[spasie] underground restaurant goes into hibernation, ends off on KWV highlight!

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Yesterday underground restaurant [spasie] announced that it was going into hibernation for an undefined period at the end of June, following the departure from Cape Town earlier this week of its founder Gregory Zeleny and his partner Sven Finkeldeh. For me the KWV dinner a week ago with Chef Mynhardt Joubert preparing a meal with honey in each course was a highlight.

Gregory (right) was denied permission to get his visa to work in South Africa renewed. [spasie] had operated for the past two years. One thing I never asked Gregory was why he chose an Afrikaans name for the secret dining experience. In their farewell message, they wrote that ‘…our little #spasie can pop-up almost anywhere’.

I had been for dinner at [spasie] with my friend Adele Maartens a week ago, and there was no indication of the imminent closure that evening. The chef in the kitchen that night was Mynhardt Joubert, who was the co-winner of the first season of Kokkedoor, and who now works for the KWV in preparing food for its events. With him from the KWV was its super-talented winemaker Izele van Blerk, whom we were lucky to share the table with. When I attended the opening of [upstairs] spasie on First Thursday in May, I received a voucher for a [spasie] dinner.

Gregory has two businesses, having started with Secret Eats, which changed its secret destination each time it staged an event, and only revealed its location in the last minute to those that had booked. [spasie] used the former exhibition and later advertising agency space of Haas on Church Street, on the border of Bo-Kaap, each time it had a function. It had a foyer for the welcome drink, opening onto an open-plan kitchen, and a large dining room, initially with one long table, or two, depending on the number of bookings. It was a surprise therefore that the long table was not fully occupied last week, as it had been reserved for a birthday group, and that smaller tables had been set up around the room, meaning that we did not get to meet any of the other diners, with one exception, a Blog reader I had not met before connecting with me as we left.

I had only met Chef Mynhardt once before, when he had a small restaurant in Paarl, down the road from the KWV. He had been active in the kitchen from earlier that day, to prepare our four course dinner. Our welcome drink, which we enjoyed in the foyer/kitchen area and allowed us a reconnection with Chef Mynhardt and Izele, was a relatively new KWV Taillefert MCC premium 100% Pinot Noir Walker Bay.

We were shown to our table, just four of us, but we felt that we had the greatest fun of all present. We asked for more light for the photographs, which was granted initially, but after a complaint from another diner they had to be switched off again. I went to the kitchen to photograph all the food dishes. At our table was a wooden board with a glass of KWV Cruxland Gin, and alongside it a date on a stick, a slice of ginger, and a stick of cinnamon. The menu indicated that we would be creating our own ‘Lawrence of Arabia Cruxland Gin inspired Aperitif‘! We had to add the ingredients as well as a jug of warm honey (coming from Champagne farm in Franschhoek), as well as Adi Badenhorst’s Swaan Cape tonic water. Cruxland contains nine Botanicals, including coriander, cardamom, honey bush, juniper berries, aniseed, Rooibos, lemons, almond, and uniquely to any other local gin, Kalahari (N’abbas) truffles! Izele told us that Cruxland is made by the KWV’s Brandy department, and is double distilled.

The first dish served by Chef Mynhardt was a beautiful roasted pumpkin salad with heirloom carrots and honey glazed nuts. This Izele had paired with KWV The Mentors Chenin Blanc 2012.

The second course was an unusual spicy saffron Vietnamese broth which was accompanied by honey and ginger prawns. KWV The Mentors Grenache Blanc 2011 was paired with this course, Izele highlighting its earthiness, and florals in the glass. It spent six months in barrel.

A highlight of the dinner was a slow-roasted pork belly ravioli with honey sage butter sauce (yum!), which was served with KWV The Mentors Chardonnay 2012, made from grapes from Elgin. Izele shared that it took them nine years to master making Chardonnay, having only used new oak barrels previously. They researched the effect of warmer climate grapes and cooperage on their making of Chardonnay, tested various aspects of the wine, taking ‘six to seven years to understand it a bit’ she said understatedly. They do not oak it too much, creating an elegant Chardonnay. It is her favorite white wine in their range. They won a Decanter Trophy for best South African Chardonnay.

I rarely drink Brandy, but I loved their 12 year old Brandy, which we drank with the dessert of honey and vanilla ice cream, Brandy pears, and slices of fried banana bread. Izelle shared that the Brandy had been produced exclusively for Makro. When it was submitted to a show in London, it won best Brandy in the World two years ago! Last year their 20-year old Cognac-style Brandy won best Brandy in the world.

Izele told me that the KWV does not grow any of its own grapes, instead buying in grapes from 68 producers between Elim and Lutzville. They have two viticulturists checking on the grapes, and the balling determines when the grapes will be picked. She also said that they only use French oak barrels for their white wines. While Australian Richard Rowe worked at the KWV as chief winemaker, he developed a ‘world class vinoteque’, she shared. She also told us how ‘The Mentors‘ name came about. Given that the KWV winemakers are relatively young, they used industry stalwarts such as Neil Ellis, Ian McKenzie from Australia, and Charles Back as their mentors, tasting their wines with them for feedback and guidance. I was particularly delighted to hear that Izele’s mentor is Neil Ellis, who was my classmate at high school in Wellington.

There being no coffee offered at [spasie], the four of us went to Villa 47 for coffee.

We wish [spasie] a good rest, and look forward to seeing what will happen to [spasie] in future, and where it will pop up next! UPSTAIRS by [spasie] on Bree Street continues as a gallery and cocktail bar, as well as an events venue.

POSTSCRIPT 18/6: Gregory responded to our Blogpost above, explaining that Francois Irvine, the owner of the Church Street venue, suggested the name, to describe its suitability for a variety of events showcasing talent and skill.