The full list takes us deep into caves, underwater and even to Richard Branson’s private island but the restaurant that brings us all the feels is Klein Jan in the Kalahari!
South Africa (19 October 2022) – Travel + Leisure has released a list of the top 10 Extraordinary Fine-dining Experiences Around the World – from Dinner Under the Sea to Lunch in an Ice Cave – and a South African restaurant has found itself at the top of the list!
The publication highlighted one-of-a-kind eating experiences that are unavailable anywhere else on the planet. Some of these destinations lean toward theatre, while others border on the surreal.
“Dinner under the sea. Lunch inside an ice cave. Small bites in a subterranean root cellar. A wine-paired picnic on a lava field. They say you eat with your eyes first and nowhere is that truer than at the world’s most unique fine-dining restaurants and otherworldly environments where the settings are as epic and imaginative as what’s on the plate.” – Travel + Leisure
From Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives to Eden Roc Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic, the full list takes us deep into caves and even to Richard Branson’s private island.
But the restaurant that brings us all the feels is Klein Jan in the Kalahari!
From kneading dough in the farmhouse kitchen of his childhood in Mpumalanga, South Africa to running his own restaurant in Nice, France, Jan-Hendrik’s journey has taken many unexpected turns. In 2019, he opened KLEIN JAN in the heart of the Kalahari.
KLEIN JAN is at Tswalu Kalahari, one of South Africa’s leading private game reserves; an untamed, untouched, unspoiled refuge that celebrates the simple, authentic splendours of this magical region.
Driven by his values of local authenticity, heritage, and sustainability of the environment, KLEIN JAN will become the region’s culinary epicentre, a place where the Kalahari’s unique ingredients will be translated into world-class cuisine.
“The adventure begins en route to this one-of-a-kind dining destination since wildlife and matchless landscapes encompass the drive in. Combine a century-old farmhouse in the midst of the Kalahari Desert’s iconic orange sand, an awe-inspiring subterranean root cellar 13 feet below, and a soaring dining room open to the wild, and you start to get the picture of Klein Jan, a transportive culinary experience created by Michelin-starred chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen for South Africa’s largest private safari reserve. The surprises are endless and stupendous, both in the way diners physically move through the meal and the flavours, textures, and stories packed into the delectable journey that is distinctly of the Kalahari. This is no passive lunch or dinner; it’s participatory, immersive, and wildly thrilling, mysteries unfolding with every exceptional bite.” – Travel + Leisure
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