RUBBING shoulders with some of the country's leading artists, artisans and craftspeople, who are in the newly formed Trenery Guild, at the affluent French Lane in Joburg's Morningside on Thursday was quite an experience.
Trenery has partnered with creatives including textile artists Pierre Fouche and Pierre le Riche, Swaady Martin of Yswara, Marie Aoun of Saint d’Ici and Schalk Pienaar from Pienaar & Son.
The Trenery Guild collaboration kicked off this month and continues until June. The creatives have been commissioned to do artworks and unique in-store activations such as gallery-like exhibitions, tea-making, niche accent journeys and gin tasting.
Our welcome tipple was Pienaar & Son’s gin and to add a special touch, they played Pierre Fouche’s video clip which brought us closer to his love of the craft. The way he describes fabrics makes one appreciate the art a little more.
Chef Wandile Mabaso, who trained in classical French cuisine, was our designated chef for lunch.
He had to put together a menu that enthused all the creatives and so he delivered a four-course gourmet meal with each course paired with wine.
“I was tasked with expressing our collaborators that we have here with Trenery. It took a lot of thinking and practising. Each course comes out in a way that captures the story behind it.”
When we got to tuck in, I thoroughly enjoyed the entrée, inspired by Yswara and called the "herbal organic flavour of the earth". It was served with a shot of the chef's Yswara hibiscus tea.