Tag Archives: Eric Bulpitt

Richard Carstens to add culinary clout to Stellenbosch Restaurant Route at Tokara

It’s been confirmed!  Six-time Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Chef Richard Carstens is to be the Executive Chef of a new improved Tokara restaurant in October, after a week in which the rumour circulated, was denied by the Tokara Ferreira family, and was finally confirmed by a media release on Friday.   The move creates a culinary hub in the Helshoogte Pass, with the two Delaire restaurants across the road, and the Pass being a link between the competing gourmet towns of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, and adds further weight to Stellenbosch now wearing the Gourmet Capital crown and for it to establish a Restaurant Route. 

Tokara restaurant has been an institution for the past ten years, and was vacated by Chef Etienne Bonthuys last weekend, as he is opening a restaurant on Dorp Street in Stellenbosch.    Bonthuys has not always been the easiest of chefs and restaurant owner, so new owner Wilhelm Kuehn, co-owner of Jardine’s in Cape Town, will have to rebuild the brand to attract new patrons, whilst retaining the Bonthuys regulars.  Kuehn plans to build the Tokara restaurant to be on a par with the highly regarded Tokara wine and olive oil product brands, to create synergy between the three entities.  

Carstens is not known for his long-term staying power at restaurants (the exception being his five year tenure at Lynton Hall), but Kuehn says he is hoping for a long-term relationship with his new chef.   The media release states that Tokara Restaurant will be focused on contemporary cuisine.  “Each plate of food will offer the diner a sense of the natural environment and the location of the restaurant as well as the current season through the ingredients used”, says Carstens.     The menu contains “unfussy a la carte options as well as a more playful tasting menu, each course optionally paired with a glass of Tokara wine or a selection of other premium South African wines”.   There will be no molecular gastronomy at Tokara, a distinctive Carstens’ trademark, but not appreciated by all.  A bar will be built in the foyer, from which one can enjoy the wonderful views onto the Tokara vineyards and onto Stellenbosch.

Asked about the future of Jardine’s in Cape Town, Kuehn said that nothing will change.  Eric Bulpitt is their Executive Chef, who is off to a 6-week stint at Noma, the world’s top of the 50 Top Restaurants list, until mid-September.  Sous chef Julie will hold the kitchen fort at Jardine’s in Cape Town.    A manager will be appointed for the Tokara restaurant.   George Jardine has no involvement with Tokara at all, and still is a co-owner of Jardine’s in Cape Town, although his focus is Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine in Stellenbosch, said Kuehn.

Richard Carstens is contracted to Chez d’Or in Franschhoek until September, but the association is a disappointing one.   Read our review.

Tokara Restaurant with Richard Carstens will open in October, serving lunch from Tuesdays – Sundays, and dinner from Tuesdays – Saturdays. Tel (21) 808-5959. On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route.

POSTSCRIPT 1/8: Richard Carstens left Chez d’Or on Wednesday, the day of our review, two months ahead of his contract ending with the Franschhoek restaurant.

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

Restaurant Review: La Mouette Restaurant flying high

A Tudor-style restaurant building, built in the 1930’s, has become the home of one of Cape Town’s best “finer dining” restaurants, offering excellent value for money.   La Mouette (The Gull) has opened on Regent Road in Sea Point (there is no branding on the outside yet, so one must look for the number 78, near Checkers), and is named in honour of the noisy landmark of this suburb, even though there were no seagulls to be seen nor heard while I was there.  The building was previously the home of Europa and The Carvery.   Coats of paint, chic decor inside, and a bubbling fountain filled with Koi in the entrance courtyard and surrounded by French-style bistro tables and chairs, have given the building a new lease on life. 

But it is the owner trio of General Manager Mari Vermaak, Chef Henry Vigar, and Marketer/Righthand Gerrit Bruwer that has “rejuvenated” the building and its interior, with a refreshing approach to running a restaurant of excellence, based on Henry and Mari’s experience in the restaurant industry in London.    Vigar is a passionate chef whose cooking style is modern French-style cuisine with a Mediterranean influence.  He has worked at a number of Michelin-starred restaurants (The Square, La Noisette and The Greenhouse in London, Rascasse in Leeds, and Hotel des Pyrenees in France) as well as at The Quayside in Sydney.  He was the Head Chef at Kensington Place, where Eric Bulpitt, chef at Jardine on Bree Street, worked for him for a while.

