Le Rustique: New Nanyuki joint offers plenty to look forward to

The lounge of Le Rustique, Nanyuki. It is further down the road from the Sportsman Arms. The site is good, with plenty of space for parking and for setting tables on the terrace and out in the garden. PHOTO/JOHN FOX

What you need to know:

  • That’s the place Maike first took over, when she left Nairobi behind 18 months ago – leaving also her Le Rustique in General Mathenge Drive.
  • Maike’s menu at Barney’s has the same qualities. But the view is more dramatic — over the grass airstrip, which is usually busy with light aircraft bringing and fetching visitors to and from the lodges in the area, such as the Mount Kenya Safari Club and the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
  • It’s the kind of place where you are pleased to spend time over an aperitif by the fire in the lounge, as your food is prepared — and where you want to linger afterwards with a coffee and perhaps a liqueur. Yes, it is a place where you feel like indulging yourself. Not that the prices are indulgent. In fact, they are very reasonable — on average, under Sh1,000 for the main courses.

We had a meeting to attend in Naro Moru. From Nairobi, with the fast escape-route of the Thika Highway and then reasonable tarmac all the way, we could have made it there and back in a day – just, if we talked through lunchtime. But we had heard that Maike Potgieter had opened her Le Rustique restaurant in Nanyuki. So we decided to make it a proper Going Places trip.

It’s never a boring drive to Nanyuki: into the green hills leading to Nyeri, and then across the yellow grasslands between the Aberdares and Mount Kenya.

We had timed it to have lunch at Barney’s, the restaurant and bar at the Nanyuki Airstrip.

That’s the place Maike first took over, when she left Nairobi behind 18 months ago – leaving also her Le Rustique in General Mathenge Drive.

That was a great place for a lunchtime rendezvous: at a table on the terrace, overlooking the garden. There was always an exhibition of paintings on the walls. The menu was a work of art, too — especially, my favourites, the fresh and crispy sandwiches and well-chosen wines.

DRAMATIC VIEW

Maike’s menu at Barney’s has the same qualities. But the view is more dramatic — over the grass airstrip, which is usually busy with light aircraft bringing and fetching visitors to and from the lodges in the area, such as the Mount Kenya Safari Club and the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

So, whether you are wanting a quick pit-stop and a snack or a long, lazy lunch, Barney’s is a great place for either.

Our overnight place did not have anything like the laid-back sophistication of Barney’s; it was the Sportsman’s Arms. It doesn’t have the same “place-in-the-bush” feel that it had in 1968 when I first stayed there.

It has spread out and grown up since then — with a main building of four concrete floors with over a hundred rooms, a nyama choma joint, and a spacious disco.

But there are cottages in the gardens, and one of the four bars still has the cramped and smoky atmosphere of an English pub.

After checking in, we had time for a visit to the Nanyuki Spinners and Weavers, which is about one kilometre down Laikipia Road.

It is a project of the Presbyterian Church of East AfricA. It employs a good number of local women, who sell their woollen rugs, blankets and scarves woven on handlooms.

Annah Warutere, the Project Director, showed us round. It was fascinating to see how the Kenya Highlands wool is spun, cleaned and coloured with natural dyes — deep reds and blues and browns — all from local plants. The prices seemed somewhat high – until we were told how long it takes for the various items to be made.

But our main reason for being in Nanyuki was to have dinner at the new Le Rustique restaurant.

It is further down the road from the Sportsman Arms. The site is good, with plenty of space for parking and for setting tables on the terrace and out in the garden. 

But it was a chilly evening — I guess it often gets chilly in the evenings at Nanyuki — so we decided to be inside.

That was the right choice. There were log fires warming the two dining rooms. The lighting was warm, too. In fact, the decor is superb: a fusion of Mediterranean, Moroccan and Swahili styles, with wooden beams across the ceilings, walls painted in the colours of Africa — red and yellow ochre — elegant grey metal chairs, and yellow lights shining through pillars of intricate fretted woodwork.

PLEASANTLY ADDICTIVE

It’s the kind of place where you are pleased to spend time over an aperitif by the fire in the lounge, as your food is prepared — and where you want to linger afterwards with a coffee and perhaps a liqueur.

Yes, it is a place where you feel like indulging yourself. Not that the prices are indulgent. In fact, they are very reasonable — on average, under Sh1,000 for the main courses.

The cuisine is also mainly a fusion of Mediterranean dishes: with crepes and pizzas, Nicoise salad and fish Provencal... But there is also a Thai red chicken curry and even “traditional” fish and chips – no doubt catering for the tastes of the British army billeted just down the road.

I went for the “Fillet Steak au Poivre”, served with chips; my colleague chose the “Pork and Porcini Stroganoff”, with red peppers and braised wild rice. We agreed that both dishes were delicious – and we couldn’t resist going on to sample the sweet crepes, spoilt for choice between the one with caramelised apples, cinnamon and rum, or the other with strawberries and Grand Marnier.

Of course, we then lingered over our coffees, warmed by the log fires.

So Nairobi’s loss of Le Rustique is Nanyuki’s gain. And, I’m sure, it won’t be long before we think up another excuse for a business trip to Laikipia.