Tag Archives: Tokara restaurant

Tokara Delicatessen a huge improvement, with new management and chef!

Mimagey first visit in 2010 to what was then called Tokara DeliCATessen was very disappointing. In July the ownership team of the Tokara Restaurant took over the management of the now named Tokara Delicatessen, and moved its Chef Aviv Liebenberg from its Tokara Restaurant to the Delicatessen, raising the bar greatly!

Previously the Tokara Delicatessen was managed by Tokara owner GT Ferreira’s wife and daughter, and a succession of chefs was in the kitchen over the years. Food was average and service poor, but the building Continue reading →

‘Taste of Cape Town 2012’ tastes very good, Tokara tops!

Taste of Cape Town is part of an international festival of food, run with the same name in cities around the world annually, and is running in Cape Town for the fifth year, at the conveniently located Green Point Cricket Club. The food quality of the dishes prepared in less than ideal conditions by fourteen top restaurants is much improved compared to previous years, when it felt ‘mass produced’, and is excellent this year.  It is an inexpensive way to get a taste of what some of the Cape’s best chefs are capable of.  Commendable was that the chefs were hands-on and on duty at their stands. We rated Pop-Up stand Tokara tops, when we attended on opening day on Thursday evening.

Parking is an annual nightmare, and if one is not there when the gates open, one has to be prepared to walk quite a distance.  The road outside the festival entrance had parking on one side only when we arrived, but had doubled up to the other side of the road on our return. Parking can only get harder to find over the next two days. The lady in the ticket office was unprofessional when selling us the entrance tickets.  The entry package is confusing, costing R80 only for entrance and a tasting glass, or R200 for a tasting glass, entrance and 20 crowns (the payment method for food and drinks) but is marked as R120, or R650 for a special package price.

The organisers appear to have struggled to get restaurants to participate, only a handful having committed when Taste of Cape Town 2012 was first announced.  We have heard that they had to beg restaurants to participate, the deal being that there is no stand fee payable, and that the organisers and restaurants equally share the crown income.  Some high profile restaurants participating in the past (e.g. Le Quartier Français, Pierneef a La Motte, Reuben’s) were visible by their absence. There seemed to be more space allocated for the stands this year, especially the restaurant ones, which allowed them to bring decor elements from their restaurants into the stand.  Signal Restaurant of the Cape Grace Hotel (photograph above) was probably the most attractively decorated, but small touches and large photographs of their interior were used by most restaurants to attract attention to their stands.  Each restaurant offered a selection of three dishes, which were priced in terms of crowns (1 crown is R5).  The average crown price for a main course dish is 6 – 8 crowns, allowing three dishes at most to be bought from one booklet.  The stand layout is circular, and one tends to start at the right and make one’s way around.  The stands are widely spread over the field, so that one does not feel crowded. The hardest decision is to choose at which restaurant stands to spend one’s crowns.  Running parallel to the restaurant stands were wine and beer brand stands, which did not attract as much attention as those of the restaurants, mainly because they were smaller. It took us at least an hour to walk around the field once, with many chat stops along the way, and generous offers of chefs to try their dishes. Chef Henrico Grobbelaar of the Azure Restaurant at the Twelve Apostles Hotel ran out of his makeshift kitchen, and asked us to try his Beef fillet with lentil ragout, almond cream and parmesan crumbs, the steak being beautifully soft.

Tokara Restaurant had taken the Taste Pop-Up stand on Thursday, which will be rotated daily, with Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine hosting it today, and La Mouette tomorrow.  Tokara’s stand had by far the most beautiful and sophisticated food of all the stands we tried, and they reflect Chef Richard Carstens’ recently launched winter menu, rich in flavour, and beautiful in colour (left), especially his Bobotie-spiced chicken with eggplant pickle, turmeric crisp and tomato, but his Togarashi beef sashimi tartare, sushi rice, wasabi mayonnaise, ponzu, jalapeno and cashews impressing as well.  The Japanese style cheesecake was light as a feather, a lovely medley of tastes of pear, jasmine, green tea, and almonds.  The SABC2 Expresso Show was filming Chef Richard when we arrived at the stand.

