The 2026 Virtuoso Luxe Trend Report notes that food and drink are often the reason a destination is chosen at all. Italy, Japan, Greece, France and Croatia head its list of most requested destinations, each with a culinary reputation of long standing. For a growing number of travellers, the reservation comes first, and the flights and suites are arranged around it.

The Cape Winelands show how that works in practice. At the 2026 Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards, The Table at De Meye won Best Destination Restaurant. It sits on the De Meye wine farm in Muldersvlei, in the Stellenbosch winelands, and is run by Leigh Williamson and Brendan Thorncroft. Eat Out’s critics wrote that the location, the immersion and the charm of the place justify leaving the city for it. The awards’ star ratings come from seven anonymous judges who spent eight months visiting restaurants across the country.

Lunch is a set three-course meal, served for sharing in a garden shaded by oaks and bordered by vines. In winter, service moves indoors to rooms with wood-burning fireplaces. The format leaves the afternoon to the table.

On the Helshoogte Pass, between Stellenbosch and the Franschhoek valley, Delaire Graff Estate works on a grander scale. Its Japanese restaurant, Hōseki, takes its name from the word for jewel, a nod to the owner, the diamantaire Laurence Graff, and holds two Eat Out stars. Blue leather seating sits against copper-topped tables, the chopsticks and crockery were chosen with equal care, and an art collection runs through the estate.

Head chef Virgil Kahn, who has cooked at Maze and at Nobu in the One&Only Cape Town, offers an à la carte menu and an omakase, in which the chef decides the sequence of dishes. The estate states that its rice is washed up to 12 times, that its nori and wasabi powder come from Japan, and that its fish and produce come from certified sustainable local farms and fisheries.

In Franschhoek, La Petite Colombe at Leeu Estates holds three Eat Out stars, the highest rating. Elton Damon won the Eat Out Wine Service Award there, cited for explaining why a wine suits a dish and how it lifts the food.

The circuit extends well beyond those three. Eat Out’s two-star tier lists eight restaurants on Cape wine farms, with Hōseki and The Table at De Meye among them. The others include Rust en Vrede in the Helderberg, Jordan with Marthinus Ferreira in Stellenbosch Kloof, VUUR at Remhoogte in Simonsberg, FABER at Avondale near Paarl, and beyond at Buitenverwachting in Constantia. Of the three-star restaurants, two stand among the vines: La Petite Colombe and La Colombe.

Recognition from abroad is following. FYN in Cape Town, where Peter Tempelhoff pairs Japanese technique with South African ingredients and which Eat Out named Restaurant of the Year, moved to No. 65 from 82 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants extended list published on 21 October. Salsify at the Roundhouse in Camps Bay rose to No. 71 from 88, and the two are the only African restaurants on the list. La Colombe, a three-star restaurant on the Silvermist wine farm in Constantia, does not appear on it. Whether it has entered the top 50 will be known when the ceremony takes place in Lima on 4 November.

For the wine estate, the pattern changes the job. Cellar, kitchen and lodging share one address, and a restaurant of this standing can bring guests who might not otherwise have booked a stay. Delaire Graff is about 50 minutes from Cape Town International Airport, and its lodges and spa extend a visit beyond a single sitting. A guest can take lunch at De Meye, dinner at Hōseki and a final lunch in Franschhoek without leaving the winelands.

Once a table is confirmed, the rest of the itinerary follows the hour of the meal.