Mari is a bubbly yet serious restaurateur, who has a firm hand on the operation of the restaurant.   She has done all the staff training, and impressed me with her description of how they employed the best of more than 400 applicants for the waitron and kitchen positions, including making applicants write food and wine knowledge tests.   All the staff have sampled all the dishes on the menu, and whenever a new dish is introduced, Chef Henry explains it to the waiters.  Wine estates like Villiera and L’avenir have come to the restaurant, to train the staff about their wines.   The service from my waiter Peter was perfect, a reflection of Mari’s thorough training. 

Mari grew up in George, and was a graphic designer before moving to London, where she was a Restaurant Manager at Gilmours on Park Walk, at Kensington Place, and at Launceston Place.   It was at Kensington Place that Chef Henry showed her his interest by sending specially made chocolate macaroons to her desk. The rest is history, as they say in the classics!  Mari’s London background shows, in her neat black shirt, skirt and stockings, the ultimate classic front-of-house dress.  Mari is a warm, friendly, down-to-earth and generous hostess, giving up three hours of her time, sitting and chatting to me about their background, and receiving a quick overview about the importance of social media marketing from me.   Whilst they have just started a blog, they agreed that it is time to embrace Twitter, especially given their gull theme, and did so immediately!   Gerrit and Mari both studied graphic design at the University of Potchefstroom, and Gerrit has designed a beautiful corporate identity for the stationery, menu and winelist, with flying seagulls and flowers.  Mari and Henry are partners, and both Leos!

Mari felt it important to not alienate locals, and hence all menu items were named in English instead of their French equivalent.   The menu has a small selection of dishes, making it relatively easy to choose.   The lunch and dinner menus are almost identical in terms of dishes offered, but the prices differ somewhat.  For lunch, for example, one can order extra sides, at R 25 each, whilst they do not appear on the dinner menu.  For lunch all Starters and Desserts cost R 35, and Mains cost R 80, a total of R 150 for a 3-course lunch, whilst the dinner cost is R 210 for 3-courses, or R 50 for the Starters and Desserts, and R 110 for all Mains. The dinner menu offers one or two more options for each course.

I had the Chicken liver parfait, chicken reillette, pear chutney and toasted brioche as a starter, a lovely combination, the pear chutney being a surprise but well-matched.   I overheard a neighbouring table proclaim that the French onion soup was the best they had ever eaten.  Other lunch starters are a tomato salad served with tapenade and smoked mozarella; mushrooms on toast served with walnut salad and roasted fig; and prawn and ginger ravioli.   I ordered the sweetcorn risotto served with the cutest tempura pea shoots, almost a work of art, and decorated with lime and coriander gremoulata.   Alternatives are “house-made” linguini (by an Italian in the kitchen), hake, chicken, confit duck, and minute steak.  The dessert options are really interesting, and gives one a feel for Chef Henry’s creativity (he still seems somewhat more classic, but with a twist, on the starters and mains), and I will come back for these:  peanut butter parfait and chocolate ganache; a “gin and tonic” with a difference; and passion fruit curd, doughnuts, Greek yoghurt and honey foam.   The cappuccino was excellent, the coffee being supplied by Deluxe, a small specialist coffee roastery in Cape Town.

An alternative to the menu is a choice of tapas style dishes to share, at R 35 each: marinated vegetables and olives; truffle and cheese croquettes; tempura style vegetables and roasted pepper dip; sweet onion tart, olive, thyme and marinated anchovy; and crispy calamari, smoked paprika and saffron aioli.

The winelist is neatly presented, and offers an impressive list of 15 wines-by-the glass, and about 75 wines.  One senses that many of the wines stocked are because of a special relationship that developed between the wine estate and Henry and Mari when they were compiling their winelist, and Avondale, Villiera, Springfield and L’avenir feature strongly on the list, as does Tokara Zondernaam.   Champagnes are stocked (Moet & Chandon, Billecart Salmon Rose, Champagne Barons de Rothschild and Bollinger Special Cuvee), while the very recently launched La Motte Methode Cap Classique (R500), as well as Villiera, Pierre Jourdan and L’avenir sparkling wines are also stocked.   A number of Shiraz options are available, ranging from R 150 for Villiera Shiraz, to R 280 for the Thelema.   No vintages are offered on the winelist, one of few points of criticism.

Mari refused to allow me to pay for the two course lunch, glass of bubbly and two cappuccinos I enjoyed with her.   I therefore returned for a paid-for dinner with a friend three days later, and we were impressed with the Butternut squash soup served with toasted pine nuts and blue cheese, and the sweetcorn risotto and the pan-fried Duck breast as main courses.  We were spoilt with a taste of the Bouillabaisse, with a plump prawn, tiny mussel, tender tube of calamari and crayfish.  For dessert we had the signature “Gin and Tonic”, consisting of tonic jelly, gin syrup, and lime ice cream, the most unusual dessert I have ever experienced, refreshing and revitalising. 

La Mouette is planning themed evenings, and will open a chic wine bar upstairs in December.   One can sense the energy and innovation in what is still a very early start for the restaurant, my visit having been a week after opening.   La Mouette is a restaurant to watch, and will soon be flying high on the Cape Town restaurant scene.  

POSTSCRIPT: I was privileged to have been invited to the Chef’s Table at La Mouette on 20 May, in the company of Clare Mack of Spill Blog, JamieWho of JamieWho Blog, Kim Maxwell, Rey Franco, and Sam from L’Avenir.   The amuse bouche was a butternut soup served with a to-die-for cheese and truffle croquet, followed by a prawn and ginger ravioli, mushrooms on toast served with walnut salad and vanilla roasted fig, a highly praised Bouillabaisse, Rib of Beef, the famous “gin and tonic” dessert of Chef Henry, passion fruit curd served with mini-doughnuts, and the “crunchie” dessert, served as a chocolate fondant, honeycomb espuma and ice cream. Every course was perfectly paired with a L’Avenir wine.  Such a good time was had that the last guests left long after midnight.    The La Mouette branding has now been erected at the entrance to the restaurant, and should make it easier to find the restaurant.

POSTSCRIPT 4 JULY: I have returned to La Mouette a number of times, and always had attentive service from Mari.   My last visit was a disappointing one, probably due to Mari not being on duty that evening.   The manager on duty was not on the floor except for showing us our table and apologising about the winelist error.  A winelist “typing error” for an incorrect Villiera wine-by-the-glass vintage, which had been identified ten days prior as an error, was still on the winelist.   The waiter stretched in front of us to put down the cutlery.  The wrong amount was taken off my credit card for payment.  There was no one to greet us when we left the restaurant.  I wrote to Mari after the dinner, and received a very defensive “Dear customer” letter.

POSTSCRIPT 2/9:  I returned for the first time in 2 months today, sitting in the fountain courtyard, dominated by a massive motorbike parked there.  Mari was professional, yet very changed in attitude, due to our feedback about the 4 July dinner.   The restaurant has changed to a Spring Special menu at R175 for 6 courses (or R350 for wines paired to 5 of the courses), with a typing error.  An Express 2-course lunch at R99 has been introduced, which was not good value – my colleague had the marinated tomato salad and chicken.  We shared a bowl of Chef Henry’s new cheese and ham croquettes, and I ordered my favourite, the chicken liver parfait.   The Beef Sirloin was average, four small slices expensive at R105 – one pays a R25 supplement for it.   The Tapas selection has been taken off the menu. The service from Hazel was sweet, and she was very willing to please, but stretched across us in replacing the cutlery.  Mari did not want us to pay for the meal today, due to the problems with our 4 July meal, but we refused her generous offer.  

La Mouette, 78 Regent Road, Sea Point.  tel 021 433-0856. www.lamouette.co.za (the website is one of the best I have ever seen for a restaurant, informative, with menu and winelist, and link to the blog).    Twitter @teamlamouette.    Open Tuesdays – Sundays for lunch, and Mondays – Saturday evenings for dinner.