Chef Bertus Basson shared his Overture stand with partner Craig Cormack of Sofia’s at Morgenster, and their star attraction was one of Bertus’ new projects, being his ‘WORS-ROL’ served with home-made ketchup and ‘wonder-mostert sous‘.  Chef Bertus wore the T-shirt as well, and stickers with the fun sub-brand were handed out. Other chefs with stands came to get this special hot dog.  The beetroot risotto, beetroot puree, served with beetroot, honey and cumin ice cream looked very striking. River trout pastrami, cocette potatoes, and lemon preserve salad, as well as a Banana split with caramel and peanuts were also served.  La Colombe is next to the Pop-up stand, and Chef Scot Kirton served a prawn, coconut and lemongrass velouté, with prawns and chestnut, creatively in an egg shell on a stand. They also offer an Asian style beef carpaccio with shitake mushrooms, sesame crema, avcado and nori puffs. The dessert was a delicious sounding chocolate torte, tobacco caramel, Hennessy marshmallow fluff, coffee meringues and hazelnut crumble. One of the stands with the largest number of food lovers was that of Makaron of Majeka House in Stellenbosch.  Chef Tanja Kruger’s Majeka burger is made from Spier pasture-reared beef, in a brioche bun, with foie gras butter, caramelised red onion and crispy coppa. They also offered a prawn laksa with sesame, coconut, basmati rice and sauce; as well as Cauliflower custards, popcorn powder, popped wild rice, truffle caviar, and sweetcorn velouté.

I had an interesting chat with the Food & Beverage Manager of 15 on Orange about whether hotel restaurants can ever reach the standards of independent restaurants.   Food & Beverage Manager Andreas van Breda at the Mount Nelson Hotel was at the Planet Restaurant counter, and told me the Titanic dinner had been a great success.  Chef Rudi Liebenberg came to say hello, and said that they are running an amended version of the menu until the end of April, at R330. Other restaurant stands were Bistro Sixteen82 with Chef Brad Ball and his team from Steenberg Hotel, Fyndraai Restaurant with chef Shaun Schoeman, the Taj Hotel restaurant collection of Mint and Bombay Brasserie, led by Chef Shyam Langani, Il leone Mastrantonio with Chef Daniel Toledo, 96 Winery Road with Chef Natasha Wray, and The Westin Executive Club Restaurant led by Chef Johann Breedt.

There appeared to be fewer beverage stands this year.  Some of the exhibitors included Boston Breweries, De Wetshof, Ernie Els, Gordon’s Gin, Hardenberg Kleiner Keiler Spicy Cherry Liqueur, Hermanuspietersfontein, Idiom, Jägermeister, Neil Joubert, Morgenster, Castle Milk Stout, The Goose, Thelema/Sutherland, Villiera, Vinotria, Warwick, Waterford, Waverley Hills, and Wedderwill.  A small market has been set up, as in previous years, and includes Bottega, Buffalo Ridge, Cape Mountain Charcuterie, La Petite France cheeses, ORYX desert salt, Queen of Tarts, Sugar Coated Raindrops with beautiful cupcakes, Yummy Brownies, and lots more.  Pick ‘n Pay is a major participant, with a Fresh Living Chef’s Theatre which has demo’s by most of the chefs with stands demonstrating the making of their Taste of Cape Town or other dishes. There is also a Wine and Canapé Experience.  Entrance to the Pick ‘n Pay events is free of charge, but is not made clear.  There are no announcements about the events prior to their start.

It is impossible to get close to trying all 43 of the dishes offered by the 14 restaurants, and therefore it is advisable to take one’s time to check out the menus of each stand, and then to go back to choose the three most special ones, to buy from one’s booklet of crowns.  Eating a top chef’s food with biodegradable cutlery and crockery, ‘mass produced’ under trying conditions is not the best way to appreciate the chefs’ dishes, but Taste of Cape Town 2012 is a good first and inexpensive way to get a bite of what some of our top Cape restaurants have to offer.

Taste of Cape Town 2012, Green Point Cricket Club, Cape Town. 21 April 13h00 – 17h00 and 18h30 – 22h30, and 22 April 12h00 – 17h00. www.tastefestivalssa.co.za Twitter: @TasteofCT

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage

La Motte rolls out the red carpet for 2012 Best of Wine Tourism Awards!

I have never seen the red carpet rolled out at La Motte’s entrance, but yesterday the wine estate proudly welcomed fellow wine estates for the 2012 Best of Wine Awards of the South African leg of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network Best of Wine competition, and received the award as the overall South African winner for 2012.

Cape Winelands District Municipality Executive Mayor Neels de Bruyn said that our country’s membership of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network has raised the profile of our Winelands, and allows wine estates to benchmark themselves against the world’s top wine tourism players.  He added that for our country to achieve its national goal of becoming a top 20 destination by 2020, wine tourism would play an important role.  To this end Vindaba is planned to be held in September next year.

