HAUTE CABRIERE CELLAR RESTAURANT SETS ITS SIGHTS ON A NEW ERA WITH STELLAR UPCOMING CHEF RYAN SHELL

Having undergone extensive refurbishment, Franschhoek culinary institution Haute Cabrière Cellar Restaurant will open its doors under management of the von Arnim family with a new Head Chef at the helm.

28-year-old Ryan Shell, has taken the reigns in time for the spring and summer season at the beginning of September. Having completed his final term as a lecturer at the renowned Prue Leith Chef’s Academy, Ryan has relocated to the Cape Winelands where he will flex his culinary muscles in Franschhoek, the country’s ‘gourmet capital’. No stranger to this picturesque corner of the Cape, some of Ryan’s formative chef years were spent at Le Quartier Français’s The Tasting Room, where he worked alongside acclaimed chef Margot Janse and he is delighted to be returning to these parts.

Ryan’s culinary CV includes stints alongside a number of other well-known local chefs, including Mike Bassett, Rudi Liebenberg and Chris Erasmus as well as time spent at Michelin Star restaurant Longueville Manor on the British Island of Jersey.

But this young gun cites holidays spent with a much-loved aunt as the spark to what is already an impressive career “my aunt loves cooking and passed on this interest to me. She encouraged me to apply for chef’s school and from my first day, I knew I was in the right place and it’s just got better”, says this enthusiastic new appointment to the Haute Cabrière stable.

How Ryan will cope with stepping into former Haute Cabrière chef Matthew Gordon’s shoes will no doubt be a question posed by many a food critic and restaurant enthusiast and he is assured in his response. “My job is to continue to grow the great name that Haute Cabrière has enjoyed for close to two decades and while I’m not planning to reinvent the wheel I am excited about putting my own stamp on things”, he says. A look at his proposed menu, brimming with country favourites given a sophisticated twist is certainly evidence of Ryan’s style of cuisine – brave yet grounded, modern with classic foundations.

Due to open its freshly varnished cellar doors on 1 September, Haute Cabrière Cellar Restaurant under the able leadership of new Head Chef Ryan Shell will no doubt be a popular port of call for visitors and locals in the Franschhoek Valley this spring and summer.

Haute Cabrière’s Tasting Room and Restaurant are both situated on Franschhoek Pass (Lamprecht Street), Franschhoek. Tasting Room Hours are: Mon – Fri: 09:00 to 17:00 – Sat: 10:00 to 16:00 – Sunday: 11:00 to 16:00 Contact details for reservations and enquiries: Email reservations@cabriere.co.za or call (27 (21) 876 8500.

Source: www.manleycommunications.co.za

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