Arum Aninal Room.
Chef Peter Tempelhoff and team’s latest project, Arum, a contemporary, produce-driven restaurant shaped by fire, seasonality, and the natural rhythm of the farm, is now open on the acclaimed Boschendal Estate in Franschhoek.
Led by executive chef and partner Travis Finch, Arum brings a modern, globally influenced approach to farm-to-table dining, framed by the heritage and regenerative ethos of one of South Africa’s most historic working farms.
Named after the arum lily – a flower native to the Cape – Arum draws inspiration from its seasonal lifecycle: emergence, bloom, retreat, and renewal.
“When I think of the valley, I think of lilies,” says founding chef Peter Tempelhoff. “They mirror the rhythm of Boschendal itself – a constant cycle of growth, rest, and return.”
Arum Garden Room.
Finch, whose career spans The Greenhouse at The Cellars-Hohenort, London’s Chapter One and The Connaught, Melbourne’s Vue de Monde, and years as a private chef aboard luxury yachts, brings a philosophy both worldly and deeply local. His cooking is defined by precision, flame, clarity, and restraint, expressed through whole-animal butchery, fermentation, preservation, and an intimate connection to the farm’s gardens and pastures.
“Arum is our way of honouring the land – its history, its generosity, and its ability to renew itself,” says Tempelhoff. “It’s a restaurant shaped by time, fire, and the rhythms of the farm we call home.”
Arum’s menu moves with the seasons, is guided by time, and is inextricably rooted in the farm: expect wood-fired breads with farm-churned salted butter; vegetable-driven crudites, sees the snacks pulled straight from the soil; while Duroc charcuterie from Boschendal’s own herd make for a fitting accompaniment.
Vine Table.
Starters include Stracciatella with fire-roasted beetroot, Cape octopus with guanciale, smoked corn and brown butter, and rooibos-smoked duck with squash and mango atchar.
Mains celebrate produce reared on the farm, and include cuts of lamb and pork, with seasonal vegetables alongside South African Wagyu and grass-fed Angus, which are cooked over flame on the grill.
Desserts honour the orchards and vineyards with baked pineapple pelargonium mousse, cherries steeped in Shiraz, caramelised honey pain perdu, and a Dalewood cheese concept course which celebrates Tempelhoff’s favourite cheesery in the valley, through varying temperatures – the dish is aptly named ‘three degrees of cheese’, a recreation of a famous Greenhouse signature.
The beverage programme is led by Group Sommelier and Service Director Jennifer Hugé, who has collaborated with Boschendal’s winemakers to create a bespoke collection of estate-grown, single-varietal wines made exclusively for Arum – Semillon (from the acclaimed La Colline vineyard), Alicante Bouschet, Marselan, Cinsault, and Mourvèdre.
While at Arum Bar, she transforms the farm’s fruit, herbs, and botanicals into ferments, tinctures, creating elegant reimaginings of classic cocktails served alongside their counterparts.
Arum Bar Lounge.
Arum inhabits the restored 1812 Werf building, re-envisioned by MR. Studio (Rotem Shachar and Megan Bond) and architect Jaques Mouton – who were appointed and overseen by the FYN Group’s long-time collaborator Tristan du Plessis of Studio A – with Adrian Kuyper of ANK Projects as project manager. The interiors unfold as a journey through the realms of mineral, vegetable, and animal, expressed through grow-tunnel structures, mohair textiles, vegetable-inspired sculptural fireplaces, a dramatic dry-ageing vitrine, and a monumental bone-inspired bar – a piece of functional artwork by artist Driaan Claasen.
Even the restrooms echo the farm’s rhythms, anchored by a Zambezi-stone sundial basin carved by Cannata and featuring an impressive steel gnomon pointing at true north, a literal representation of time.
Arum at Boschendal Estate is now open for lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday.