Tag Archives: Franck Dangereux

Restaurant Review: Diemersdal Farm Eatery serves ‘honest food’ made with love!

Last week TV producer Anne Myers and I drove all the way out to the Durbanville Wine Route to try out Chef Nic van Wyk’s Diemersdal Farm Eatery, which I had seen in preparation, prior to its opening, at the Season of Sauvignon Festival in October.  Chef Nic’s menu is a good ‘pairing’ with his role as one of the two judges in the new Afrikaans reality cooking programme Kokkedoor on KykNET, which is focused on nostalgia food.

Diemersdal is one of the oldest wine estates in Cape Town, established in 1698, and six generations of the Louw family have lived on the farm since 1885.  Their wines are highly rated.  What is commendable is that the wine prices in the restaurant are the same as the cellar door prices charged in the Tasting Room across the ‘werf’.  Tienie Louw is still in charge, but has handed over the winemaking to his son Thys.

Getting to Diemersdal is easy, but I was unsure of the route, having only been there once before.  Getting through on the phone line, which is shared for the restaurant and the tasting room, was difficult as the phone line was engaged regularly.  Once I got through, a  very friendly assistant in the Tasting Room gave clear directions, which the restaurant may consider sharing on the website.

The menu changes daily, and has a Tapas option, as well as a two/three course option, which changes daily, Chef Nic said, influenced by what is in the fridge, in the vegetable garden, and what his team feel like preparing. The menu is only posted a day or so ahead, so one must check if one likes what is on the menu for that day, as no options are offered.  Luckily for us we were happy with the menu, Anne choosing the Tapas platter with six savoury dishes for R120, and I had the three course lunch for R150, both of us sharing each other’s dishes. Of Anne’s Tapas dishes, I especially enjoyed the pulled lamb shoulder served with a white bean sauce (front middle).  She also had a prawn and tomato consommé, roasted pork belly and carrot purée (a reduced version of my main course), braised pearl onion and bacon ragout, veal meatballs in a smoked tomato and tarragon sauce, and a most unusual creamed parsnip and fynbos honey soup!   My starter was a crumbed chicken ballotine, with an exceptional crispy outer band, served with carrot purée, and smoked beetroot.  My main course was a very tender pork belly served with a prawn and chickpea fricassée.  We were talking so much that I forgot to ask Chef Nic to replace the chickpeas with something else, not being to my liking.

My dessert was a vanilla roasted guava cheesecake served with guava mousse, the strong guava fragrance reminding me of how much I love this winter fruit.  The dry cappuccino was perfectly prepared. Anne’s dessert as part of her Tapas platter was a delicious Champagne mousse served with cranberry sauce and hazelnut biscuits.  Chef Nic recently did an ‘Onthoukos’ evening with Hetta, and both cooked courses for the dinner.  He will be cooking with Dinner Diva winner and Eat Out Blogger of the Year Anel Potgieter on 13 June, each preparing three courses.

Anne has seen a number of the Kokkedoor episodes, and having produced a number of food-related reality food shows for SABC 2, Dinner Divas having been the most recent one, she shared her feedback with Chef Nic, feeling strongly that he and his co-judge Pierneef à La Motte Director of Cuisine and food historian, Hetta van Deventer-Terblanche, do not receive enough exposure in the Kokkedoor episodes.  The programme series was conceptualised by Errieda du Toit, whose PR company also handles the Social Media for Kokkedoor, was filmed in Prince Albert, and is produced by Homebrew Films for KykNet.  Chef Nic said that it was a new experience for him, and that he learnt a lot through it, the production being run by ‘pros‘, he said.  Many of the contestant profiles were shot at Diemersdal, and that has been good for business, he said. KykNet is happy with the success of the programme, and a season 2 is very likely.  We questioned the involvement of MasterChef SA Finalist Sarel Loots in Kokkedoor, which gave him a huge awareness advantage over all the other participants, but he and his team mate have already been eliminated.  Anne felt that radio and TV presenter Mariëtta Kruger’s involvement as the presenter may have been a mistake, as she is not so well-known any more, and that she was a little stiff.  She also felt that not enough food is shown in Kokkedoor, which is what viewers of food reality TV programmes want to see.  She advised that there was no viewer ‘take away‘, in that there is no summation about why certain contestants’ dishes are the best, and why those that did not do well failed in their food preparation. Anne added that daytime viewership on weekends is more successful for food reality programmes than weekday evenings.

