Indochine
Top 3 reasons to visit
- Balancing authenticity and innovation, Head Chef Virgil Kahn draws on old Cape Malay family recipes and his frequent trips to Asia to offer fresh, delicate food as light as it is satisfying, served with an imaginative touch of theatre
- Dine al fresco with views of Table Mountain on the western horizon or beneath the eye-catching Swallows in Flight art installation by Lionel Smit and André Stead in Indochine’s rich and intimate blue- and copper-toned interior.
- The ingredients from which Virgil conjures his unique Afro-Asian cuisine are grown especially for Indochine Restaurant on the Estate and picked daily from the biodynamic greenhouse.
Our Story
Indochine
At Indochine restaurant at the Delaire Graff Estate guests dine under a huge art installation where 1,000 birds become part of the stunning view that the dining room affords over the Stellenbosch vineyards and Table Mountain in the distance. Called Swallows in Flight, the sculpture is a fitting metaphor for head chef Virgil Kahn’s progressive modern Asian cooking – dynamic, inspiring and something to behold. Indochine isn’t a typical Stellenbosch restaurant. In an area known for its high-reaching places serving South African or European cuisine, Indochine is a breath of fresh mountain air. At this luxury restaurant Kahn serves vibrant and creative Indo-Asian dishes inspired by the live-fire cooking of Cambodia, Thailand, India and Japan but filtered through a South African lens. It is food befitting of the restaurant’s spectacular views. It’s been a journey of discovery for Khan, who joined the restaurant as chef de partie but quickly impressed, moving up the ranks to eventually head up the kitchen. At Indochine, Khan has been on a mission to showcase the flavours and nuances of traditional Asian cooking while adding his own modern spin. While many dishes on the a la carte menu might seem familiar by name, Khan has combined authentic ingredients with more contemporary cooking techniques to create a unique style of cuisine. “I wouldn’t describe it as Asian food, it is new Asian,” he says. “My style is modern Asian/South African cuisine that builds on the heritage of well-known Asian dishes.”
Our Menu Items
Head Chef Virgil Kahn is behind the evocative, fine dining food theatre that is Indochine. He comes to Delaire Graff Estate from an esteemed background, having cooked at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze and Nobu at The One&Only Cape Town. Kahn’s philosophy is centred on an all-sensory dining experience, combining exquisitely balanced flavours with imaginative presentation. “The restaurant is Asian influenced, but definitely not a fusion of any sort,” he explains. “It is a collaboration between fine dining, the European kitchen and South African style.” The result is an authentic, exciting menu that defies categorisation.
Our Menu
Head Chef Virgil Kahn is behind the evocative, fine dining food theatre that is Indochine. He comes to Delaire Graff Estate from an esteemed background, having cooked at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze and Nobu at The One&Only Cape Town. Kahn’s philosophy is centred on an all-sensory dining experience, combining exquisitely balanced flavours with imaginative presentation. “The restaurant is Asian influenced, but definitely not a fusion of any sort,” he explains. “It is a collaboration between fine dining, the European kitchen and South African style.” The result is an authentic, exciting menu that defies categorisation.