David Walters | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

George Jardine is a highly respected chef, and has been a regular on the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards list. His move to the Jordan Winery in Stellenbosch, to open the mouthful of a brand name ‘Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine’ in November last year probably cost him the Top 10 listing, but has been a welcome lifestyle change for him and his family. The new restaurant has added substance to the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route, and to Stellenbosch taking over the Gourmet Capital crown of South Africa.

The setting of the Jordan wine estate at the end of the Stellenbosch Kloof Road is special, with lots of birdlife, and no traffic noise. A huge dam in front of the winery and the restaurant attracts even more birds. The parking area reflected the popularity of the restaurant, filled with cars on a Friday afternoon. A compliment to the chef is that Hein Koegelenberg and his wife Hanlie (Rupert) of La Motte had brought some of their staff for a treat (their new Pierneef a la Motte restaurant opens in the next few days), whilst Gary Jordan (Jordan Wines owner) also had a table of eight in the restaurant. I enjoyed chatting to both.

When I reviewed Jardine’s in Cape Town, I noted that George Jardine was not visible in that restaurant, despite marketing information which led one to believe that Jardine would be looking after his Cape Town restaurant a few days per week. This does not seem to be the case, as Jardine is very hands-on in his restaurant at Jordan’s (one has to remain sober to get around the Jordan/Jardine brand names)!

The restaurant brand name is on the building near its entrance door (but not visible from the parking area), in silver lettering, adding a modern touch to a building that is not! It looks functionally designed and built from outside, and this perception does not change when one is inside. The interior is a Jardine’s Cape Town deja vu – the open plan kitchen (much bigger preparation space here though), functional interior, some paintings of pomegranates and figs, very functional kitchen counter from the customer perspective, almost old-fashioned, not particularly attractive lightwooded chairs, and modern stacking glass doors. The lovely overlay over the white tablecloth reminded me of Overture’s new tablecloths. The glassware and cutlery is average, but I noticed David Walters’ ceramic touch in the square side plate. The serviette seemed superwhite, of very good quality. The waiters look neat in white shirts, black pants and black aprons.

The waiter Andrew was perfect – not pushy, not arrogant, helpful, informative, patient in answering all my questions, just disappointing when he did not e-mail the winelist on the same day, as promised (it appears he had delegated this to Jardine’s wife, who did not attend to it until I called for it). He presented the menu on a black leather holder (similar to that of Overture, Majeka House and others I have seen recently).

The first thing I noticed on the menu was the date with a weather description “A misty 23rd July”. One has two choices on the menu – a three-course Menu Du Jour winter special at R 180, and R220 if one has two wines – one does not have any choices on this menu. Alternatively the three-course a la carte menu allows one to choose two dishes for R 200, and 3 courses for R225, and one has up to four choices per course. There is little difference in value between the two options, and therefore I ordered from the a la carte menu.

The winelist is cute and neat, a small square size, bound in a black leather cover, and each page has a quotation relating to wine on it. Corkage is indicated at R50, and only one bottle is allowed. The winelist is introduced as follows: “This is a selection of wines we enjoy. Each bottle is full of love, passion and a story and if you listen carefully with your taste buds some part of that story may show, explaining terroir, slopes, altitude, climate and other interesting details. A wine however is not made by one person alone, much like the food you are about to enjoy. Thousands of people from farms, most of which can be seen from where you are sitting, have had an effort in making your wine â€“ whether that is planting, pruning, squashing or bottling it. Please enjoy our effort in presenting their effort.”

The wine range contains a mix of Jordan and other wines, and the price band is such that it offers an affordable wine for every pocket. Wines-by-the-glass are surprisingly affordable, a glass of Chameleon (a Jordan brand) Rose’ costing R25, and a glass of Jordan Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Mellifera does not cost more than R40. White wine bottle prices start at R90 for a Chameleon Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay, peaking at R700 for a Jordan CWG Auction Reserve Chardonnay. De Waal Pinotage costs R85, a Jordan Sophia R963. While the winelist shows vintages, it does not describe any of the wines. I ordered a glass of Jordan Syrah 2006, which was very smooth, smoky and full-bodied, reminding me of a shiraz made the old-fashioned traditional way.