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

Restaurant Review: There is little of Jardine at Jardine Restaurant

A Twitter friendship with co-owner Wilhelm Kuehn, and a challenge from him to visit the restaurant to do a review, was the reason for returning for a meal at Jardine Restaurant in the Cape Town city centre, after 18-months since the previous visit.  

Jardine Restaurant makes me think that it is somewhat ‘schizophrenic’ – a fine-dining ex-Top 10 restaurant, which also has an informal take-away at its Jardine Bakery section, and an informal sit-down lunch at tables and benches outside the door on the pavement.   Restaurant founder and co-owner George Jardine has opted out of city living, to start a new country restaurant on Jordan wine estate in Stellenbosch, and now only cooks at Jardine Restaurant “2 or 3 times a week”, I am told, but the restaurant still carries his name.   Wilhelm tells me that Waterkloof and Tokara were alternate options George Jardine had evaluated for his new restaurant.

Jardine has handed over the chef reins to Eric Bulpitt, who has worked at the Winchester Mansions Hotel, The Showroom, Ledbury in London, and at Jardine Restaurant with George.  Kuehn was a lawyer, and now is the General Manager, keeping a fine eye on things upstairs, walking the floor to check that all runs smoothly.

Jardine Restaurant had to face the humiliation of falling from 3rd place in the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant list of 2009 to between 12 – 20th place last November.  One does not know if the judges felt that things had slipped, or because they felt that an award cannot go to a chef when he is not cooking there all the time any more – Jardine’s move to the winelands had been widely announced.   Kuehn says the Top 10 award result last year created introspection, but Bulpitt’s new menu for the restaurant is drawing in regulars.   I heard tourists, and recognised Howard Godfrey, MD of @home, as patrons, on an almost-full Thursday evening. 

When one arrives one is met by Johan.  I had not booked, but he made a plan to make a table available.  I told him I would be out by 9 pm, but Jardine is not for fast in-and-out dining, mainly because the menu requires one to have a minimum of two courses, and I therefore only left after about two hours. 

The downstairs section has never made an impact, and is set up as a bar and lounge.   Upstairs the restaurant space has a central middle area, and tables against the windows, separate from the rest.   It is not a particularly attractive space decor-wise, only a pop-art painting by Richard Scott on the far wall creating a splash of colour, one of a few artworks on the walls, coming from Worldart.   A functional shelf holds functional cutlery holders and crockery.  Close by, an old-fashioned cash register has an untidy collection of paperwork next to it.  The tables have white tablecloths, and attractive and comfortable brown leather chairs. I sense a woman’s hand is lacking in the decor of the room (as I did at the Warwick tasting room recently) – all is very functional here.   The chef and his kitchen crew of five work in a very small space, preparing each dish.  Chef Eric is in the centre, finishing things off. 

Wilhelm comes to chat and we talk about Twitter, other restaurant Twitterers, and the soon-to-open nearby Cookery School.  A waitress brings the menu, printed on strong board, and it changes day by day.   One chooses two (R 230) or three courses ( R 260), a 5 course chef’s menu (R 400) or a wine pairing menu (R350), the last two options not being explained by the waitress.   A side salad is specified as costing R 45 extra, and other (unspecified) sides at R 35.

The menu choice was five starters and mains, and four desserts.  The starters seemed esoteric (‘Evita and Princess figs’ -two varieties of figs, I was told and ‘vegetable patch’) or too fishy (oysters, mussels and salmon) for my taste.   Main choices were line fish, Frazerburg lamb leg, seared Kroondal duck breast, rump, and grilled elf mushrooms.  

An amuse bouche is served, almost over the top and ‘airy-fairy’, very foamy in general, and is meant to be an olive tapenade covered by a “tomato spoon” (missed the tomato taste), white pepper and a basil leaf.  It is extremely light and aerated, and I am brought another because the air will have escaped while Wilhelm and I talk too much.  I love duck, and was surprised when it was served – I call it “deconstructed”, with four little bits of duck, and little portions of “parfait en croute, celeriac, pomegranate and shallot” spread out on a wooden platter.   The tiniest of tiny flowers, nuts and other ingredients are sprinkled across the plate.   Had I not ordered a side of the most wonderful crunchy green beans sprinkled with flaked almonds, I would have still been hungry after the main course.   The parfait is outstanding, the little that is offered.

