you see so little marbling on mass produced beef, which is essentially baby beef.

The funny thing about beef in South Africa, is that it’s graded according to age and the number of teeth the animal has. So A Grade beef, which you would assume is the best, is in fact just a young animal with few teeth. Grade AB means it’s older followed by B and C. Any beef connoisseur will tell you, that older animals will always taste better due to the time the meat has had to mature. Case in point, Boschendal’s age before slaughter rule.

Boschendal and Mark’s approach to farming these special animals is born from a desire to do things the way they used to be done – the right way.  Mark prides himself on purity of the farm and he’s a firm believer in hands-on, regenerative farming practices. For him it’s all about the soul of the operation. To him Boschendal is not a job, it’s a lifestyle and his goal is to make it as incredible as possible.

Boschendal celebrates all farm workers whose continuous efforts contributed to Boschendal winning overall Best Performing Farm in the region at the 3rd annual Western Cape Agri Prestige Awards Event in Franschhoek last week, with just under half the accolades awarded to exceptional Boschendal employees.

This initiative, previously known as the Farmworker of the Year competition, honours excellence in the province’s agriculture sector and was initiated in 2002 in order to acknowledge the valuable and important contribution that farm workers make to the sustainability and growth of the agricultural sector in South Africa.

The vision of sponsor Western Cape Department of Agriculture is to first present the competition at provincial level and then at national level, honouring a winner, runner-up and second runner-up in each of the following 11 categories:

General Worker, Tractor Driver, Administrative Personnel, Animal Production, Technical Operator, Irrigation Specialist, Social Development, Agri-processing, Foreman, Junior Management.

At the awards ceremony, Boschendal nominees scooped 5 gold awards out of a possible nine:

General Worker: Jan Steven Koordom

Tractor Driver: Shane Matthews

Administrative Personnel: Naomi Muller

Irrigation Specialist: Melisiswe Mbalo

Best Potential Farmworker of the Year 2016: Lorinda Goeieman

Over 6000 agriculture employees have entered the competition since 2002. As part of the judging process, entrants are scored on their overall knowledge, experience and skill in the agricultural sector.

The winner in each category and the overall winner in each region will go through to the provincial competition which will be held on 12 October 2016 at Kromme Rhee in Stellenbosch. The 2016 Western Cape Agri Prestige Winners will be announced at a Gala Event held on 5 November.

Although current events can make it difficult for our dreams to take flight, it is only in dreaming that our plans for the future can become more than just ideas, taking shape as a new, more meaningful way of living.

“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.” ― Gloria Steinem

The lush, rolling lawns, private gardens and elegant function rooms at Boschendal form an idyllic background for bridal couples from around the world. Surrounded by the natural splendour of the Groot Drakenstein and Simonsberg mountains, and less than an hour’s drive from Cape Town, this storied wine estate offers a number of breathtaking wedding venues in which to bring your perfect day to life.

Our collection ranges from historic Cape Dutch manor houses to more contemporary purpose-built spaces, as well as multiple exterior locations with panoramic views of the farm and its surrounding landscape. Luxurious on-site accommodation in the form of beautifully restored farm cottages and a mountain villa provide lodging for up to 180 guests, all within walking distance of the venues.

Executive Chef, Allistaire Lawrence, and his capable team take great pride in producing mouthwatering farm-to-table menus using only the best quality seasonal ingredients from our fields, gardens and local like-minded suppliers. Couples can choose between a more formal, plated three-course or family-style meal, and more laid-back options, such as a braai, picnic or harvest table.

Now, more than ever, weddings are a reflection of the things that are most important in life – love, joy, faith, friends, family and togetherness. Our experienced events team would be delighted to assist you in putting together a wedding that fulfils all your hopes and desires, allowing you to be fully immersed in the day and bask in the warm glow of shared happiness.