Quite obviously none of us can ever be in 2 places at once (however much we try or wish for) and within my profession as a Tour Guide, we escort tourists to many fascinating and wonderful locations within the Western Cape, that have changed since we last visited.
Things in life never stand still and the evolution of tourism attractions is no expectation, so when I did a little trip to Stanford (near Hermanus) recently I was very happy to discover many new delightful developments – the village Main Road has certainly transformed its once empty and drab business units into thriving colourful enterprises that brighten up the whole street.
Just outside the village, one such place that jumped out at me with original uniqueness was the Sir Robert Stanford farm where Madres fabulous country kitchen is situated. When I was last here, there was only Madres culinary delights to entice you, but now within 100 metres of her lovely restaurant there has sprung up a thriving little cottage industry of inter-related creativity and some very novel businesses.
Try the Grappa distillery for example, or the Glass art making foundry – when did you last visit one (or both) of those on a working farm? Never in my book of life, until now.
The Grappa is fermented and distilled in their wood-fired kettle, using the grape skins and pips left over from the estates wine making processes, which are then thrown into the vineyards as organic fertilizer (handy bit of re-cycling x 2), that now produces 3 types of Grappa and 4 types of Schnapps – yummy! The Glass-Works produce from scratch, funky multi-coloured one-off pieces of art, jewellery and kitchenware, plus offers courses on how-to-make your own designs.
And that’s not all – sandwiched between these units are – a new Wine Tasting room that proudly promotes 6 local wineries wines, (there can’t be that many tasting rooms that allow other producers wines to be tasted that are not made on its owners grounds) – and across the pretty water trough gardens is a Arts and Crafts shop offering all manner of locally produced items.
So the next time you go out towards Gansbaai on the R43, do yourself a favour and stop for a while and discover the evolution of quaint Stanford and the Sir Robert Stanford farm stalls – you will not be disappointed.
Madres Restaurant Kitchen – Madre Malan – 028-341-0647 / 082-901-4254
Stanford Glass Décor – Bradley Froud – 082-727-8000
Wine Tasting room – Alta Dempsey – 082-854-5078
Art and Crafts stall and/or Grappa / Schnapps distillery – contact Madre
Authored by – Percy Tours / +27(0)72-062-8500 / http://www.percytours.com/
Things in life never stand still and the evolution of tourism attractions is no expectation, so when I did a little trip to Stanford (near Hermanus) recently I was very happy to discover many new delightful developments – the village Main Road has certainly transformed its once empty and drab business units into thriving colourful enterprises that brighten up the whole street.
Just outside the village, one such place that jumped out at me with original uniqueness was the Sir Robert Stanford farm where Madres fabulous country kitchen is situated. When I was last here, there was only Madres culinary delights to entice you, but now within 100 metres of her lovely restaurant there has sprung up a thriving little cottage industry of inter-related creativity and some very novel businesses.
Try the Grappa distillery for example, or the Glass art making foundry – when did you last visit one (or both) of those on a working farm? Never in my book of life, until now.
The Grappa is fermented and distilled in their wood-fired kettle, using the grape skins and pips left over from the estates wine making processes, which are then thrown into the vineyards as organic fertilizer (handy bit of re-cycling x 2), that now produces 3 types of Grappa and 4 types of Schnapps – yummy! The Glass-Works produce from scratch, funky multi-coloured one-off pieces of art, jewellery and kitchenware, plus offers courses on how-to-make your own designs.
And that’s not all – sandwiched between these units are – a new Wine Tasting room that proudly promotes 6 local wineries wines, (there can’t be that many tasting rooms that allow other producers wines to be tasted that are not made on its owners grounds) – and across the pretty water trough gardens is a Arts and Crafts shop offering all manner of locally produced items.
So the next time you go out towards Gansbaai on the R43, do yourself a favour and stop for a while and discover the evolution of quaint Stanford and the Sir Robert Stanford farm stalls – you will not be disappointed.
Madres Restaurant Kitchen – Madre Malan – 028-341-0647 / 082-901-4254
Stanford Glass Décor – Bradley Froud – 082-727-8000
Wine Tasting room – Alta Dempsey – 082-854-5078
Art and Crafts stall and/or Grappa / Schnapps distillery – contact Madre
Authored by – Percy Tours / +27(0)72-062-8500 / http://www.percytours.com/
