Mention Paternoster to the majority of South Africans and they will tell you it is a small fishing village some 145kms west of Cape Town full of fisherman’s cottages and that it is a great unspoiled spot to have a holiday. They may even tell you about the building restrictions in the village where all properties must be white-washed, have a dark coloured roof and cannot be over two stories in height.    Some people may also tell you about the fishing industry, that is still very active in this part of the world and what wonderful mussels and lobsters you can buy directly off the back of the fishing boats when they came back in the late afternoon.

What they will probably not tell you is that Paternoster is home to the No 1 Restaurant in the world, Wolfgat, and the experience of dining at this wonderful restaurant will stay with me for ever.  The setting was sublime with uninterrupted views of the bay, the food was outstanding with the chef and staff relying of the freshest of ingredients and the minimum of intervention to produce outstanding dishes.  We sat for a number of hours in this idyllic setting as we savoured all of the seven courses together with wines from the local area.  This was our last full day in South Africa and it was a day to remember and a fitting end to a fabulous time with my guests.

I should also mention that we had other wonderful dining experiences during our stay in Paternoster.  The first was at Leeto, situated at the opposite end of the village to Wolfgat but also with views of the bay and serving up exceptionally good seafood.   The Noisy Oyster in the centre of the village is a great casual dinner venue again with great seafood. I can see Paternoster becoming a must stop destination for all foodies visiting South Africa.

In short, Paternoster is the place to be,