The bread plate was the most creative I have ever seen, refreshingly different, and reflects that Jardine is an ardent bread baker. The square bread plate had a bowl of aoili, a block of farm butter, crisp strips made from sweet potatoes, and a breadstick made from vetkoek dough. It wasn’t just the individual items that looked amazing, but the way in which they were presented made it look like a course in itself.

What I found interesting, having been at Jardine’s in Cape Town where “organised chaos” seemed to dictate food presentation, is that Jardine is very angular, his food presented in square containers. The starter, for example, was presented on a black slate tile (I remember slate at Jardine’s in Cape Town for the cheese platter) and this was set inside a square glass container, with a serviette neatly placed between the two containers, making its presentation look very smart.

The duck liver parfait starter, with a confit duck bonbon rolled in sesame seeds, served with prune and celeriac chantilly and tiny slices of toasted brioche, was melt in the mouth (the bonbon had been left off the plate by mistake initially). Other starter options were Saldanha Bay mussels, pan fried west coast mackerel, and hand rolled fettuccini. The main course arrived after about a 45 minute wait, which seemed long, in that I had run out of questions to ask, been to the bathroom, and read all my Twitter updates. My main course intrigued me, in that it was not any old pork, but “Penny Verburg’s suckling pig roasted”, which was served with braised cavolo nero (a type of black cabbage), parsnip and gremolata. Penny is the wife of Botriver-based Luddite winemaker Neels Verburg, and she has a good hand with organic pig rearing, Andrew told me. The pork was thinly sliced, and every now and again one had a bite of the thinnest pieces of crackling, giving good mouthfeel as well as taste. Other starter choices were Chalmar ribeye, hake, and gnocchi. I felt that I had hit the jackpot in both choices, they were so outstanding. I didn’t have any dessert, but I could have chosen between chocolate souffle, an interesting sounding baked Pimm’s creme catalan (just saw a very similar dessert on the La Colombe menu), or a cheese board.

The Menu du Jour was Vichyssoise with a warm salad of sauteed tongue, gnocchi and gremolata; braised veal brisket; and chocolate hot pot with vanilla ice cream and praline.

I will go back to Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine, on a summery day, so that I can sit outside, and try more of Jardine’s creations. It is a pity that Jardine is so hands-on that he does not allow himself to leave the kitchen at all to greet his customers, a contradiction as he is visible to all diners, but he makes no eye contact, and barely responded when I thanked him for the lovely lunch when I left.

Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine, Jordan Winery, Stellenbosch Kloof Road, Stellenbosch. Tel (021) 881-3612. www.jordanrestaurant.co.za (The website is not operational. Surprisingly, no information about the restaurant is available on the Jordan Wines’ website www.jordanwines.com ). Open for lunch Wednesdays – Sundays, and on Thursday and Friday evenings for dinner. On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route

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

I decided to try the new Chez d’Or restaurant on the main road in Franschhoek for lunch, after the 60th birthday concert on Sunday of well-known potter David Walters in the NG Church, diagonally across the road. I had read in the local rag ‘The Franschhoek Month’ that six-time Eat Out Top 10 chef Richard Carstens had opened the restaurant, which led me to believe that he was the new owner of the restaurant. It was a massive disappointment and let-down.

Previously low key Cafe Rouge, which was set back in Bijoux Square, making it hard to see, the new restaurant has been brought forward and expanded in this Square, in the space in which the optometrist was previously located. Owner Jason de Jongh has re-invented the restaurant completely, with the larger space, more upmarket interior design, changing the restaurant name to bring it in line with his guest house name (Val d’Or), and bringing Carstens in on a three-month consultancy contract only (not mentioned in the article). Carstens is the South African ueber-chef, who indulges in foams, is a good trainer of staff, and is good at helping set up new restaurants, but has had little staying-power (except at Lynton Hall, where he worked for five years). Jason explained that he wanted to create a Bistro-style restaurant, with Carstens’ input, but without the type of cuisine Carstens has become known for, so as to not create a huge difference in the quality of the food served after Carstens leaves the restaurant in September. Carstens is quoted in the article as saying about the restaurant: “Its a classic yet contemporary bistro with Asian influences”. The red and white tablecloths with white overlays create the Bistro look. The cutlery is neatly wrapped inside the serviette, probably a Carstens’ touch.

