What a clever idea of the Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa to combine its special location at the foot of the Twelve Apostles and its starlit sky with a special dinner, calling it strikingly ‘Astronomy Gastronomy‘!  

I had invited my friend Bettie Coetzee Lambrecht to join me, and by luck we had chosen the perfect evening for the stargazing, having been offered a choice of two dates by FIVESTAR PR, from whom we had received the invitation on behalf of the Twelve Apostles.  The dinner was held at The Café Grill, but with a special reduced menu for the evening having been compiled from the Azure menu, and having been prepared by Executive Chef Christo Pretorius and his deputy Chef  Chris Mare.  We were welcomed with a glass of Nederburg Brut NV, and soon Kechil Kirkham, one of our astronomy guides came to greet us, being one of two partners of Over the Moon Astronomy Tours, with Chris de Coning.  Kechil is a presenter on FMR on Fridays at 18h00, talking about astronomy, Bettie shared, listening to her program regularly. Michael Nel, the new General Manager of the hotel after Horst Frehse was promoted to Executive Director of the hotel last week, came to greet us too.  He has been at the hotel since 2006, having previously worked at some of the Red Carnation hotels in the UK. I had seen Horst at a meeting of the Camps Bay Business Forum earlier in the day, and he apologised that he would not see us at the dinner, as he was attending a function that evening.

We were given a special packaged menu, with a silver cover and hotel branding, offering us a choice of starters, main courses, and desserts. The bread basket was a delight, and the home-made seed loaf was wonderful, with whole macadamia nuts.  Rye bread, olive bread, a seeded roll, and ciabatta were also included, with butter and a yummy snoek paté, the latter being hotel owner Bea Tollman’s special recipe.  Always humble and soft and gentle, Chef Christo brought the amuse bouche to the table himself, being a prawn croquette and mushroom purée, with the clever touch of little stars, to set the astronomical scene for the evening.   He told us how successful their stand at Taste Cape Town was, and that their pork dish (Char Sui mirin-glazed pork belly with pork popcorn shaped from crackling, bitterballen created from pork shoulder, pea purée, plum chutney, and a cider jus) had sold 3000 portions over the four days, probably the best seller of all the restaurant stands. 

I was given the winelist, and Bettie and I had a glass of an excellent Thelema Sutherland Pinot Noir 2012. I chose as a starter duck terrine, which was served with liver parfait, a port gel, pistachio crumble, and blackberry jam.  Bettie enjoyed her attractively plated salmon trout tartare and  roulade dish with smoked roe, sweet and sour mushrooms, vanilla aioli, and watercress. Other starter choices were chicken noodle soup, a fresh vegetable salad, and prawn dhal.

Bettie marvelled at the plating of her blesbok main course, which was served with orange sweet potato, bulgar wheat salad, forest mushrooms, roasted beetroot, cashew sour cream, juniper berry crumble, and gooseberries.  I chose roast chicken, the polenta having been replaced with mash, as per my request. The chicken portions were stuffed with mushroom farce (a mix of mushrooms and chicken), and were served with pumpkin purée, toasted buckwheat ragout, king oyster mushrooms, and walnuts.  Other mains were the catch of the day, served with split pea salad, cauliflower purée, asparagus, baby marrows, coconut gel, and oyster cream; traditional chicken schnitzel; and Mrs Tollman’s Cape Malay chicken curry, served with star-aniseed basmati rice, sambals, warm butter roti, and a poppadum.   As if we did not have enough choices of what to eat, vegetarian options were offered too.

Desserts were offered as a fruit selection served with honey crème fraiche; chocolate mousse served with frozen espresso bombe, banana pudding, chocolate sauce, rock candy and gold leaf, which was my choice, which I received with a perfectly made dry cappuccino; Bettie ordered the vanilla créme brûlée served the traditional way, according to the menu, in a long narrow vessel; and scoops of ice cream and sorbet, served with a toasted sesame and poppy seed crisp. The Café Grill is a more informal restaurant of the hotel, being used for serving breakfast, afternoon tea, and light meals, 24 hours a day.

