Situated in Stellenbosch’s Devon Valley, Louisvale Wines’ newly built modern restaurant and function area has large glass wrap-around windows that allow you to drink in the view, along with its popular Chardonnay.
The menu is changed on a monthly basis and Kirstie du Toit, Executive Chef at Louisvale Wines says that her main goal for 2020 is to get the ‘Louisvale name on as many people’s lips as possible’ as well as focusing on The Deli at Louisvale.
‘We would like to offer our visitors our amazing produce that is grown on the farm. Our vegetable garden is growing very fast. My dream is to make it even bigger and to also provide my hardworking staff with some of my fresh produce from my garden.’
Her other focus this year is to create wine pairing menus. ‘The Louisvale wines are out of this world and they’ll certainly help get my creative juices flowing so that we can create amazing flavours, complimenting both the food and the wine at the same time’.
‘Cooking runs in my family and I cannot imagine doing anything else,’ says Kirstie, explaining that her love for cooking started when she was a small girl. She was born in Mossel Bay, where she spent much of her time with her Ouma ‘baking rusks, pasties, cakes and biscuits in her bakery, which was an old barn.’
During her studies at TCA in Cape Town she did six-months practical at Mon Plaisir where she stayed for five years and worked her way up to Sous Chef. Once Mon Plaisir was sold, Kirstie decided to venture to Kwa-Zulu Natal where she worked at Granny Mouse Country House where she was a Chef de Partie (CDP) and then a sous Chef, culinary artist and one of the managers of the kitchen.
After five years Kirstie was longing to return to the Western Cape and when the opportunity arose to run the kitchen at Louisvale Wine Farm, she leapt at the chance. ‘I took it with open arms and have never looked back’.
Image: Supplied