The problem with the restaurant and Carstens’ connection was immediately evident when the hardboard menu started with a list of sandwiches! These are served between 11h00 – 17h00, and are quite expensive, in ranging from R 45 for an aubergine, mushroom, pepper, coriander pesto and gruyere sandwich, to R58 for a ribeye and aioli or smoked salmon sandwich, and a beef burger. A further problem was that Carstens explained some of the menu items but not all – the Carstens touch shows when he described the Soup of the Day (the waitress just called it a Butternut Soup). Carstens described it as a Butternut Soup served with almonds and snoek, changing its nature completely, snoek not being to everyone’s taste. The spiced tomato, coconut, lime and chilli sorbet soup sounded delicious too. The wholewheat bread did not look home-baked, and in fact seemed to show its age with first signs of mould, so we did not eat it. The butter was untidily cut and presented. Other starter choices are spiced calamari (R58), duck liver pate (R52), smoked rainbow trout (R65), chicken spring roll (R47), and a mushroom and artichoke salad (R45).

The Pork belly (R85) was served on a tiny portion of mash with butternut, the black eggplant puree looking unattractive in the brown (with green oily bits) mustard sauce. Overall, the plate of food looked unattractive, and the pork had an odd taste. My son’s Ribeye steak(R98) was ordered medium rare, but was prepared more to the medium side. It was tender, but the chip portion was tiny, so the waitress brought more, without extra charge. The spinach was tender and tasty. The Tempura linefish (R80) was kingklip. Other main courses are Duck leg (R85), Asian braised lamb shank (R98), and Beetroot and aubergine curry (R70).

The winelist is on the reverse side of the menu, and will not feature on the Diner’s Club Winelist of the Year awards list. It is simply divided into “Methode Cap Classique Sparkling”, White Wine, Rose Wine, Red Wine and Dessert Wine/Port and is commendably Proudly-Franschhoek in its wine selection, with the exception of the Landskroon and Quinta Do Sul Vintage Reserve ports. Each wine is described in brief, but no vintages are listed. The wine-by-the glass prices are so low (R18 for Porcupine Ridge Viognier/Grenache, Haut Espoir Sauvignon Blanc R20, Eikehof Cabernet Sauvignon R18) that one wonders how young they are, and whether they are drinkable. The Haute Cabriere Pinot Noir is the most expensive wine on the list, at R250, but most wines are under R200, making the wine choice affordable.

We skipped the starter to leave space for Carstens’ signature dessert, which is not on the menu – frozen dark chocolate mousse served with saffron ice cream on biscuit crumbs, with mint sauce. The dessert sounded better than the real thing, which were four unequally cut blocks of frozen chocolate mousse. The saffron ice cream and mint sauce were delicious. Other options are an interesting sounding Gin and lemon tart (R40); Poached banana ice cream (R38); Vanilla creme (R38); Chocolate tart, cardamom ice cream with pear (R50); and a Cheese board (R65).

We left Chez d’Or bitterly disappointed, in having expected Richard Carstens’ quality but getting a most unsatisfactory meal, even though he was in the kitchen! Anyone who would think of coming to eat at the restaurant, on the basis of Carstens’ association with it until September, should not eat here. I felt cheated, as I could not sense Carstens’ hand here at all.

Carstens is rumoured to be taking over the Tokara restaurant when his consultancy contract at Chez d’Or comes to an end in September, but Tokara is denying this.

Chez d’Or, Bijoux Square, 60 Huguenot Road, Franschhoek. Tel (021) 876-4197. www.chezdor.co.za (The website is disappointing, with only a Home page, giving contact details and a restaurant interior shot, no menu or winelist). Monday – Sunday. Lunch and Dinner.

POSTCRIPT 30/7: It has been confirmed that Richard Carstens will be the Executive Chef of Tokara Restaurant, in conjunction with Jardine’s Wilhelm Kuehn, from October.

POSTSCRIPT 1/8: I have been informed by Wilhelm Kuehn, the new operator of the Tokara restaurant, that Richard Carstens has left Chez d’Or. The Chez d’Or staff confirm that he left on Wednesday, the day of our review, and that he left ahead of the end of his contract. We were clearly told by the owner that he would be at the restaurant until September.

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