How I made it in the restaurant game
I decided I’d never go into the restaurant game...
I often get asked how I got into the restaurant business, and why. My story begins in the early nineties. My business in London had gone bust, and I had a five-year-old and a newborn baby. Things were looking bleak. My first recession had struck, leaving me with a huge chunk of debt - about £24,000 -owed to Barclays Bank.
It didn't take them long to put the rottweilers on us (myself and my mum, Marion). One night, I was snuggled up to my young son when the phone rang. On the other end of the line was a man enquiring about the Fiat Panda I had for sale. I hesitated and said I had no car for sale, but by the time I put the phone down, I knew I had a debt collector on the phone and that they would be close by to repossess my car. Grabbing Adam under my arm, I literally ran down six flights of stairs and moved the car several streets away. The next morning, all that was left of my car was smashed glass on the road. I now know that they of course all know if we are faced with debt collectors we hide our assets, so they were likely watching me. It was a very low point for me. My mum was faced with similar issues—she also had her car repossessed—and, as a guarantor on the debt, they literally plagued her. Lucky or unlucky for us, we were women of straw, so it was all to no avail.
I packed up and headed for sunny Johannesburg, South Africa, where my dad, brother, and sister lived. My sister, Sally, was running a British style Cabaret Restaurant in Alberton, East Rand, called "Stars Cabaret Restaurant." Like me, she had no restaurant experience; she was married to a British comedian, Tony Venner. She later told me she had never actually eaten out in restaurants in London; at best, she had the odd curry. This was certainly not the background to run a restaurant. It was a nightmare time in apartheid South Africa, and not only was she running a 120-seater restaurant and a full cabaret program, but she also had to contend with living in one of the most violent and dangerous places on earth at the time. Stars was a huge success in its day, and I learnt a lot from her. She often likened herself to a mole as she literally worked in the dark most of the time and then would drive shotgun home through the streets of Johannesburg at 3 a.m. every night of the week. It certainly made my mind up that I would never go into the restaurant game.
Getting into the Food and Wine Industry
In 2013, I acquired Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate in Hermanus, South Africa. This 200-hectare farm had a residential element, as well as being a working farm. I became the developer after becoming a resident of the estate, and I still owned the majority of the vacant plots, as the estate had not sold particularly well under the previous owner. Additionally, there were 70 hectares under vine and 10 hectares under olive groves. As I was not a farmer, I had no idea where to start. There was also a dispute between the residents and the previous developer, which I unfortunately inherited. All owners' contracts had a clause that obligated the developer to build a winery, tasting room, restaurant, and conference facilities - and just like that, I found myself unexpectedly thrown into the restaurant business.
I guessed that most people would have run a mile, but I saw it as a challenge. After years in property and recruitment, this was refreshing for me. Luckily, by this point, I was working with Johann Fourie, who was to become our Cellar Master. He knew exactly what he was doing when it came to specifying and building a winery; the rest I did with Eben Rall, a designer I had worked with many times. The completion of the winery was on target for early 2017, and the restaurant and tasting rooms were due to be finished by December 2017. This left me with a four-year gap, should I wait and get my wines on the map or come up with another route to market?
Finding the Perfect Chefs
In my never-ending pursuit of fitness and weight-loss, in 2014, I was keen on competing in triathlons. This took me to Sedgefield on the Garden Route, where we were due to compete in a triathlon at Pine Lake Marina. Unfortunately, the triathlon was cancelled, but I loved Sedgefield with its huge open Swartvlei dam and the picture-postcard prettiness of the area. I stumbled upon what was to become Lakeside Lodge & Spa, right on the banks of the Swartvlei. It was a perfect opportunity to turn an old-fashioned guest house into a beautiful 5-star boutique hotel, with of course a restaurant, aptly named Benguela Brasserie. Perfect! Everyone in the Western Cape seemed to head to the Garden Route at year-end, so exposure for our wines would be brilliant. Sure enough, it really helped to get Benguela Cove on the map, and with a restaurant, you can make or break it if you don't have the right chef. I was lucky enough to get Chef Kelly Anne Pietersen, her husband Karl (who used to be my PT), and her sister DeeDee - a real family affair.
At the same time, a restaurant that we used to frequent in Somerset West came up for sale, so it seemed a golden opportunity to get a prime position for another Benguela restaurant. The connection to Hermanus was strong. In 2016, after extensive renovations and designs by Eben Rall, Benguela on Main opened.
My son, Adam, had decided to follow one of his passions, which was cooking, and had enrolled on a course with SA Chefs. During his work placement at Cavali Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, he met Chef Jean Delport. On his first day, Nick and I had gone along as dutiful parents to watch him in action. When we arrived, we were met by Adam at the door, with half his finger missing. He had been asked to chop some carrots and had nearly chopped off his finger - thus ending his chef training. It was destiny that brought me and Jean together, so I gave him free reign at Benguela On Main to create. As a fine dining restaurant, we combined all the elegance and flair that one would expect with this type of business and even recruited a snobby French sommelier, Denis Garrett.
Still not content with getting the name of Benguela Cove out there, we set upon opening a pop-up restaurant in the Manor House at the Benguela Cove estate. The Manor House was my personal home, but its imposing position, its views, and its grand hall made it the perfect interim pop-up restaurant for Benguela Cove. The restaurant operated as a fine-dining restaurant for nearly two years.
Joining the English Sparkling Wine Revolution
In 2016, the English sparkling wine revolution was in its infancy; English sparkling wines had just beaten French Champagnes in a blind tasting in Paris. It was clear that something special was happening. During a visit to England, Nick and I visited a number of vineyards and found them to be very basic. We realized that we could create a South African-style wine experience in England, as South Africa was at that point rated just below the best wine tourism experiences in the world.
Creating the UK’s First Golf and Wine Estate
Nick was instrumental in finding Mannings Heath; he had been reading that golf courses were being sold off cheaply, as golf as an elitist sport in England was in sharp decline and women no longer tolerated their men spending all day on the golf course and leaving them at home. Mannings Heath Golf Club had everything we were looking for: a beautiful building, amazing location, restaurant, accommodation, car parking, and liquor licenses. We created our English home brand for Benguela Cove wines, and Mannings Heath Golf & Wine Estate became known as Mannings Estate. We have carried out extensive works at Mannings during our ownership, and we are currently transforming the ground floor into a wine lounge, a golfer's paradise on the lower ground, and eventually luxury rooms on the top floor.
In 2017, Moody Lagoon Restaurant, named after the changing moods of the lagoon, opened on Benguela Cove, with Chef Annie Badenhorst, a Namibian Chef, in charge of the kitchen. She had previously operated the Benguela Manor restaurant for the two years prior. Jean, Kelly, and Annie had all worked together at one time, and the connection between the three of them was evident. The estate was finally open.
In 2017, another strange thing happened; my son, Adam, had upped sticks and moved his wife and kids back to England, and he asked me to look at a house with him. Nick and I drove separately, and on the way back to Mannings, we passed a sign saying, "Country Estate for Sale". I literally screeched to a halt, and Nick called the agent. We climbed over a broken fence and into the property; I had found Leonardslee.
The agent told us that Leonardslee was about to go to sealed bids, so we put a bid in and secured the property. It was sight unseen, as the house was derelict and the garden was too overgrown and a health and safety risk, so we couldn't enter. I researched Leonardslee on the web and on social media and discovered that it was an historic garden and a true gem.
We were all so excited. I returned to South Africa and sat down with Jean Delport, Chef of Benguela on Main. Both Jean and I had been despondent about Benguela On Main; the restaurant was lovely, and guests on the whole liked it, but at roughly R550–R650 for a meal, Somerset West considered it too expensive and too posh.
Penny’s New Dream Made Real
I told Jean that we would close the restaurant and that he should move to England and open a restaurant in Leonardslee; I told him I could guarantee him that he would win a Michelin Star.
I said, "You are unappreciated here. Why stay?" He jumped at the opportunity, married our front-of-house manager, Anya, and in a blink of an eye, they were in England.
The gardens opened in 2019, following one of the largest garden restorations seen in modern times in England, and with them opened Restaurant Interlude in the mansion house. Six months after opening Restaurant Interlude, the team secured their place in the Michelin Guide with a star.
NB: I have always joked that when I purchased Benguela Cove, I became the old lady that swallowed the fly – like the nursery rhyme. I swallowed so many flies in the pursuit of growth of my wine businesses and opened no less than 6 restaurants in 5 years. As my Finance Director, Charles, says: surely you have swallowed the horse by now.