Chef Nic uses a vegetable garden on Diemersdal, which belongs to the Louw family, and there are pigs and chickens too.  His menu focuses on ‘fresh and seasonal’ foods, expressing disappointment on how few chefs follow this policy. His menu always has fresh vegetables from the garden on it.  He and his kitchen team ‘play‘ with food ideas, to come up with new dishes, and leftovers are worked into new dishes.  Nic has been a chef for 13 years, having studied at the Institute of Culinary Arts (ICA) in Stellenbosch, and starting with Chef Franck Dangereux at La Colombe, before he and Chef Michael Broughton opened Eat Out Top 10 restaurant Terroir at Kleine Zalze.  He opened Diemersdal Farm Eatery earlier this year, and had to spend five weeks in Prince Albert for the filming of Kokkedoor, leaving his new restaurant in the capable hands of his sous chef Martin de Kock.  Nic calls his food ‘Kontreikos’, translated as regional food.

The decor was done by Juanita Louw, wife of Tienie, and the character of the long narrow horse stable building dating back to 1929 has been retained, with raw brickwork, and a high ceiling, yet with modern touches for the ceiling lighting to which has been added interesting lamps on one side.  A reception desk at the entrance door breaks the room into two parts, allowing lots of space between tables.  Wooden tables with rustic chairs fill the room, and each table had an unusual candle holder, being an upturned crystal glass on top of another.  Chef Nic says that Juanita has decorated the restaurant as she would her own home.

Only Diemersdal wines are offered at the Eatery, the exception being the MCCs, which Diemersdal does not make.  They offer Krone at R140 and De Grendel at R165. White wines start at an unbelievable R20 per glass for the Sauvignon Blanc 2013 and Chardonnay Unwooded 2013.  The MM Louw Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2012 tops the price list at R165. Red wine by the glass is even more affordable, starting at R15 for Matys Red 2011, with Pinotage 2012 costing R25 and Private Collection 2011 R40 per glass.

Chef Nic took lots of trouble in chatting to us, and requested feedback after each course, saying that if he is not told things, he cannot fix them.  Anne and I felt that Chef Nic’s food is ‘honest food’, putting who he is on a plate, which is done with love, without trying to impress others, as so many chefs tend to do.  We loved our experience at Diemersdal, its good food, and the very special service by perfectly bilingual Guenola, speaking Afrikaans to Anne and English to me.  The music was too ‘rock’ and loud for us, and did not match the country setting of the restaurant. Cleaning the tables around us with a strong detergent was one of few negatives.  The menu is not updated regularly, it being out of date in still showing last week’s menus on the website.  The Diemersdal Farm Eatery is well worth a visit, being good well-priced honest food prepared with love.

Diemersdal Farm Eatery, Diemersdal, M58 (Koeberg Road), Durbanville.  Tel (021) 976-1810  www.diemersdal.co.za Twitter: @DiemersdalEat  Monday – Sunday lunch. Open on Friday evenings (only serving steak).

Kokkedoor, KykNET, Thursdays 20h00.

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

Sliver’s Silver Awards recognise top Cape restaurants!

Tony Jackman is a passionate cook, playwright, and a food and restaurant writer for publications and his Sliver blog. Yesterday he awarded the inaugural ten Sliver Silver Awards to the top chefs and restaurateurs in Cape Town and the Winelands at The Conservatory at the Cellars-Hohenhort Hotel.

Jackman writes in his media statement that there was no ranking in his top ten restaurant list, that the awards were not linked to a specific year, and that winning a Sliver Silver Award may be a once-off.  He writes: ‘They are not in competition with other restaurant awards.  Rather, they play a role of their own in bestowing a singular stamp on a restaurant. They are not given lightly, and they are not there to honour a flavour-of-the-month or a fly-by-night’. The Award is a Jackman one, not selected by a panel of judges.  ‘When you have a Sliver’s Silver, it’s a badge of honour and respect from me to them’. He evaluated the restaurants’ excellence over a number of years, and said that he was ‘consistently impressed with their ability to get it right, again and again’, describing his awards as a ‘mark of honour more than a conventional award’.

