Tag Archives: Daniel Kruger

Original Rickety Bridge owner’s spirit lives on at Paulina’s restaurant!

Paulina de Villiers was the first woman farm owner in the Winelands, now called Rickety Bridge, having received the farm in 1797.  The wine estate has named its premium wines and its new Bistro restaurant after this feisty lady, whose spirit is said to still be felt in her vineyards!

We experienced the Paulina’s Reserve wines on Saturday, visiting Rickety Bridge on the new Franschhoek Wine Tram, and having been brought to their wine tasting centre with their Dodge converted into a vehicle with seating to transport the Wine Tram visitors from the train track.  We were invited by Sales Manager and Restaurant Director Jacqui Rabe for lunch on Sunday, to experience the new Paulina’s restaurant.

We sat on the terrace, under Rickety Bridge branded umbrellas, and the area filled up quickly, showing how popular the restaurant has become since it opened officially three weeks ago. Even winemaker Wynand Grobler, also a Director of the restaurant, came for lunch with a group of his friends.  The slatted tables and chairs are wooden, with no table cloth or place mat. Each table has a wooden salt and pepper grinder, with paper serviettes.  We met the new Manager Joanna Hurlston, and the new Chef Melissa Bruyns, who has previously worked at The Westin hotel, and Haute Cabriere.  Chef Melissa sources produce locally, and has a vegetable garden on the farm, from which she harvests carrots, herbs, and baby marrow, and will be speaking to Daniel Kruger about sourcing some of his herbs and vegetables from La Motte’s herb and vegetable garden too.

The menu is printed on strong A3 recycled board, and has the winelist on the reverse side.  A blackboard announces the weekly special, which was delicious marinated char-grilled artichoke hearts on Sunday.  In the starter section, each item comes as a half and full portion, in a tpas style, and are meant to be shared for the table. The main courses and desserts are offered in one size only.  Each item on the menu has a suggested pairing with one of the Rickety Bridge wines.  The menu will change regularly, to tie in with seasonal produce changes.

Jackie ordered the artichoke special; a variety of tempura vegetables served with three dipping sauces (R38/75), the pairing suggestion being Paulina’s Reserve Semillon; and Seafood Risotto served with braised fennel and topped with Café de Paris butter and pecorino (R45/R88), best paired with the Paulina’s Reserve Sauvignon Blanc.  Guy shared a taste of his delicious Crayfish Bisque deglazed with Rickety Bridge Chenin Blanc (R50).  Other starter options, available in half and full portions, are Caeser salad (R36/R72), cute-looking Franschhoek salmon trout fish cake burgers served on a beetroot roll and topped with lemon aioli (R43/R85), Saldanha mussels (R50/R95), and a leek and asparagus flan drizzled with chive oil and greens (R40/R83). We shared our main courses too, being the crispy pork belly with fried greens, wasabi mash, and sweet chilli and ginger sauce (R112), which was paired with Rickety Bridge The Foundation Stone; the most tender Karoo lamb chops with creamed potato, wilted baby spinach and Rickety Bridge Merlot jus (R135), paired with Rickety Bridge Merlot; and Grilled Baby Calamari served with chourizo, rocket, roasted cherry tomatoes, and coriander dressing (R87), paired with Paulina’s Reserve Chenin Blanc.  Other main courses include 250g grilled Chalmar rib eye steak (R125), Grilled line fish (R108), and linguini (R75).  Sauces cost R30, and side orders R15 – R25.  Guy and I shared the Tasting trio of chocolate desserts, consisting of a dark chocolate brownie, milk chocolate tart, white chocolate mousse, served with chocolate ice cream (R40), accompanied by a LavAzza cappuccino.  Other dessert options are a trio of baked puddings, a trio of tarts, and a seasonal fruit platter, all costing R40.

The winelist offers Rickety Bridge and Paulina’s wines, with a R20 mark-up only relative to the cellar door pricing.  In 1996 Rickety Bridge launched its Paulina Reserve range, and it is 30% wooded, we were told.   Most wines are available by the glass and bottle.   The Rickety Bridge Brut Rosé costs R38/R135, the Rosé R20/59, and the Sauvignin Blanc, Chenin Blanc, and range from just over R20 per glass to R70 – R80.  The Rickety Bridge Semillon, and Paulina’s Reserve  Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, and Semillon range in price from R75 – R110 per bottle. Rickety Bridge Merlot, Shiraz, PInotage, and Foundation Stone range from R30 to R145. The Bridge costs R395, and Paulina’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon R 200.