The winners in each category were as follows:

Sustainable Wine Tourism Service: Waverley Hills Organic Wine and Olive Farm in Tulbagh, with La Motte highly commended.  Waverley wines ‘are produced in the most sustainable way’ in the total production process, and this leads to the making of organically certified wines. They also have a hiking trail in their fynbos garden, have a fynbos nursery, have implemented a waste recycling programme, they manage invasive alien plants, conserve water, educate children at schools in the area, and help to restore river systems in the upper Breede area.  This category was judged by Joan Isham, BWI extension officer.

Wine Tourism Services: Waterford in Stellenbosch, with Steenberg Vineyards highly commended. At Waterford, wine tasting is enjoyed in a relaxed space, and the families that help to make the wines are introduced to tasters.  Staff are passionate, knowledgeable about their wine, farm and region, and customer-focused. This category was judged by tour operator Margi Biggs.

Wine Tourism Experiences: Solms-Delta in Franschhoek, with Spier highly commended.  Solms-Delta was recognised for its archaeological and historic tour, interactive museum, a garden with culinary and medicinal ingredients used by the early inhabitants of the valley, a menu at Fyndraai restaurant which incorporates the ingredients, its passionate and enthusiastic staff, and its innovative programme of social upliftment, empowerment and profit-sharing.  This category was judged by wine and food journalist Myrna Robinson.

Wine Tourism Restaurants: Tokara Restaurant, with Rust en Vrede highly commended. Tokara was praised for its beautiful setting, good modern food, professional service, wine appreciation, and opening hours.  This particular award is named in honour of Lannice Snyman, and was judged by restaurant reviewer JP Rossouw.

Accommodation: Delaire Graff Lodges & Spa, with Grande Provence highly commended. The accommodation has excellent views, state-of-the-art equipment, 600-threadcount Egyptian cotton, welcoming perfection, outstanding service, and encouragement by the staff for visitors to visit other wine farms too, ‘epitomising what Wine Tourism is all about’.  This category was judged by wine writer Joanne Gibson.

Architecture & Landscapes: Waterkloof in Somerset West, with La Motte highly commended. Waterkloof was praised for its unpretentious modern winery perched on a hill, ‘perfectly proportioned columns’ inside, which are filled with natural light and offer framed views, its Scandinavian restaurant furniture, ‘mysterious oversized paintings‘, its warm and welcoming tasting area around a fireplace, its open kitchen, and its biodynamic farming based on minimising its environmental impact.  ‘A dramatic interplay of architecture, agriculture and the natural landscape can be experienced by visitors‘.  This category was judged by architects Johan van Papendorp and Alex Robertson.

Art and Culture: La Motte, with Delaire Graff highly commended.  Art and culture are the foundation of La Motte, especially with the presence of JH Pierneef, embodied in the name of its restaurant and for bringing the collection of one of our most famed artists back to the country, and creating a special gallery for it.  This category was judged by Marilyn Martin, Director of Art Collections for Iziko Museums.

Overall winner:  La Motte, for its ‘consistently high performance across other categories it had also entered’.

The Great Wine Capitals Global Network consists of Mainz-Rheinhessen in Germany, Bilboa-Rioja in Spain, Bordeaux in France, Florence in Italy, Mendoza in Argentina, Porto in Portugal, San Franciso-Napa in the USA, Christchurch in New Zealand, and our Cape Winelands.

I sat at the table with representatives of Tokara and Solms-Delta, and the biggest surprise of all was sitting next to JP Rossouw, our first meeting.  JP is not ever seen at industry functions, but he attended as judge in the Restaurant category. He told me and Tokara Chef Richard Carstens that the judging for his 3-star restaurants had closed in March, to get his annual restaurant guide printed in Singapore.  At that time Pierneef à La Motte and Tokara had only been operating with their new chefs for six months, and therefore he did not award them 3-stars for 2012, explaining the contradiction of his Great Wine Capitals best restaurant selection.   The other restaurants that were of a high standard were Waterkloof, Rust en Vrede, and Pierneef à La Motte, JP said, and their quality was almost equally high.  JP was very gracious about our meeting, and is looking forward to the birth of his twins in January.  Chef Richard seemed happy with the recognition he received yesterday, after the shock exclusion (not just to him but also to many chefs and restaurant lovers) from the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant list on Sunday.

We had an enjoyable lunch at Pierneef à La Motte, with Chef Chris Erasmus in attendance, and my choice of Franschhoek Trout, sorrel and asparagus velouté, poached baby potatoes and braised fennel was perfect. The alternative choice was grilled venison.  A Cape cheese plate followed, with healthy rye and wholewheat breads, berries and a fruit chutney.  Coffee and dessert treats were served under the oak trees, and included mini Cape fruit tarts, chocolate truffles, macaroons, fynbos blancmange with guava and granadilla jus, warm malva pudding honey cakes, ginger and rooibos syrup.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage

Tokara Restaurant celebrates two firsts, third to come?