The dessert options were chocolate torte, citrus tomato minestrone, pineapple souffle flambe, and a selection of South African cheeses (gorgonzola, camembert, labare-style cheese, ash-rind goat’s cheese and gruyere served with walnut toast and watermelon konfyt).   The cheese platter, served on an extremely heavy granite slab, was an excellent choice, and was an enjoyable slow eat.  It was decorated with the finest apple slices, always great with cheese, and slices of strawberry and raspberries, as well as nuts and blueberries.

The waitress was very efficient in explaining the menu items, but each item has so many components, that when the dish is brought to the table, one has long forgotten what exactly the chosen dish entails (Opal Lounge has the same problem).  But the waitress was patient in running through the ingredients again.  One irritation is the waitress offering her personal recommendation of the duck – I know that many restaurants do not allow their staff to eat the restaurant’s food, so I always reject such “recommendations”, as tastes do differ.  I chose the duck, because I love duck, not because she recommended it.

The winelist is attractively presented in a brown leather cover, matching the chairs.   It is an extensive list, separating bubblies, whites and reds, each sub-divided into varietals and blends, followed by two pages of mainly French and some Spanish wines.    Wines by the glass are reasonably priced – a Villiera by-the-glass costs R 40, a Tribout R 120.   A Jardine (made by Paradyskloof) Unwooded Chardonnay costs R 25, a Lammershoek Roulette Blanc R 40.  The La Motte Millenium and Sterhuis cost R 45 each (for 125 ml).  For the tasting menu one can order 60 ml portions of wines too.   Billecart-Salmon champagne is served in various options, ranging from R 950 – R 7 000 a bottle.  Two Graham Beck Cap Classiques cost R 410, the VIlliera R 190.   Red wine options number 35, and range from R 95 for a MAN Shiraz to R 990 for a Muemve Raats De Compostella 2006; 27 white wine options range from the Jardine Unwooded Chardonnay at R 100 to R 780 for the Platter 2010 White Wine of the Year, the Sadie Palladius.  French wines start at R 1 600 per bottle, to R 8 600 for a Chateau Lafitte-Rothschild 1995.

The sommelier Jaap-Henk Koelewijn is told that I have ordered a glass of La Motte Millenium 2007, and that I would like it poured at the table (I distrust wine-by-the glass service).   Johan tells me that they have actually found a bottle of 2006 – what luck!   Koelewijn comes to the table, does not show me the bottle, as I ask of him twice, and just carries on pouring the small portion. I ask him if I may not taste the wine.  He retorts that he has done so already!   There was no “hello, my name is Jaap, I am the sommelier, let me tell you some more about the La Motte Millenium…” from him.  Why is that sommeliers have such attitude and arrogance (like at Bosman’s and Reubens in Franschhoek)?   The minute I started the cheese platter, he was back to offer me another top-up of the wine or a port.   No question was asked whether I had enjoyed the first glassful.   The empty glass was probably taken to communicate that it was good!  I had to ask for a cappuccino to accompany the coffee, as this was not offered as a beverage option.

The lunch menu changes regularly too, and that of 11 March had four starters (oysters and mussels as per the dinner menu) and two salads, 3 mains (line fish, rump and mushrooms, as per the dinner menu), and 3 desserts (chocolate torte and cheese as per the dinner menu).  Here the prices look reasonable, and one can order per dish.    The sums do not add up if you see the lunch prices for individual menu items, compared to paying for 2 or more dinner courses.  Wilhelm says the lunch menu dishes are simpler.   

If Wilhelm had not come to chat, I would have left without the “connection” to Jardine Restaurant.  There is some very soft music, so soft that it is inaudible.   It gets progressively hotter in the room, as the airconditioning is on but the windows are open, defeating the function of the aircons.   A fan is brought from around the corner, and makes a difference.

