A rather nice Gift

I once rode a camel. I made my younger, braver sister sit in front and when our ride rose onto his knees and then jerkily straightened, I whooped in terror. Unfortunately, I was not among strangers in the middle of a dessert, where whooping might be respectfully interpreted as a culturally appropriate response among my kind. I was at the Grahamstown festival, surrounded by artsy types who could smell terror when they heard a whoop.

That unfortunate whoop and a scolding by a friend who pointed out the potential cruelty of camel joyriding, has left me somewhat apprehensive of these large animals. Of course, whatever intimidates you, invariably fascinates as well, so one day driving towards Kommetjie beach I had to stop and investigate when I saw three camels lying in the grass on the side of the road. They were all togged out in saddles and were chewing away on whatever it is camels chew on. This was all rather fortunate, because although I stopped to ogle camels, I discovered the Imhoff farm stall, set back across a stretch of lawn. When I arrived at the beach, my friends were impressed by my haul of homemade pineapple beer and crunchies.

For years now, I’ve stopped off at the farm stall to stock up on pineapple or ginger beer when I pass by, but a few days ago I discovered that there is a whole lot more to Imhoff’s farm than fruit beer.

If, instead of going into the farm stall, you walk around it on the right, you pass into a courtyard where shops nestle among the old farm buidlings. A décor shop, a cheesery and a surf shop vie for attention with a craft store where products are made from recycled goods and a touch farm. The farm stall has an outside dining area and the old farmhouse has been converted into The Gift restaurant.

It was this dining establishment that I had overlooked for so long, that had me scurrying past camels to get to my breakfast last Sunday morning. The low chandelier, red walls hung with gilt framed portraits and the smokiness of last nights fire had me smiling pleasantly as the waitress showed us to our table outside. If I’d been impressed by the gracious, but relaxed ambiance of the interior, I was blown away by the view when we reached the veranda.

Before us stretched the wetlands of Imhoff’s Gift and Noordhoek and in the distance the waves rose slowly and crashed onto Long beach. Chapman’s Peak framed a partial view of Hout Bay and suddenly I was very hungry. We ordered coffee and read through the menu’s list of rather wholesome breakfasts. I settled for scrambled egg and jumbo toast which was a deeply satisfying thick slab of homemade buttermilk toast smothered in golden scramble. Pat’s farmhouse breakfast also went down a treat and we both ordered a second cup of coffee – a practice reserved only for places where the coffee is comparable to that made at home on the stove with our silver coffee pot.

The lunch and dinner menus had me trying to schedule in a second visit as soon as possible and featured a good range of interesting steaks, stews, seafood, salads and pizza’s, which are a specialty.

I have a feeling that this charming spot with its jaw-dropping views is going to become one of my favourite local haunts.

The Gift restaurant is at the Imhoff Farm Village on Kommetjie Road. 021 783 4545