Cape roots, city heights: Babylonstoren brings the farm to The Westcliff

If you’ve ever found yourself wandering through the labyrinthine gardens of Babylonstoren in the Cape, you know their philosophy is simple: the garden dictates the kitchen. Now, for the first time, that philosophy is travelling north.

The Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff has revealed a series of four seasonal dinners, one for every turn of the calendar, designed to bring the botanical diversity and world-class cellar of the Simonsberg foothills to Johannesburg’s most famous ridge.

The Autumn Harvest: April 22

The series kicks off this Wednesday, 22 April 2026, with a menu centred around the Season of the Olive. Executive Chef Rudi Liebenberg has collaborated with Babylonstoren’s team to craft a menu where every course is threaded with the farm’s harvest. Expect a masterclass in seasonal honesty, starting with oysters drizzled in Coratina extra virgin olive oil and paired with the farm’s celebrated Sprankel Cap Classique.

The Menu Highlights include Trout Mi Cuit and Ricotta Agnolotti, featuring Babylonstoren’s sun-dried tomato and olive crumb, and Fire-Roasted Beef Rump, served with a decadent beef cheek and truffle bone marrow pithivier.

A year in the vines

This isn’t just a one-off pop-up. Cellar Master Klaas Stoffberg will be hand-selecting pours from the farm’s 14 grape varieties to match the shifting seasons. If you can’t make the autumn debut, mark your calendars for the rest of the year:

• Winter: 25 June 2026
• Spring: 23 September 2026
• Summer: 3 December 2026

The details

As part of The Westcliff’s Producer Dinner series (which launched with Atlas Swift in March), these evenings are intimate, and space is highly coveted.

• Price: R1,750 per person (includes full wine pairing and gratuity).
• Booking: Essential via Dineplan or by emailing reservations.johannesburg@fourseasons.com.
• Location: Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff, 67 Jan Smuts Ave, Westcliff.

For those of us who can’t always skip off to the Winelands for the weekend, this is the closest you’ll get to the Franschhoek valley without a boarding pass.

Follow Time Out Johannesburg on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram! While you're at it, sign up for our newsletter to receive even more of the best of your city.