It’s the time of year where the fire’s a-crackling indoors, the smell of mulled wine floods noses, and notes of gently aged auburn leaves coat the air with sweetness. It’s also the time of year that famously old wooden doors creak, and beautiful artisan restaurants like The Jordan Restaurant with chef Marthinus Ferreira guide us to seasonal plates with grace. The winter menu at The Jordan Restaurant at Jordan Wine Estate has just changed to one that – seasonal pun aside – is a warmly brewed cup of tea just for everyone.
Every winter, we welcomed the season’s changes with classically prepared vegetables – skins on, chopped roughly, with really good olive oil, and fresh herbs to round it off. My mother would eagerly message all of us her menu, with emphasis on that it should be served hot, so that we would rush home from school to be able to share our daily happenings. I knew it was a way to make us adventurous with food by cooking seasonally but I was rather finicky with vegetables (especially those of Brussels sprout or aubergine nature), so my mother would chastise my pickiness by reminding me that for every new food item tasted, 100 days would be added to my life.
I’m not sure how true this was, but it sure as hell ignited a very excited spirit in me to become competitively adventurous with food – and that brings us to where we are now. Whenever we went out as a family to a restaurant, it would be a special and sharing occasion. Every meal was celebrated, with flurries of Cabano hands reaching across tables and very loud jokes being cracked. Winter times are always our favourites, because the winter menu changes brought about hero ingredients that are silent heroes in our daily diets. Root vegetables, hearty leaves, and crisply fragrant alliums that perfume the plates. Which is now an abundance of wealth on small plates that you will find at The Jordan Restaurant with Marthinus Ferreira.
The single-serving, small plates winter menu is now available from April until September 2025 for only R650 per person, which includes the magic that you are bewonder-ed with upon visiting Jordan Wine Estate. The estate is dotted with the Cape Floral Kingdom which richly decorates itself with dew and droplets during the cooler months, and serves as a marvellous promenading before and after meals. The wine farm and grounds become a fairy garden of cherished grape varieties that are curated across the vineyards, leading to hidden-away rooms for a nostalgic getaway experience that transports you to a place you’ve always wanted to go to, reminiscent of someplace home.
I recommend staying tuned in to the social media pages for Jordan Wine Estates to keep in tune with their availability. Also, for any weather announcements that affect mountain bike cycling routes – because they just happen to do that, too! You can read more about Jordan Wine Estate’s activities by visiting their page Tasting and Tours, illustrating each lovely section’s details.
Here’s the long and the short of it!
If this article was too long for you to read, note that my feeling’s won’t be hurt – and the finer details of The Jordan Restaurant winter menu changes are:
R650 per person
Lunch only | Wednesday to Saturday
Available April through September
Bookings are essential – reserve your winter escape now: https://bit.ly/3XrTkhT
