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Autumn and Winter 2013 Cape Town and Winelands Restaurant Specials!

The Autumn and Winter 2013 specials for Cape Town and Winelands restaurants follow below, and are updated continuously. We welcome information about new specials, and feedback about your meals at these restaurants:

*   Pepenero in Mouille Point : Sirloin and chips R89, Lamb shank lasagne R99, Seafood platter R149, Sushi platter R129, Crayfish tails R169, Chicken schnitzel R85, Minestrone R65, Chicken liver pasta R80, Prawn platter R119. Half price sushi all day. Daily. Tel (021) 439-9027 (updated 2/9)

*   Theo’s on Beach Road, Mouille Point: Oysters R8 each, Seafood soup R55, Prawn special R110, Linefish and prawn combo R99, Linefish and calamari R99, Sole and Calamari R99, Rump or sirloin R99, Spare Ribs R99, Rump Espetada R99, 250g Lobster and prawn platter R139; Seafood platter R125. Tel (021) 439-3494 (updated 12/6)

*   Sevruga in the V&A Waterfront: 2 course lunch R125, 3 courses R165, 4 courses R195;  half price sushi and dim sum Monday – Saturday 12h00 – 18h00; 25 % off sushi and Continue reading →

Top Australian Chef Neil Perry praises SA cuisine, advocates SA ‘Food Safaris’!

Neil Perry, top Australian chef of flagship restaurant Rockpool in Sydney, visited chefs and restaurants in South Africa earlier this month, and has returned to his home country, encouraging Australians to experience our ‘Food Safaris’, reports Southern African Tourism Update. His trip was widely reported, and the Sydney Morning Herald sent journalist Anthony Dennis to accompany Chef Perry on his culinary tour, an unfortunate choice with his emphasis on our apartheid past in his article!  Not only did the visit and resultant publicity reflect our country’s unique cuisine, but it also has tourism marketing benefits, the visit having been sponsored by SA Tourism.

Chef Perry’s journey started off at the elite and exclusive boutique hotel Ellerman House in Bantry Bay, where he did a braai of crayfish tails with his Asian touch, kingklip, and soy-marinated yellowtail.  He was assisted by Ellerman House Head Chef Veronica Canha-Hibbert, who told the visiting chef that South Africa’s cuisine extends beyond game eaten next to a fire under a safari-style boma. ‘But in South Africa there’s a group of highly trained, skilled chefs who are creating a strong food culture and identity‘, she said.

Dennis praised our country’s ‘fine wine, great seafood and where the barbeque…is a favoured cooking appliance’. It is a shame then that he digs into our country’s past, writing that ‘apartheid can still cast a shadow, even over the dining table’, singling out MasterChef SA judge and Chef Benny Masekwameng as one of few ‘Black South African chefs’. Chef Benny told the journalist that the eating habits of the ‘majority of black South Africans who live below the poverty line, not much has changed at the dinner table‘, but that the ‘middle class’ in our cities are increasingly exposed to global food trends! The ‘shanty towns’ on the way to the Winelands receive a predicted mention from the journalist too, contrasting them with the modern airport built for the 2010 World Cup.

Chef Perry praised the wine industry: ‘South Africa has got amazing wine credentials. One of the real positives is that it has a lot of old vines in the ground and you’re getting some fantastic maturity there’. He praised Franschhoek’s fine white wines. Calling Franschhoek’s Grande Provence a ‘lodge’, Chef Perry and the journalist enjoyed the creative cuisine of Chef Darren Badenhorst, who prepared a typical South African braai lunch for them, with Karoo lamb chops, free-range Spring chicken, and boerewors, ‘a traditional and delicious type of sausage’. The visiting team stayed over at La Residence in Franschhoek.

Their next stop was Phinda Game Reserve, where they enjoyed the traditional Boma dinner (‘with a dirt floor, stone and reed walls’).  They were treated to springbok, impala, and warthog, and entertained by the staff choir.  Chef Perry was impressed with our game meats, saying ‘it was really quite intense’, not having any Australian game (other than ‘Wallaby‘ on their menus, according to blogger Bruce Palling).   In Cape Town the Australian team had eaten springbok at The Twelve Apostle’s Azure for the first time, served as a ‘Cape fusion main course of springbok fillet with celeriac cream, roasted radish, orange tapioca and sultana-caper paste.  The rare, perfectly cooked meat has the consistencey of beef but with a distinct saltiness and dark chocolate-like richness’.