Jackman’s top ten Sliver’s Silver Awards list is as follows:

Cape Town:

*   Peter Tempelhoff (with Gerald van der Walt), The Greenhouse, for ‘his exquisite progressive South African cuisine’

*   Giorgio Nava, 95 Keerom, for ‘inspired Italian authenticity and Milanese charm’

*   Sabi Sabharwal, Haiku, for ‘striking Asian versatility and consistency’

*   Luke Dale-Roberts, The Test Kitchen, for ‘wizardry with flavour and texture‘

*   Henrico Grobbelaar, Azure at the Twelve Apostles, for ‘his finely engineered cuisine‘

*   Franck Dangereux, The Foodbarn, for ‘texture and nuance with Gallic charm’

*   Peter Weetman of Societi Bistro for ‘most beloved neighbourhood bistro‘.

Winelands:

*   Bertus Basson, Overture, for ‘seasonal expression and detail‘

*   Margot Janse, The Tasting Room, for ‘Avant-Garde African cuisine that always surprises‘

*   Michael Broughton, Terroir, for ‘being a saucier par excellence’.

The striking Sliver Silver Award bespoke ceramic plates with koi motif were made by Mervyn Gers Ceramics, each plate unique and different to the others.  Gers launched Kfm (previously called Kontrei FM) almost twenty years ago, and found his creative streak in ceramics, which he has already made for De Grendel, Babylonstoren, Moyo, and Jenny Morris.

Jackman announced at the Awards lunch, which I regrettably missed, that he will be launching Sliver’s Pop-Up Gourmet Dinners, at which food lovers will be served dinners prepared by three top chefs, with a food demo, a charity contribution, and ‘a mystery element inspired by Australian Masterchef‘.

Comparing Jackman’s Sliver Silver Awards with the latest Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards list it is clear that Jackman has only focused on Cape Town and Winelands restaurants.  Missing from the Sliver Silver list is Jordan Restaurant, Rust en Vrede, and La Colombe, which made the latest Eat Out Top Ten restaurant list. Surprise Sliver Silver Award inclusions are 95 Keerom, Haiku, Azure, The Foodbarn, and Societi Bistro, some restaurants not having appeared on the Eat Out Top 10 list ever, and others having done so many years ago. But then this was Jackman’s awards ceremony, as he said right upfront!

Sliver Blog: www.sliver.co.za Twitter: @SliverMorsels

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

Pendock Fleur du Cap ‘top’ Cape Town Restaurants PR paradox: knocks food writers and bloggers!

Neil Pendock, writing on his blog yesterday, knocked bloggers and food writers by applauding their absence at the inaugural Fleur du Cap 100 Places to Eat Cape Town 2011: “What made the awards cocktail party unusual was that the usual cast of thousands – journos, hacks, bloggers, twits and hangers on – was conspicuous by its absence..” Yet the ‘Awards’ were organised by ‘little Irish devil‘ (his words) blogger Clare (‘Mack’) McKeon-McLoughlin!  How embarassing for sponsor Fleur du Cap, wishing to gain support from the media and bloggers for its brands, given that Pendock no doubt had an organising hand in the ‘Awards’!

Neil Pendock can be a really nice guy, as I experienced at the Compass Box Whisky Co tasting and blending afternoon a week ago.  But he has a nasty side too, as poor Su Birch of WOSA well knows, being the target of regular attacks in his Pendock Uncorked Sunday Times blog.   We can attest to his fierce loyalty to McKeon-McLoughlin, as he has blocked us on Twitter, due to our criticism of Cape Town Tourism’s involvement in his and McKeon-McLoughlin’s organisation of the frivolous ‘100 Women 100 Wines’ in August.