It was a lovely afternoon lunch, allowing me to get Jackie and the wine estate better, and seeing staff who had previously worked at other restaurants before again.  The service was good, and the prices at Paulina’s are very reasonable, and the portions generous, making it a definite to return to.

POSTSCRIPT 5/12: The restaurant has provided details of its dinners starting tomorrow.  The 4-course Tasting Dinner Menu costs R 280/R360, the 6-course R 380/R500 (the second price includes wines).

Paulina’s, Rickety Bridge, R45, Franschhoek.  Tel (021) 876-2129  www.ricketybridge.co.za Twitter: @PaulinasRB  Monday – Sunday lunch.  Dinners will be served on Thursday, Fridays, and Saturdays from 6 December.

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

South Africa and Australia have most exciting cuisine, says visiting Dutch Chef Michiel den Hartogh!

Dutch Chef Michiel den Hartogh is assisting at Pierneef à La Motte for the next six weeks, and shared some views on the cuisine in the different countries in which he has travelled and worked.  He praised Australian and South African cuisine for its use of fresh ingredients, and the wide selection and quality of fish in Australia, and game and other meat in South Africa.

Five years ago Chef Michiel came to the Cape, and worked at both Lanzerac and The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français.  He did not learn anything at Lanzerac, and shared his knowledge with the staff there, he felt, rather than the other way around, but he enjoyed the latter restaurant, where he met Chef Chris Erasmus, now Executive Chef at Pierneef à La Motte.  The friendship continued, and last year Chef Chris cooked at Specktafel in Haarlem, in conjunction with a South African festival.  Having left Specktafel as Head Chef earlier this year, after ten years with the restaurant, Chef Michiel did a summer stint at Ajuma in Zandvoort, before coming to join Chef Chris at Pierneef à La Motte ten days ago.  Specktafel does not serve bacon, but is based in Spekstraat in Haarlem, and is ‘speck’-tacular, he said!  The restaurant specialises in ‘world cuisine’, and the menu covers Canadian, Moroccan, Italian, Japanese, Scandinavian, South American, Chinese, and South African dishes.  He has been a representative for Luiten-food, doing demonstrations for them of kangaroo, emu and crocodile, New Zealand venison, and our local meats of ostrich, wildebeest, springbok, kudu, and more.

He has done short ‘internships’ in restaurants around the world, including at Nobu in London, and also in France, the USA, Spain, Madeira, Asia, Australia, and Italy.  In Australia he was impressed with the range of seafood available, not only from the Sydney fish market, but also that he could go spearfishing to harvest some of it himself.  He raved about the blue swimmer crabs, oysters, kangaroo, and crocodile, from which interesting dishes can be prepared.  Springbok and our other game, as well as excellent quality grass-fed beef and poultry impresses him about South Africa, a luxury in Holland.  Compared to five years ago, our restaurant cuisine has developed, and is not as ‘primitive’ as it was then, largely due to the experience our chiefs are gaining from working with international chefs locally and overseas, such as Chef Chris’ one month stage at Noma in Copenhagen. The international experience benefits not only the head chef, but that of the whole team too.

Chef Michiel is very impressed with the herb and vegetable garden at La Motte, and he himself is a keen gardener, having planted some favourite herbs and vegetables on his parents’ farm, and he has begun to forage mushrooms, wild herbs, and wild flowers.  He has brought some seeds from Holland, and Daniel Kruger will prepare a vegetable garden just for him at La Motte, which will be his legacy to Chef Chris and his colleagues, when he leaves to continue his world travels.  He has brought seeds for ‘boerekool’, and ‘endejvie’, which he said is not an endive but a lettuce/cabbage, purple carrots, and more.

Asked about the plans for the future, Chef Michiel said he is working on a ten year plan, and it is still a ‘secret’.  He intimated that he may stay on beyond 31 December at Pierneef à La Motte, and I got the feeling that his vegetable garden in Holland may be the clue to the possible opening of his own restaurant. Should he open his own restaurant, it would serve ‘pure cuisine’, he said, being seasonal produce, and that which is grown in close proximity.  He wants to educate diners about vegetables, meats, and herbs, and take them beyond their restricted knowledge gained from TV and supermarkets. ‘Pure cuisine’ also means presenting fewer elements on a plate, and utilising known ingredients in an unusual form.

We talked about the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant awards, and he will be attending the Eat Out Conference next Saturday.  There does not appear to be restaurant award of a similar nature in Holland, and I got the feeling that winning a restaurant award is not a big deal in that country.