Once everyone had finished eating, we were led up the mountain, a short slight uphill walk past the hotel’s vegetable and herb garden,  and alongside and underneath ancient milkwood trees, lit by lanterns along the way and guided by the hotel staff.  We arrived at The Kraal, which was once a cow shed, only a few pieces of low walls remaining, with a table set up of gourmet teas, hot chocolate, and coffee, as well as petit fours, which we could not see in the darkness.  Impressive was that Gavin Ferreira, the hotel’s Food & Beverage Manager, came up in the dark to check that all was in order.   A platter of the star and planet inspired treats was recreated for us when we returned to the restaurant, so that I could photograph it.

Chris and Kechil each had a telescope, and used pointers to identify different stars and planets, against the dramatic backdrop of the Twelve Apostles, backlit from the light of the Southern Suburbs. We could see the lights of the Cableway station from our stargazing location.  We were shown the Southern Cross with its two pointers, and the false one, with none.  We were shown how to navigate without instruments, just looking at the Southern Cross and its two pointers.  One of the pointers of the Southern Cross, Alpha Centauri, is closest to the earth of all stars.  We saw the astrological constellations of Scorpio, Libra, Virgo, Leo, and the crab (Cancer), being in a band and following each other as they do by time band.

We were shown Sirius, the brightest star, and told that the Egyptians were told to clear their homes along the Nile when they first sighted it each year, as two weeks after its sighting it could be predicted that there would be severe flooding of the river. We saw Mars (more pink than red) and Saturn, Omega Centauri (the largest cluster in the Milky Way), Corvus the crow, Muska the Fly, Chamaeleon, Pavo (the Peacock), and Herschel’s Jewel Box.  It feels as if the stars are moving, being an optical illusion, but it is in fact the earth that is moving, with the stars being in a constant position.  We were told that the speed of light from the sun to earth is 8 minutes, while it is 1 second from the moon to the earth, being 3000 km away.   Mars is 2 minutes to earth, Jupiter is 1 hour away, and Saturn 1,5 hours away.   We were told how to find the Southern Celestial Point, which is used in naval navigation.  We were told that the Milky Way is the centre of the galaxy, and Sagittarius is close to this point, which amused Bettie and I, as we are both Sags. We were told about the star constellation Mensa, which was named after our city’s Table Mountain, being in a cloud galaxy, making Louis de Lacaille discovering the constellation in 1754 think of our famous mountain with clouds when he named it.  It is the only mountain in the world that has a star named after it.  The biggest meteorite (named when it hits the earth, as opposed to a meteor which disintegrates in space) in the world is the Hoba one that is near Grootfontein in Namibia, being of solid metal, weighing 60 tons, and being at least 80 million years old.  At Vredefort, near Parys, an asteroid 10 km in diameter fell about 2 billion years ago, long before there was life on earth, we were told.  The gold mines form a rim around it.  We spent more than an hour stargazing, and the hot chocolate and blankets which the hotel provided were welcome warmth.

It was a most unusual evening, not only enjoying an excellent dinner, with an excellent wine, but it also taking me back to my childhood,when my parents would show us the stars where we lived in Wellington, and also on our holidays to Namibia.  I learnt about many more constellations, and must salute the Twelve Apostles for creating such an unusual dining experience.  Gavin and I had a long chat on the phone the day after the dinner, and I encouraged him (with Chef Christo) to add further celestial touches to the menu, and he told me that they had previously had a Milky Way dessert, which sounded perfect.  I would have loved a summary booklet of the information which Kechil and Chris shared with us, for further reading when one gets home, as it is hard to take notes in the dark.

Disclosure:  Our media pack contained the first issue of the 2014 The Red Carnation Magazine, and a notebook.

Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa: ‘Astronomy Gastronomy’ organised as special events, to be re-introduced later this year, currently costing R395.  Tel (021) 437-9000   www.12aposatleshotel.com    Twitter:@12_Apostles

Over the Moon Astronomy Tours, Tel (021) 671-9519. www.overthemoontours.co.za

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