Now poor Abigail Donnelly is the next target, being the sole judge and editor of the Eat Out DStv Food Network Top 10 Restaurant Awards for the first time.  This year the judging committee of Pete Goffe-Wood, Anna Trapido and Arnold Tanzer, who received a substantial remuneration, it is said, fell away, and whilst there has been some muttering about this, I have not heard any chef denigrate Mrs Donnelly because of the organisational change. The Top 20 Eat Out finalist list has been announced, and the only rumblings about it is that Rust en Vrede is not on the list, having been the winning restaurant on the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant list last year, but its Chef David Higgs left mid-year, and that Chef Henrico Grobbelaar has not been at Azure Restaurant of the Twelve Apostles Hotel for a full twelve months, which is what the Eat Out rules dictate.

On Sunday McKeon-McLoughlin had invited some of the Fleur du Cap ‘Top 100’ restaurants and announced the following (alphabetically listed) restaurants to be the Top 10 Restaurants in Cape Town, out of an initial list of 100:

95 Keerom – Giorgio Nava.

Aubergine – Harald Bresselschmidt

Bizerca – Laurent Deslandes

Dear Me – Vanessa Marx

The Foodbarn – Franck Dangereux

The Greenhouse – Peter Templehoff

Hemelhuijs – Jacques Erasmus

Planet Restaurant at the Mount Nelson – Rudi Liebenberg

Societi Bistro – Stefan Marais

The Test Kitchen – Luke Dale Roberts

If one compares the list to the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Top 20 Finalist list, Azure at the Twelve Apostles Hotel, The Round House, and Nobu at the One&Only Cape Town are obvious exclusions, while The Test Kitchen, The Greenhouse, and Planet Restaurant also feature on the Eat Out Top 20 list.  What makes the list above lose all credibility is the inclusion of Societi Bistro – whilst very popular amongst bloggers, who are regularly invited for lunch or dinner, and appears to be the McKeon-McLoughlin’s permanent dining room, it certainly does not feature on anyone’s top restaurant list for Cape Town!  Amusing is that Aubergine fell off the Eat Out Top 20 Finalist list, whilst having been an Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant last year, and appears on the above list!  A number of restaurant lovers queried its Eat Out inclusion last year.   Hemelhuijs and Dear Me Foodworld are great lunch venues, but only open in the evening once a week, and therefore are not in the same league as the other restaurants on the list, which serve lunch and dinner.

Ironic too is that Cape Town has lost its reputation as a top restaurant city, this accolade now having moved to the Winelands, Stellenbosch in particular, and therefore a list focusing on Cape Town only is like only handing out a second prize!   Pendock writes about the judges Bianca Coleman, Jos Baker and Anna Trapido that they are the ‘biggest culinary cannons’, an extreme exaggeration!  Trapido lives in Johannesburg, and hardly would have been able to judge all 100 Cape Town restaurants, especially given the short time between conceptualisation and execution of the Fleur du Cap Restaurant list.

A request sent to Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly for a list of the finalists in the new categories of the Eat Out Awards has surprisingly been declined, even though some restaurants on the list are ‘bragging’ about their inclusion.  All eyes will be on Eat Out and Abigail Donnelly on 20 November, when the country’s Eat Out Top 10 Restaurants will be announced, in ranked order!

POSTSCRIPT 8/11: Interestingly, the Fleur du Cap website has no reference to the Top 100 Cape Town Restaurants list, nor to the Top 10 Cape Town Restaurants.  The media release issued by the Fleur du Cap PR consultancy GC Communications oddly does not provide any quotes by nor contact details for the Fleur du Cap Brand Manager Danelle Kietzmann!

POSTSCRIPT 8/11: This evening I chatted to Jos Baker, one of the four judges of the Fleur du Cap Top 100 and Top 10 Places to Eat Cape Town 2011, at the Platter’s launch.  I asked what the criteria for inclusion were, and she said it was to find restaurants that would ‘not be intimidating‘, ranging from the top-end to the ‘hole-in-the-wall’, to give a good spread!  She told me that most of the judges’ deliberations were done via e-mail.  When I asked her about Eat Out having one judge only, she said ‘no comment’.  When I asked her if further regional lists would be published, she gave me a look that confirmed this, without answering directly.