Jardine Restaurant, corner Bree and Bloem Street, Cape Town.  Tel (21) 424-5640.          www.jardineonbree.co.za.  Twitter @JardineCapetown.  Open for dinner Monday – Saturday evenings, lunch is served Wednesdays – Fridays.

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

“Taste of Cape Town” wonderful Cape “Restaurant Route”

The “Taste of Cape Town” is in its third year, and its new location (it has had a different location every year) at the Rhodes High School in Mowbray is the best ever, with parking adjacent to the field on which the stands are set up.   It is a wonderfully inexpensive and convenient way to taste one’s way through 19 of Cape Town’s, Franschhoek’s and Stellenbosch’s best (and some lesser good) restaurants.

Delegates at the S A Food Bloggers’ Conference received free entrance tickets to the “Taste of Cape Town” and only had to buy the crowns, which are the wine and food tasting currency.   All wines and foods served cost between 4 – 8 crowns (R 20 – R 40).

With 18 restaurants present (as well as Camil’s serving oysters but being such a last minute stand it is not located with the other restaurants), it was not possible to taste all the dishes (each restaurant offered three choices in the main) at all the restaurant stands.  My companion was our new Brazilian trainee Muriele Stefani, and we shared portions to allow us to taste a larger variety of foods:

*   the highlight was Reuben’s prawn, rocket, yuzu dressing and wasabi cream, a mini-meal in itself, compared to the other stands, which mainly only served a piece of meat or fish without any other accompaniments.   Impressively Reuben Riffel was in the makeshift “kitchen”, doing the hands-on preparation.

*   Bistro Sixteen82, with chef Brad Ball, served a crispy panko crumbed fried crab, soft shell crab, with dressed pea shoots and smoked paprika aiolli

*   Eric Bulpitt at Jardine Restaurant offered two very tasty Kroondal duck leg patties, which also contained pomegranate, celeriac, and walnut

*   It was nice to meet hands-on Philip Carmichael from maze, who was taking orders rather than cooking.  His peppered biltong consomme was the most attractive of all the dishes eaten, with a fried quail’s egg presented on top of the biltong consomme, with shaved biltong.  The taste of the soup was disappointing, having a bean soup taste.

*   At Nobu chef Hideki Maeda’s crispy pork belly with spicy miso was simply just that – nothing to distract from the compact dish.

*   Grande Provence’s Darren Roberts served a ballantine of Elgin free-range chicken and lobster with white onion risotto.  The lobster was nowhere to be seen, and gave the chicken a less-than-nice taste.

*   From its name, Overture’s braised pig’s cheek, parsley pomme puree, carrots and gremolata was very popular, served by chef Craig Cormack.  It was a very filling tasting portion.

*   Overture’s chocolate mille-feuille and raspberry ice cream was a dreamy yet filling sweet end to a lovely tasting.

*   A bonus was a chocolate cup filled with Nutella and topped with a cherry at the Southern Sun stand, with The Cullinan pastry chef Jean hand-making the lovely sweet treats at no charge.   Macaroons and lemon meringue tartlets were also available for tasting.

Foodlovers will enjoy Pick ‘n Pay’s Fresh Living Chef’s Theatre, at which top chefs, including some of those with stands, do demonstrations, and Jenny Morris, the Giggling Gourmet, at the Checkers’ stand.   The wine stands feel like “poor cousins”, receiving less attention than the restaurant stands, despite brands such as Hermanuspietersfontein, Thelema, Boschendal, Steenberg, Spier and many others being present.

What is lovely about the “Taste of Cape Town” is meeting up with other food and wine lovers.  Some of the restaurant stands have a table and chairs, at which one can be lucky enough to sit to eat one’s tasting dish, and meet friends and acquaintances coming to the stand in this way.   Reubens’ stand had its Franschhoek black-and-white checkered floor replicated as decor on one wall of the stand, and offered very comfortable white leather dining chairs.

Given the cooler weather, being wrapped up in a white blanket by a Heineken hunk at the end of the tasting and washing down all the lovely food with a Heineken was a lovely ending to a special evening.

Taste of Cape Town, Rhodes High School, off Klipfontein Road, Mowbray.  Saturday 13h00 – 17h00, 18h30 – 22h30, and Sunday 12h00 – 17h00.

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