In Durban the visitors ate traditional Indian food, including bunny chow at the House of Curries, described as ‘classic street food from the apartheid years and is a feature of the national diet across all groups’! One wonders who fed Dennis this nonsense information!  In Johannesburg a Chef’s Table dinner at the San Restaurant at the Sandton Sun Hotel represents ‘the Rainbow Nation’s ethnic groups. Under apartheid, this congenial, multiracial gathering would have been deemed illegal‘. Chef Garth Schrier served the visiting chef more Bunny Chow, as an amuse bouche of a mini loaf of bread with a Cape Malay chicken prawn curry.

One wonders what SA Tourism’s understanding of our country’s cuisine is, and that of the Western Cape in particular.  With 16 of the top 19 Eat Out Restaurant Finalists based in the Cape, it is a surprise that not one of these top chefs, most of the calibre of Chef Perry, were exposed to the visiting chef.  At least up and coming Chef Darren Badenhorst at Grande Provence was included in the programme, even though he has not made the Top 19 list due to not having been in charge of the kitchen for a full year.  This is even more evident from the SA Tourism website’s Top 10 Wine estates (gastronomic) list, of which the compiler is not identified:

1.   Buitenverwachting

2.   Rust en Vrede

3.   La Colombe

4.   Pierneef à La Motte

5.   Terroir

6.   Bread and Wine

7.   Overture

8.   The Goatshed

9.   Fyndraai

10.  Tokara

Odd inclusions on the list are Bread and Wine, Fyndraai, and Fairview’s The Goatshed, while surprise exclusions are Delaire Graff’s two restaurants, Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine, the Restaurant at Waterkloof, and Grande Provence.  The ranking of Tokara in 10th’s position is an insult to the cuisine creativity of Chef Richard Carstens!

While all publicity for South Africa is fantastic, and in Australia’s leading newspaper even more so, it is a shame that a journalist should have turned a South Africa Food Safari story into an apartheid story, which is not the topic of his story at all.  One wonders what gives an Australian the right to point fingers at our country’s past, given their own Aborigine history!  It wouldn’t be a surprise if one were to find that Dennis has South African roots!  At least Chef Perry enjoyed his trip: ‘My food philosophy is all about local, high quality produce and fresh ingredients so I was thrilled to meet with like-minded chefs in South Africa’. He encouraged travellers to our country to ‘add a South African food safari to their bucket list’, advising that they visit the Winelands, shebeens, experience a Braai, and enjoy a seafood buffet on the beach.

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

Reserve Brasserie: more than a restaurant, fiery and spirited entertainment too!

Earlier this month the Reserve Brasserie opened in the space which has housed Brio, Riboville, and a Standard Bank, in a building going back to the  1830’s. It is now part of the larger Reserve, spanning Adderley Street to St George’s Mall, in a beautifully renovated building.  A visit a week later was a most enjoyable evening, with great service, comedy entertainment, and generous food servings.

I was invited to the opening party, at which canapés were served, but they did not really do justice to the type of food served.  I could only stay for a short time, having to also attend the opening night of ‘Queen at the Ballet’ at the Baxter Theatre.  The PR consultancy CSA invited me to return a week later, to try the menu, and to see the Reserve facilities.  I invited Bettie Coetzee-Lambrecht to join me, and we were treated royally from the minute we set foot into the Reserve Brasserie, which has its opening on Adderley Street.

I was a regular visitor to Brio, having loved what the previous owners Skippy and Lauren had done to restore the interior.  Louise van Niekerk did the interior of the Brasserie, we were told. The band stand and dance floor have been removed, and the space has been filled with more tables and chairs.  The lounge area near the bar has different furniture, and is more Indian-styled.  This is where we had a sherry to start with, and we were entertained and informed by the very knowledgeable waiter Francois Marais, who has worked for Riboville, Brio and now the Reserve Brasserie.  We were told that the Stander gang conducted their only unsuccessful bank heist in the building, not managing to steal any money.  The name for the Riboville restaurant came from the name of a horse on which owner George Sinovich had bet his last R10000, which was an outsider and paid out 100:1, allowing him to invest in the creation of the restaurant! Riboville once was Cape Town’s largest seller of caviar and of champagne, and also was known for having the largest restaurant wine collection of about 15000 bottles.

I was fascinated by the story of the ghost in the building, which Francois has experienced first hand, when he lived in the building’s 3rd floor for a while, and saw a shadow walking past the stained glass door on numerous occasions, but could never find any sign of a human being, knowing that he was the only person in the building after lock-up time.  He showed us the granite block, which looks like a tombstone, engraved with the name of Alfred Tattersall, born in 1910, and who was such a dedicated bookkeeper on the 3rd floor that he died in the office in 1953.  The spirit has made itself felt by the lift going up to the 3rd floor, even though it is locked to not proceed beyond the first floor, the lights swaying, and bottles of wine stored in the old bank vaults in the basement having been found open and drunk!  It reminded me of the spirit at Kitima, which we wrote about earlier this month.

Other changes to the Reserve Brasserie are the blue lighting around the bar, and a ceiling grid with mock ivy and flowers, the ‘hanging gardens’ bringing a more ‘outdoor’ and Italian feel to the inside of the restaurant, not having any windows to outside. Red lighting attracts attention to the ceiling, but its colour can change.  A large wall canvas of a beautiful lady facing the restaurant is striking, and is backlit by the candelabra. Francois told us that it is the late wife Anja of the owner of the building, her German husband Harald Sieck having put it up in the Reserve Brasserie in her honour.

The staff are passionate about the special space in which they work, and Creative Director Justin Paul Jansen and Francois took us to see The Reserve Club, separated from the Brasserie by a full length curtain.  The decorator who did the Club is Andy Graff, and she used beautiful paintings from Occulus for the alcoves, created seating corners, as well as a smoking and a non-smoking bar. The Club is pure ‘theatre’. Using lighter fluid, we were shown how they use pyrotechnics to add extra fun and fire to the experience at The Club. Nellie, the mobile elephant, is ready to do service, being wheeled in, with a pretty girl on it, to serve a bottle of ordered champagne. Justin demonstrated, by jumping onto the smoking bar, how he uses midget Papi to pour drinks from the top of the counter, direct into the mouths of his clients.  Events are held for upmarket beverage brands, and the couches allow clients to dance on top of them.  Strobe lighting is incorporated in a beautiful chandelier, and various colours light up the floor.  VIP clients have included Denzel Washington, Ryan Gosling, various sheiks, and more.

As it is not very light in the building, Francois organised a table lamp, to allow for better quality photographs. Seating for the 94 guests is a mix of red and gilded chairs, as well as black mock-snake wall couches.  A serviette with ‘R’ embroidered on it looked smart. Empty champagne bottles serve as candleholders on the tables, a little Italian old-world.  The GM and Chef of The Reserve is Seelun Sundoo, who was in charge of La Perla for fifteen years, followed by The Grand in Camps Bay. As an amuse bouche we were served a chicken, lentil, pea, and Indian spice soup in a small bowl, with home-baked honey bread, described as a ‘winter warmer’. The large classy menu offers a large range of items divided into sections Italian style, e.g. Anti-Pasti, Zuppa, Primo, Secondi.

As a starter I ordered the Vitello Tonnato Tartare, which was a deconstructed interpretation of the dish, being raw minced veal prepared with olive oil, capers, herbs, tuna, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and gherkins, to which some Indian spices had been added for an ‘exotic feel’. One can also order mussels, scampi, baby calamari, mini lobster buns, salmon cakes, beef carpaccio, and crostini, in a price range of R50 – R95.  Pizza is available at the prices of R40 and R65. Soup options are a bisque (R80), or the lentil one we started off with, at R50.  Salads cost between R50 (rocket, fennel and parmesan) and R80 (The Reserve Club salad). Pasta Primos are reasonably priced between R65 – R85, and include ravioli and linguini options, as well as lasagne.

The Secondi list offers 14 options, and I chose the pan fried baby salmon trout, with almond, lemon, and capers (R135). Francois was sweet enough to fillet it at the table, and to organise Basmati rice. The ‘Reserve’ steak of the day, Cape lobster, and Mozambique Queen Prawns are SQ.  Linefish (kingklip on that evening) costs R98, baby kob R110, salmon with curry sauce R130, baby chicken R96, Fillet R115, and veal is available in two options, at R125 and R140. One can order vegetables and fries as extras for R30/R40.

The dessert list offers a fruit plate, a chocolate torte, tiramisu, chocolate eclairs and cake of the day, in two sizes, at R35 and R50. The Torched marshallow meringue sounded unusual and interesting, which one dips into the chocolate sauce.

Francois’ witty banter throughout the evening coupled with his excellent service will be remembered for a long time to come, and he wins our vote for ‘Waiter of the Year’, if there were to be such a recognition. It is a pity that he will be leaving for the Marriot in Dubai at the end of September.  A night out at The Reserve is highly entertaining, and affordable, with a large food choice. Some of the items and some ingredients specified on the menu were not available on the evening.

POSTSCRIPT 23/9: Reserve Brasserie now offers a Business Lunch from Wednesday – Fridays, 3 courses plus beer or mineral water costing R140.

Reserve Brasserie, The Reserve, 130 Adderley Street, Cape Town.  Tel (021) 422-0654, www.the-reserve.co.za (not updated with details of the new chef and menu). Twitter: @ReserveCapeTown.  Tuesday – Saturday dinner.  Reserve Club Friday and Saturday evenings from 23h30. 25+ year olds, R100 cover charge, but waived if guests have had dinner at the Brasserie.  Special midnight menu for the Club on weekends.

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

‘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