Yesterday I attended the first birthday celebration of Tokara Restaurant with its new management team and chef Richard Carstens, and its tenth anniversary overall. It co-incided with the news that Tokara Restaurant had been named the best Winelands restaurant in South Africa by the Great Wine Capitals Global Network the evening before.

The first birthday celebration was an opportunity for Chef Richard to present four items off his new summer menu, and for the main restaurant players to look back on the first year, in which 22000 guests had been served, with such dignitaries as the Dutch royal family amongst them.  Owner Wilhelm Kühn told us that Stellenbosch locals support the restaurant in the main, appreciating its views, at sunset in particular, and the quality of the food, wines and service.

The amuse bouche was a small colourful collection representing Chef Richard’s creativity, consisting of a cob sashimi, compressed watermelon, with crisped seaweed and ginger ponzu, each item creating work to make up this opening taster.  As Chef Richard is so hands-on in the kitchen, it is a shame that he is not able to explain to his guests how he creates each of his masterpieces. This was followed by what was the highlight of the meal for me, being a Baked Alaska of rainbow trout, with a soft meringue, on which was served smoked salmon ice cream, with citrus salsa, and a ginger, soya and mirin sauce.  Sommelier Jaap-Henk Koelewijn told us that he worked with Chef Richard at Lynton Hall in 2003, a Top 10 restaurant in Richard’s reign, and that he had said that he would love to work at Tokara one day.  Jaap-Henk has been with Jardine and Tokara for five years now, and expressed his gratitude to Tokara owner GT Ferreira for allowing him to add other wines to the winelist, as he felt that the Tokara wines are strong enough to stand up to these.  He has sought balance in the list, across different price points, and chosen winemakers with passion.  He has a number of wines by the glass, and ‘chops and changes’ his winelist as Chef Richard changes his menu, which is frequent, he said.

The second starter was an attractive salad of turnips, a trio of mushroom styles (marinated, seared, and soil), goat’s milk cheese, pear, pea sponge, and hazelnut streussel, served with a Tokara Chardonnay dressing.  Manager Johan Terblanche spoke about his good service staff, and how he whittled down 800 Gumtree applications he had received before they opened the restaurant.  He has a mix of permanent and student waiters, and they meet with Chef Richard before every service, so that he can explain the menu to them.  All staff try Chef Richard’s new creations.  He described Chef Richard as a ‘giving and sharing chef, with an amazing brain’.

A tiny intermezzo of rose geranium sorbet served with a wasabi and lemon emulsion was a fresh palate cleanser. The main course was slices of beef fillet served with wasabi potatoes, finished off with a blow torch!  It appeared the most ‘simple’ dish of the day, served with asparagus, blanched tomato, carrot puree, wasabi yoghurt, and teriyake jus. Chef Richard said that he is working with a brand new team, not having brought any previous kitchen staff along, and they are passionate. There is perfect synergy between the front of house and the kitchen, and he calls his kitchen his ‘training school’.  His sous chef Zané Pelser has just returned from Australia, having worked with Australia’s Chef of the Year Dan Hunter at the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld, who grows his own herbs and vegetables.  She praised Chef Richard for the repertoire that he has built up over twenty years, and that he is not side-tracked by whims. She said he makes ‘magic out of everyday ingredients’.

I had to get to a 15h00 appointment, and therefore missed out on Chef Richard’s dessert of coconut panna cotta, coriander ice cream, and cucumber sorbet (photograph supplied by Tokara).

I am convinced that Tokara Restaurant will not only feature in the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards list on 20 November, but that Richard Carstens will be named our country’s Top Chef and the restaurant crowned as number one.  Chef Richard has been criticised for his lack of staying power at restaurants, having lost out on a number of Top 10 awards for not staying at a restaurant for a year, but he seems to have found his ‘home’ and happiness at Tokara.

POSTSCRIPT 4/11: I popped in at Tokara, after a concert at the Endler Hall this evening, and Chef Richard offered me a dessert off his new summer menu, introduced today, and well received by their guests.  I chose a chocolate pavé, crémeux, with chocolate ice cream, meringue, and aerated chocolate, served with an amazing basil ice cream, a surprisingly good marriage with the chocolate.

Tokara Restaurant, Helshoogte Pass, Stellenbosch.  Tel (021) 885-2550.  www.tokararestaurant.co.za Twitter:@Tokara_

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage