The Stellenbosch restaurant, The Table at De Meye, is providing nutritious meals to about 300 vulnerable people in the Cloetesville community, for the duration of lockdown.
This is thanks to the funding that The Table at De Meye received from the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund – an initiative that was launched by the South African food publication, Eat Out.
“When you go out there [to hand out the food] you see that people are really grateful, and that it’s making their day,” said Leigh Williamson, co-owner of The Table at De Meye.
According to Williamson, the local restaurant hands out soup and bread mainly to children and the elderly.
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- Leigh Williamson, co-owner of The Table at De Meye, bakes chocolate cake as a surprise for the children in Cloetesville. “It’s a simple recipe my mom used to make for us,” she said. PHOTO: Supplied/Leigh Williamson
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- According to Cloetesville community member Vernon Adams, on some days more than 1000 people receive food from this project. “Without this help, many children and older people would have been without food,” he said. PHOTO: Supplied/Vernon Adams
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- Vernon Adams, member of the Cloetesville community, knows the community well. He ensures that the food is handed out in densely populated areas – where it’s needed most. PHOTO: Supplied/Vernon Adams
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- According to Leigh Williamson, co-owner of The Table at De Meye, the team at The Table put a lot of vegetables into the soup to make it as nutritious as possible. PHOTO: Supplied/Leigh Williamson
“The fund has supported 32 restaurants [from all over the country], which have all reported on the amount of meals they are producing,” said Tarryn Corlett, head of the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund.
Each restaurant prepares between 50 and 3 000 meals day, which altogether feeds approximately 17 000 people. That will amount to over half a million meals over the month of May, said Corlett.
Williamson and the team at The Table at De Meye are working with Vernon Adams, a Cloetesville community member, who has been involved with outreach projects in Cloetesville for the past 18 years.
“The times that we are in, are really difficult. Without this help, many children and older people would have been without food,” said Adams.
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- According to Eat Out’s Tarryn Corlett, The Table at De Meye and Eike by Bertus Basson are the only restaurants in Stellenbosch which have received funding from the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund, so far. PHOTO: Supplied/ Leigh Williamson
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- “We miss being super busy every day and having our regular customers at the restaurant,” said co-owner of The Table at De Meye, Leigh Williamson (front right). The team at The Table (from left to right): Ella Hamilton Russell, Happiness Zumu, Brendan Thorncroft and Alex Rykaart. PHOTO: Supplied/Leigh Williamson
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- Social distancing guidelines are followed when the soup is handed out to the community. PHOTO: Supplied/Leigh Williamson
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- According to Vernon Adams, member of the Cloetesville community, the children greatly appreciated the chocolate cake that his wife, Janine Adams, is pictured handing out. PHOTO: Supplied/Leigh Williamson
More about the relief fund
Restaurants providing meals to feeding schemes or to those in need in their communities, during lockdown, can apply for grants of up to R50 000 from the fund, said Corlett.
“Stellenbosch is one of the most visited wine and culinary destinations in the Western Cape, and it relies heavily on outside visitors – local and international – to support the establishments that provide jobs for local communities,” she said.
According to Corlett, the lockdown has had a huge impact on the culinary industry. The expenses of restaurants and wine farms that are closed, remain the same during lockdown – even though they are receiving little to no income, she said.
“The fund provides financial aid to those restaurants, helping them pay their staff and operational costs, and stay afloat,” said Corlett.
Eat Out launched a multiplatform ad-campaign featuring numerous celebrities and chefs to promote the Restaurant Relief Fund. VIDEO: YouTube/Eat Out
To donate to the fund:
Visit the Eat Out donation webpage.
You can also buy South African Michelin-star chef, Jan Hendrik Van der Westhuizen’s, digital lockdown edition magazine – JAN the CONVERSATION JOURNAL – for R29,99 on the JAN the JOURNAL app. The entire amount will be donated to the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund.
To apply for funding:
Visit the Eat Out funding webpage.