BABYLONSTOREN

Babylonstoren is one of the oldest Cape Dutch farms, set at the foot of Simonsberg in the Franschhoek wine valley. It has a fruit and vegetable garden of beauty and diversity, unique accommodation, fine food and wine, and evokes a sense of wellbeing.

In an exclusive interview, Yasemen Kaner-White talks to Marisa Beyers, Media Manager at Babylonstoren

Babylonstoren on the slopes of the Simonsberg

Lavender filling the air with their floral scent

What was the vision behind creating Babylonstoren? Babylonstoren dates back to 1692. The oldest buildings were erected in the late 17th century, with the manor house dating back to 1777. It was acquired by the current owners in 2007 to use as a weekend retreat. “Babylonstoren’s history and beauty were something we could never keep to ourselves,” says owner Karen Roos. “This we realised during our very first visit.” In 2008, architect Patrice Taravella from Prieuré d’Orsan (near Bourges in France) was summoned to South Africa as the main designer for Babylonstoren’s now famed garden. “We met Patrice during a visit to his chateau,” says Karen. “His work at Prieuré Notre Dame d’Orsan in France impressed me greatly. There Patrice had reconstructed a medieval cloistered garden on the site of a restored 12th-century monastery. I was drawn to Patrice’s inherent discipline. It is almost Cartesian in the tradition of classical French gardens. And he is remarkable in that he really understands the movement of people: how to make a garden hold you and calm you down.” At Babylonstoren the ground was cleaned, levels pegged and hard landscaping with pergolas, paths and water canals built. In 2009 the gardeners started preparing the soil and did most of the planting for the formal garden. Taravella gave the garden geometric bones. His creation sits on an axis that extends east to west along the traditional lines of the old whitewashed Cape Dutch werf (farmyard), then north to south from Babel Restaurant to the Babylonstoren koppie. It comprises 15 clusters including vegetable areas, stone and pome fruits, nuts, citrus, berries, bees, herbs, a prickly pear maze and a rare cycad collection with some of the dearest gymnosperms on earth! Farm animals have a home in the garden too; a colourful collection of ducks, turkeys, chickens and a few easy-going tortoises can be spotted on a stroll through. Gravity feeds water from a stream by rills into the garden, flowing through ponds planted with edible lotus, nymphaea lilies and waterblommetjies.

Babylonstoren opened its doors to the public in November 2010. Today, every aspect of Babylonstoren is informed by the ever-changing tapestry and botanical diversity of the garden – this includes the contemporary Farm Hotel and Garden Spa, the Farm and Online Shop, the winery, restaurants and function venues.

What can be experienced at Babylonstoren which cannot elsewhere? Babylonstoren is a working farm in the heart of South Africa’s Cape Winelands, close to Franschhoek, with a luxury hotel, spa, winery, farm-to-fork restaurants and is cherished for its magnificent garden of beauty and diversity.

Each of the 300-plus plant varieties in the garden is edible or has medicinal value. The garden boasts a living library of historic rose and fruit cultivars, a splendid succulent collection, a kitchen garden planted with a variety of seasonal vegetables, thousands of clivias, a healing garden, an exotic cycad collection and a Spice House where tropical plants thrive. Guests can experience these enchanting spaces on their own terms and time and even pick and enjoy ripe produce from the abundance of plants when strolling through the garden. The farm feeling is one that celebrates an unhurried farm lifestyle and magnificent surroundings.

Succulent House Almonds ready to be roasted

Honeycmb

Onion Flowers

Afri blush apples

Freshly harvested for a risotto dish at Babel

Orange groves

Chefs marching through the garden with the morning’s haul Vegetable garden Farm-fresh deliveries

Indigenous clivias The farm’s herd of Chianina’s

Lavender and waterblommetjie ponds

The Puff Adder snakes amongst wild olives and bluegum trees

What are your longstanding/ bestselling items from your online shop? Our clients want healthy and the highest quality products - they want to know where it comes from and what it is made of. Our focus is on produce we can grow or forage from our garden or on the farm, supplemented by local produce sourced from a network of small artisan producers. Some of our favourite items are our seasonal fruit and vegetables. The Babylonstoren Mourvèdre Rosé wine is always a firm favourite and then our freshly-baked bread, handmade cheeses, our Chianina meat that honours a nose-to-tail philosophy, eggs from our very own colourful community of plucky hens that roam the coups and grounds of the farm and our cold-pressed high-pressure processing (HPP) juices.

At Babylonstoren we set out to create easy solutions for customers to eat, healthy, fresh and interesting food or to spoil a loved one with a thoughtful gift. We focus on solutions to make meal planning and gifting easy - without compromising on quality and taste. Our clients appreciate the thoughtful manner in which all purchases are handled - from the ordering process to the wrapping or preparation and finally, the delivery service. We aim to offer a top service with a focus on convenience and quality, rounded off with a personal touch. Every step of the experience has been considered, from the care taken in making the product to the friendly Babylonstoren delivery team that delivers the goods to your doorstep.

At the shop all our products change with the seasons

As always, the ever-changing seasonal abundance of our farm and South Africa’s food-growing heritage remains at the core of the Babylonstoren philosophy, directing each endeavour. We set out to add value to our consumers’ lives, inspiring a lifestyle that resonates with them long after they have visited our online shop or farm.

As you sell rooibos and honeybush tea, is it important to you to sell local ingredients and culinary traditions? Babylonstoren is very much rooted in the Cape Floral Kingdom surroundings and we love celebrating our local flora. Naturally, this permeates our culinary methods too. Indigenous flavours such as rooibos and honeybush are often seen on the menu of Babel or the Greenhouse Restaurant in the garden. We’re also not afraid to experiment with bolder local flavours too... look out for the likes of wild rosemary and dune spinach, fynbos and spekboom on Babel Restaurants menu, to name a few.

What do you think makes Babylonstoren so popular? The farm as a destination gives it a unique edge. Apart from the garden, an immersive hotel experience makes Babylonstoren a destination to visit. Itwas recently named the best hotel in southern Africa by the readers of Condè Nast Traveler Magazine.

Guests can rest their heads in luxe comfort at the scenic Farm Hotel or spend a full day exploring the farm. They can enjoy the various guided tours (garden, cellar, wine museum or olive oil and balsamic vinegar), eat a healthy lunch at one of farm-to-fork restaurants, do a wine tasting, visit the Farm Shop or simply explore the diverse plant collections in the magnificent garden. The experience also doesn’t have to end when a guest leaves the farm. Whether you pick an item for yourself or a loved one, there is always something unique and elegant to be found when browsing the online shop.

Time to taste amphora-aged wine

Fynbos Cottages at dusk

Vitality pool

What dish in the restaurant served presently or in the past sums up the philosophy of Babylonstoren? Babel Restaurant is our signature restaurant with a farm-to-fork philosophy. The menu is seasonal and is always guided by what is available in the garden. Babel Restaurant is open for breakfast and dinner every day of the week and for lunch from Wednesday to Sunday. Babel has a unique style of menu, which focuses on fresh produce from the garden and the region. Like so much else at Babylonstoren, a meal at Babel promises to be both an adventure and a rediscovery of the honest essence of things. Babel’s food is directed by what the garden offers.

·For breakfast, the menu is focused on texture. · The starters focus on the visual effect of colour: a choice of red, yellow or green. · Main meals consist of a protein with delicious veggies from the garden and our famous potato wedges. · Dessert subscribes to four flavours: salty, bitter, sweet and sour.

The food always reflects the season, and so in summer, we may serve a yellow salad of pineapple, gooseberries, granadillas, yellow tomatoes and apricots while in winter a slow-cooked leg of lamb in red wine is more likely. What future plans do you have? We are continuously working on expanding our knowledge and including new approaches and technology in the development of our experiences and products, while at the same time honouring traditional methods.

Babel Restaurant Are there similarities between Babylonstoren and other business ventures of the owners? Babylonstoren has a sister property The Newt in Somerset, England. Here, guests can also discover gardens, escape to the hotel, enjoy seasonal food from the garden in the restaurants or shop for a slice of the good life online.

Who is the owner? The farm is owned by former magazine editor Karen Roos.

Owner Karen Roos in the garden

What can guests expect from a visit to Babylonstoren? Karen Roos says: “Above all, we’d like visitors to ground themselves again. To enjoy the mountains all around as much as we do, pick their own healthy fruit and veg, play pétanque, swim in the farm dam, enjoy an hour in the spa, eat a simple fresh dish at one of the restaurants, walk up the conical Babylonstoren hill, await sunset with a glass of wine in hand, and then slip in between sheets of crisp linen and drift away ... more or less.”

Breakfast harvest table

Our signature yellow salad