Every wine tour ends the same way. You climb back into the vehicle with a few bottles you loved at the tasting counter, and somewhere between Stellenbosch and Cape Town the question comes up: what are we actually going to drink these with?
Cape Town private chef Matthew Ryan has the answer. He comes to your villa that evening, cooks dinner in your kitchen and serves every course with the wine you bought that day. We liked the idea so much that we've made him our partner chef.
From Yacht Galleys to Your Villa Table
Matthew was born and raised in Cape Town, and his route home took in a fair bit of the world. After training as a chef, he cooked on superyachts out of Antibes and Florida, where a galley teaches you to plan everything, waste nothing and get dinner out whatever the swell is doing.
His first luxury kitchen was The Chesterfield in Mayfair, where he learnt what five-star service looks like up close. In Melbourne he became head chef of a small café, which meant training staff, managing budgets and planning menus on top of the cooking itself.
Then he came back to Cape Town to do what he enjoys most: cooking for people at their own table. Today he is based in Sea Point and cooks in villas and homes across the city and the Winelands. His style is simple to describe and harder to pull off. He lets fresh, local produce do the work, brings Cape flavours into international dishes and builds every menu around the people eating it.
In his own words, "Memorable meals are made for you, at a table, not a restaurant."
How a Wine Tour Dinner Works
The Private Chef Dinner at Your Villa is an add-on you can book with any of our wine tours, or on its own. Here is how the day comes together.
- Book the dinner with your tour. Tell us your date, how many guests, where you're staying and any dietary needs, and we pass it all to Matthew.
- Choose a menu. Pick one of his three pairing menus, each designed around the estates on one of our tours, or let him write one for you. You'll have a fixed quote within 24 hours.
- Taste and buy on the tour. Your guide points you to the bottles for each course. If you fall for a different wine on the day, Matthew adjusts the dish to suit it.
- Dinner at your villa. Matthew cooks in your kitchen, serves each course with its wine, talks you through the pairings and leaves the kitchen spotless.
Three Menus Built Around Our Tours
Each menu is built around estates our tours visit, so every course has a bottle you can pick up that day.
Cap Classique. Designed for our MCC Masterclass tour and Franschhoek days, with wines from Colmant, Haute Cabrière and Rickety Bridge. It opens with Saldanha Bay oysters and smoked snoek pâté alongside Colmant Brut Reserve, moves on to roast butternut with goat's cheese and Rickety Bridge Chenin Blanc, then pan-roasted kob with a lemon beurre blanc and Pierre Jourdan Belle Rose. Granadilla posset with Pierre Jourdan Ratafia closes things out.
Pinotage. Built for our Pinotage tour, it follows South Africa's own grape from Lanzerac Pinotage Rosé with roast beetroot and whipped feta, through Bellevue Pinotage with chicken in a smoky tomato and green pepper sauce, to Kanonkop Pinotage with rump cap and salsa verde. Dessert is a dark chocolate tart with cherries and Beyerskloof Diesel.
A Cape table. For our Stellenbosch tours, this one is pure Cape comfort with wines from Simonsig and Delheim: biltong and droëwors with Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel, South Africa's first Cap Classique, snoek grilled over coals with Simonsig Chenin Blanc, bobotie with yellow rice and Delheim Pinotage, and malva pudding with Delheim Edelspatz Noble Late Harvest.
Matthew's Favourite Dishes
Ask Matthew what he would cook for a first-time visitor to the Cape and you get a very local list.
- Snoek grilled over coals with an apricot glaze. As Cape Town as fish gets: sweet, smoky and rich, and lovely with a glass of Chenin Blanc.
- Bobotie with sambals. The Cape Malay classic he would cook for any visitor first, with spiced mince under a baked custard, yellow rice and chutney.
- Rump cap with salsa verde. A South African cut, cooked over fire and sliced at the table. This is where the best red of your day belongs.
- Chicken with tomato, green pepper and roast aubergine. Smoky and rich, and made for Pinotage.
- Malva pudding. In his view, nobody should leave the Cape without trying it. We agree.
What It Costs
The dinner is R3,400 for up to four guests, then R800 a head from five guests. Ingredients are billed separately at cost, with receipts, and usually come to R350 to R500 a head depending on the menu. There is also a travel fee of R500 a day for the Winelands, or less for Cape Town areas. For tables of more than eight, Matthew brings an assistant chef, and vegetarian, vegan and other dietary needs are planned in from the start.
Staying a few days? Matthew can also stock your fridge before you arrive with two days of fresh, labelled meals, so the first evening of your holiday is already sorted.
Book a Wine Day That Ends at Your Table
Choose your Cape Winelands wine tour, add the private chef dinner, and we'll take care of the rest. Send us your dates and group size on WhatsApp (+27 60 013 3345). There's no deposit to enquire.
You can see more of Matthew's food on his website, read his guide for guests, or follow him on Instagram at @matthewryancpt.