Chef Michiel is looking forward to developing his vegetable garden at La Motte, and in working with Chef Chris to develop new dishes, and in preparing dishes for the new Pierneef à La Motte summer menu, which was launched yesterday.

Pierneef à La Motte, La Motte, R45, Franschhoek.  Tel (021) 876-8000. www.la-motte.com Twitter: @Pierneeflamotte  @Mich_ha13

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

Holden Manz’s Franschhoek Kitchen Chef Maryna Frederiksen to focus on sustainability!

New Chef Maryna Frederiksen is focusing on her vegetable and herb garden and fruit orchard at Holden Manz, to offer her Franschhoek Kitchen clients the freshest possible fare, a dream come true for chefs seeking to be sustainable as far as possible.  She has brought the herbs and vegetables grown at Holden Manz into her new menu, and is planning to expand what she has planted and what she can source in Franschhoek.

She is so passionate about using the freshest ingredients in her ‘farm to fork food‘ cooking that she has already met with Daniel Kruger from La Motte, who created and manages their herb and vegetable garden, and sells produce to the leading restaurants in Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. Daniel has advised Holden Manz about which herbs and wild edible flowers such as stinging nettles and wild sorrel to plant, and has provided seedlings.  La Motte supplies vegetables with greater quantity requirements, being root vegetables in the main, but also runner beans, Chinese long beans, golden beets, purple carrots, and more.  Chef Maryna is challenging Daniel to source vegetables which she got to know in America, including burdock root, for which she was able to source seeds from Germany.  While she would love to cook with tropical vegetables, Franschhoek is not suited to them.  Chef Maryna loves to infuse her dishes with herbs such as thyme, mint, lemon verbena, and geranium.

Maryna grew up in Sasolburg, and qualified at Potchefstroom College at the age of 20, thereafter setting off to see the world by becoming an apprentice chef on cruise ships.  She was encouraged to continue in this field, her bosses saying that she showed talent, and she went to Switzerland for French culinary studies. She moved to San Francisco, working at a seafood restaurant, and a six month planned stay became a 23 year love affair with America, including nine years in Seattle, and five years at the Herb Farm restaurant in Woodinville Washington.  She knew she would return to South Africa some time, and did so because she was missing her family in Pretoria, taking on the running of the restaurant Lucit.  She had spent some time in the wine country in California and Washington, and had a dream to work in our wine region, jumping at the opportunity to join Holden Manz, food and wine being her passion: ‘you can’t have the one without the other’, she said.

Chef Maryna has evaluated what was on the Franschhoek Kitchen menu with GM Wayne Buckley, and some Holden Manz favourites have been retained but redesigned by Chef Maryna, for example the ‘Franschhoek Kitchen Trio’ (R150), which consists of the linefish piccata, chilli jam squid, and grape vine smoked pork belly.  Chef Maryna said that she is a ‘Slow Food cooker’, and proudly shared that she cooks her sauces over two days to get the reduction.

The menu is printed on recycled A3 board, with an imprint of the Holden Manz elephant trunk logo.  Starters include a soup of the day (hot pea and mint, and cold Gazpacho) at R45; a beautifully plated Ceviche de Veracruz which Gideon enjoyed, yellowfish having been marinated in a lime, coriander, tomato and jalapeno salsa (R65); Portuguese spiced squid with a most unusual lychee and rocket salad, a sweet chilli jam, and green garlic aioli (R65), a Caprese salad (R60), sardines (R60), a five spice duck salad served with pickled shimeji mushrooms, local berries, and a garden fresh herb salad (R100); a crispy prawn salad enjoyed by Wayne, with sugar snap peas, strawberries, ginger and coriander (R100); and a steamed garden vegetable platter with lemon butter sauce (R45).

The Franschhoek Kitchen Trio is one of the most popular main courses on the menu.  I ordered the Duck Duo, being a duck breast scaloppini and a citrus-stuffed duck braciale confit with a Holden Manz Good Sport sauce, and parsnip purée (R155);  a pan-seared fillet mignon with crispy duck fat fried new potatoes, king oyster mushroom, and Bordelaise or Jack Daniels sauce (R155); linefish of the day costs R120, served with a saffron mussel sauce; Pasta caprese (R80); and Sicilian prawn marsala, with fennel, carrots, capers, tomatoes, and currants topped with marsala sauce (R120).

