Why to visit Totties Farm Kitchen near Knysna

By Roxanne Reid
If ever you get a chance to explore the Rheenendal Ramble – an informal lucky packet of stops along the Rheenendal Road 15km west of Knysna on South Africa’s Garden Route – make sure you visit Totties Farm Kitchen for lunch or tea. You’ll get good food in charmingly old-fashioned surroundings. 

When we visited in summer the garden was a blaze of colourful flowers. There were pink roses tumbling over the entrance, succulents planted vertically in a box, chairs hanging from the fence, and a big galvanised bath with flowers in it above the gate. Don’t miss the fun of exploring the garden with its pond and waterfall, its gazebo and white tables in the shade. 

​We chose to sit inside the historical old house so we could enjoy the pictures of tractors on the walls and ceiling, the sepia tones of ruined buildings, an ox-wagon and an ancient car passing each other on the road, woodcutters and windmills. 

Granny’s doilies got a second wind as place-mats, a candle perched in an elegant bone china teacup, dolls and old bric a brac made themselves at home in the entrance and the guestbook rested on an old ironing board. ​

​Expect huge portions of tasty food beautifully presented with rosebuds and a smile. I enjoyed my veggie wrap, which was stuffed full of veggies and tasty pesto, while the side salad could have been a meal on its own. One of the other diners declared his gigantic burger delicious. Although he looked like a farmer with a big appetite, he confessed that he couldn’t finish it and asked for a doggie bag.

Totties Farm Kitchen also does Sunday lunch (and weddings) in a big function room next door that looks out over another tumble of roses and a play area for kids. There were books for browsing on the tables, while rusty bedsprings, old suitcases, a rusted hoe and a blue-and-white door hung suspended from the ceiling. Elsewhere was an old treadle sewing machine, rusted saw blades reminiscent of Knysna’s woodcutter days and photos of the first steam train in town.

​How did it get its name?
The restaurant is named after Florence Eleanor van Reenen, nicknamed ‘Tottie’ because she used to call her grandchildren ‘Little Tots’. Born in New Zealand in 1878, she came to South Africa as a nurse during the Anglo-Boer War. She started a general dealer and butcher here in 1922 to supply the staff from her husband’s sawmill. Part of the restaurant used to be her house, and today it’s run by descendants of her family.

Go to enjoy the garden, the food or the bric a brac; just don’t pitch up on a Monday or Tuesday, when you'll be disappointed to find it closed.

Open: Wed to Sat 8:00 till 16:00; Sun 12:00 till 15:00 (buffet)
Closed: Mon and Tues

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