Saturday 25 December 2021, Christmas Day đâïž, Day 86 of Level 1 đ·
Corona Lockdown Gratitude đ
#grateful for a lovely Christmas Day, after a quiet Christmas Eve at home last night; for posting Christmas messages for each of my clients; for sharing the Christmas joy with the diners at Utopia, taking photographs of the full house today, with a lovely special Christmas Menu served, and for being invited to share the table with Maki Chase, her husband Steve Chase and Makiâs children, so kind and generous, served an egg nog (made with Amarula, rum, and CrĂšme anglaiseâŠ. Mmmmmm) which the guests had received as a welcome drink, and for being able to buy a main course portion Continue reading →
I had the luck to have enjoyed a 16 course Tasting Menu dinner soon after the opening of GĂ„te Restaurant at Quoin Rock outside Stellenbosch, in November. I was blown away by the creativity of the dining experience, and its experiential nature, with Molecular Gastronomy, something I had not experienced at this international level in my dining experiences locally and internationally. On Tuesday a week ago I returned to GĂ„te, to try the new dishes on the Tasting Menu, as well as those that have changed in the past three months, while my friend from Paris ate the Tasting Menu for the first time, at her invitation. 
Whilst I wrote SwitchBitch 2 in Apricale in Italy last year, I saw JAN the JOURNAL Volume 1 lying in the Apricus Locanda B & B in Italy. I was intrigued by its look and feel, and content, knowing Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen, Chef and co-owner of the one star Michelin restaurant JAN in Nice to be highly creative and meticulous in everything that he does. 