I loved the unusual ‘Coffee and Doughnuts‘ dessert, being an espresso semifredo served with mini cinnamon doughnuts.  One can also order a Pavlova, served with meringue, rose geranium cream, fresh berries, and Holden Manz Port gastrique; coconut panna cotta with passion fruit gelée; chocolate mousse cake with brandy and a berry couli, all desserts costing R45.  The cappuccino was made with Terbodore coffee, a special Holden Manz blend roasted in Franschhoek.

After only a month at Holden Manz, Chef Maryna is already showing her passion for fresh and seasonal produce, and this can only develop as her own vegetable and herb garden grows at Holden Manz, and she sources more unusual vegetables from Daniel Kruger at La Motte.

Disclosure: Holden Manz GM Wayne Buckley refused to accept my payment for the dinner.

Franschhoek Kitchen, Holden Manz, Tel (021) 876-2729. www.holdenmanz.com Twitter: @Holden Manz  @MarynaChef   Tuesday – Sunday lunch, Tuesday – Saturday dinner.

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

SA’s Top Chefs focus on ethics, seasonality, local ingredients, smoking, pickling, and more!

The focus of the Eat Out Top 19 Finalist Restaurants is in line with international trends, and our chefs are experimenting in creating new dishes, and are sharpening their ethics, in cooking what is in season, and in limiting their sourcing to a limited geographic distance from their kitchens, reported Eat Out in evaluating ‘trends’ in our top restaurant kitchens.  Imported gourmet delicacies are taking a back seat.

Chef Christiaan Campbell of Delaire Graff is known for his ethical focus, sourcing what he can from Spier’s Farmer Angus.  He builds his menus around the honestly-produced ingredients that are seasonally available.  Chef Rudi Liebenberg from Planet Restaurant at the Mount Nelson hotel is also sourcing his produce from Spier, and having guinea fowl and turkey specially bred for his restaurant.

Vegetables and fruit gardens are all the trend, and none can beat the beauty and abundance of Babylonstoren.  In terms of unique vegetables and herbs, La Motte’s new vegetable and herb garden developed by Daniel Kruger is leading the pack, with vegetables in unusual sizes, colours, and shapes.  A new form of admirable chef collegiality has come to the fore amongst what in reality are competitors, with La Motte also supplying Grande Provence, Reuben’s, Le Franschhoek Hotel, The Tasting Room, Haute Cabriere, and some Stellenbosch restaurants, with specific produce, usually kept secret by Kruger from the other chefs.  Smaller vegetable and herb gardens have been developed at Delaire Graff, The Cellars-Hohenhort Hotel for The Greenhouse, and at Majeka House for its Makaron restaurant.

‘Local is lekker’, not only in terms of produce sourced from close by, but also in going back to traditional South African recipes, is another trend.  At the forefront is Pierneef à La Motte, which has published ‘Cape Winelands Cuisine’, a collection of recipes from our Dutch, British, French Huguenot, and German foremothers, giving them a modern twist.  At the House of Mosaic Chef Chantel Dartnall is digging into her gran’s cookery books. Hartford House too is discovering unique ingredients from its region in KwaZulu-Natal.   Springbok and other game is popular amongst tourists, and is served at The Greenhouse and Planet Restaurant, amongst others.  The Tasting Room is using local as well as quirky ingredients too.

Chef Eric Bulpitt of The Roundhouse and Chef Chris Erasmus from Pierneef à La Motte have both worked stages at Noma, the world’s number one restaurant on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, coming back with a foraging trend, and focusing on ‘lacto-fermentation’, or pickling, a Nordic preservation technique to allow restaurants in Scandinavia to have a food supply in their winter months.  Chef George Jardine is pickling too, especially flowers.  Chef Bertus Basson is smoking produce in his new smoker at Overture.

Chef Richard Carstens of Tokara has been experimenting for years, studying the techniques of the world’s best ‘cooking masters’, and is experimenting with Komaboko, a Japanese cured processed beautifully-shaped fish dish.  Chef Luke Dale-Roberts of The Test Kitchen has created his own laboratory close to his restaurants, very much in trend with the world’s top restaurant (Noma, ex-El Bulli).  La Colombe has created a 5-course tasting menu with elements of earth, wind, water, love, and fire.

Exposure to top international restaurants, as well as visits by international chefs to Cape Town and the Winelands, is upping the local gourmet bar, meaning an exciting summer lying ahead for restaurant diners, as well as a possibly different-looking Eat Out Top 10 Restaurants list this year, given the focus on ethical, local, and seasonal sourcing in particular by the finalist restaurants not previously on the Top 10 list!

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