As far as international comparisons go, Rust en Vrede Restaurant on the stunning Rust en Vrede wine estate near Cape Town, under the fine management of superb chef Fabio Daniel, has already won multiple awards in 2022 since winning the Thacks Awards 2021 Top International Eatery award: and their ‘Estate Experience’ is an appreciated benchmark on where any eatery should be if they want to be the best.
From a host of international contenders, Rust en Vrede Restaurant is the first and only restaurant which has won prestigious back-to-back recognition from the panelists in 2021 and 2022.
In May 2022 two of the panelists jetted in to meet the South African-based panelist for a week and there have been many other amazing culinary experiences in South Africa too. Rust and Vrede Restaurant pulled out all stops and have officially maintained their excellent overall standards to become a contender and winner for the Thacks Awards 2022 Top International Eatery award… AGAIN!
John Thackray, one of the panelists living in Spain has made the ‘across-Africa’ trip twice this year with reservations at Rust en Vrede fresh from the plane both times.
“I’ve been guilty of now comparing everywhere I go to Fabio and his team – the ingredients, thoughts on the menu and the food and wine pairings have blown me away each time. I really don’t mind getting tired off a plane – mostly after 3 flights without much sleep – and going to Rust en Vrede for my first dinner in South Africa! In the past 12 months I’ve been to Argentina, Holland, France, Italy, Austria, Croatia, Thailand, the UAE, Germany, the Canary Islands, Malta and South Africa from where I live in Spain; and I STILL think that Rust en Vrede Restaurant deserves all recognition they get when I compare them to hundreds of restaurants I’ve been to.
The detail, care and excellent service from sommeliers and professional waiters is always impressive and we learnt on our May visit that they even record the wine pairings we had previously so that they give you something different each time. There’s a lot of ‘behind-the-scenes’ work that happens – so be sure to make repeat reservations in the same name so that they can blow you away each time. And the wine vintages of the pairings!! We were spoilt with a 2000 vintage of their Estate wine and some personalised handwritten menus on our last visit. The food is always excellent, tasty, beautifully-presented and hearty.
Although the price-point of the Estate Experience may be too pricey for the average South African, it still proves to be fantastic value when you compare it to top restaurants in other countries – especially when you consider the top-class ingredients and beverage pairings.
For our December visit we enjoyed a ‘picture perfect postcard’ experience with our menu presented as a postcard signed by chef Fabio. We had our regular excellent servers in James, Cameron and Blayne – who are all superb, professional and friendly.”
Congratulations to everyone involved.
2022 Top 5 Winner: Rust en Vrede Restaurant… written by John T – one of the international Thacks Awards panelists, living in Spain. When not traveling and wine-tasting, John is an iGaming specialist reporting into director level in the sports betting industry with a degree in Information Technology.
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