Who doesn’t love a good padstal? We’re hitting the road to find the funkiest farm stalls along the way from Cape Town to Clanwilliam. The second instalment of our search for the funkiest padstals takes us up the first mountain pass along the route.
Written by Thys de Beer
Situated along the N7 at the top of the Piekenierskloof Pass is Kardoesie, owned and managed by salt of the earth couple Hanri and Annette Theron. Hanri, with a passion for cooking and hosting guests and Annette, with a passion for business, has been the perfect team. For them, business success can be summarised in three words: service, service and service. And as we experienced, true plattelandse hospitality, generosity and hearty food.
Tell us more about your farm stall
The word kardoes was originally the Dutch/Afrikaans term for what the French referred to as cartouche paper container. These days, it most commonly refers to a brown paper bag, which sometimes also contains a gift.
Hanri and Annette Theron
Hanri, a Tolla van der Merwe look-alike, was a farmer before joining Kardoesie and sold the family farm just before lockdown. Just like the late Tolla, Hanri can also regale you with stories for hours. He even sounds a bit like Tolla. Although Kardoesie is inland, the Therons see themselves as West Coast people.
How did you survive doing lockdown?
With all his expenses, being broke motivated him and they did what they had to. He sold his sheep. He tried to keep all his staff on this payroll for as long as possible. Job creation is something very close to Hanri’s heart they now have 28 staff members with his goal is to employ 40 people before he retires.
Picture: Kardoesie N7 Citrusdal
According to Hanri, this was the first time in his life that he was forced to take three weeks’ leave but sadly lockdown lasted a lot longer and they had no income. A saving grace was the large quantity of stock that they bought before lockdown started that sustained them during this trying time.
‘In April 2020 we started a butchery,’ Hanri says, ‘which meant that they could sell their meat as an essential service’. A shop owner in town also sold stocked and sold their chocolates. They’ve now also started a bakery and even a caravan park.
‘We were worried that we would default on their insurance payments but their short-term insurer, Santam amazingly paid three months of our monthly instalments.’
Business has been picking up with an increased number of South African tourists visiting but their German tourists still need to return. Thanks to Putin’s shenanigans their current flood inflation is 17%!
What’s on the menu?
Picture: Kardoesie N7 Citrusdal
The Therons love to serve their patrons traditional food and for them, Kardoesie is not about cuisine nor are they a restaurant. Farm stalls like Peregrine and Dassiesfontein on the N2 inspire them.
They even have curried tripe on their menu. But for the less adventurous they pride themselves on the best-toasted sandwiches, toasted on a stick sosatie-style.
He also brags about their delicious ‘brêkvis’ and their pies – venison, lamb, chicken and he’s currently developing an offal pie. Gulp!
Tempted to hit the road?
After scaling the pass and maybe feeling a bit queasy from inhaling the fumes of a truck crawling up the steep incline in front of you, why not linger around a bit longer after lunch at Kardoesie?
A few metres down the road are two wine tasting options, Cecilia Wines and Piekenierskloof Wines. If you’ve found yourself overindulging (we won’t blame you), across the road is the Piekenierskloof Mountain Resort and Hotel where you can check in for the night.
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