POSTSCRIPT 9/11:  One would have thought that the Mount Nelson Hotel’s marketing department would have known better than to have described their inclusion in the Fleur du Cap Top 10 Places to eat list as ‘a most sought after achievement’ in their November newsletter today!

POSTSCRIPT 10/11:  Food24 has included a link to this blogpost in its newsletter today.

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

Eat Out DStv Food Network Top 20 Restaurant Finalists: a prediction

This year the newly-named mouthful of a Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards will see a number of changes, and hence predicting a Top 20 finalist is harder, as a number of new award categories have been introduced, including that Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly is the sole judge, which we have written about previously.  Today the Top 20 Restaurant Award finalists will be announced.

As we did last year, we have made a prediction of the Top 20 Restaurant shortlist, with a motivation, as well as indicated which restaurants will not make it this year.  We apologise for the very strong Western Cape bias:

1. Tokara: I firmly believe that Tokara in the Helshoogte Pass will be the number 1 restaurant this year, given the outstanding 13-course dinner which Chef Richard Carstens prepared on 30 July, in honour of the closing down of El Bulli on that day.  The chef and his team received a standing ovation, and Ms Donnelly attended, and expressed her admiration of it. Chef Richard never stands still, stretching himself and his team with new dishes.

2. The Test Kitchen:  Luke Dale-Roberts’ restaurant in the Old Biscuit Mill will be a close contender for the top crown, having been a number 1 winner whilst at La Colombe, and 12th on the San Pellegrino 50 World Best Restaurant Awards last year.

3. Pierneef à La Motte: This Franschhoek restaurant, with Chef Chris Erasmus, has consistently impressed with its creative interpretation of Winelands Cuisine, in a restaurant with outstanding decor and attention to detail, and prides itself on its quest for excellence.

4.  The Tasting Room: Making an annual Top 10 list appearance, and the only South African restaurant making the San Pellegrino World Best 50 Awards, this Franschhoek restaurant, with Chef Margot Janse at the helm, is what has given Franschhoek its gourmet status in the past, now challenged by Stellenbosch, as is evident from this list.

5.  Overture:  The Stellenbosch restaurant has a beautiful view on the Hidden Valley wine estate, and an energetic, continually renewing Chef Bertus Basson.  On the Top 10 list since it opened.

6.  Planet Restaurant: The refurbished and modernised ex-Cape Colony restaurant at the Mount Nelson Hotel is headed by Chef Rudi Liebenberg, a previous Eat Out Top 20 finalist.

7.   The Round House: Despite its arrogance, the restaurant has two excellent foraging chefs in the kitchen, being PJ Vadas and Eric Bulpitt (ex-Jardine).  The restaurant is a previous Eat Out Top 10 winner, but did not make it last year.

8.  Nobu:  This One&Only Cape Town restaurant’s inclusion is uncertain, as it also deserves to win the newly introduced Best Asian Restaurant Award.  It is not clear whether a restaurant can be eligible for participation in both categories.

9.  Bosman’s: After a long absence, this Paarl-based Grande Roche Hotel restaurant featured on the Eat Out Top 10 list last year.  Great work is being done to make the restaurant more accessible, through an amazing summer special. Chef Roland Gorgosilich has been in the kitchen for a number of years.

10.   The Food Barn:  This Noordhoek restaurant is quietly making a good name for itself, its owner and Chef Franck Dangereux having been a Eat Out Top 10 chef in the past.

11.  The Greenhouse:  Reports about Chef Peter Tempelhoff’s creativity at the Cellars Hohenhort Hotel are very positive.  He has featured on the Eat Out Top 10  list in the past, whilst at Grande Provence.

12.  Terroir: This restaurant on the Kleine Zalze estate has been on the Eat Out Top 10 list for a number of years, with Chef Michael Broughton.

13. Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine:  The Chef and owner has featured on the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant list whilst he was at Jardine, and also last year for his new restaurant.  Consistent delivery on his creative food, and baking specialist.

14. Aubergine: The only current Eat Out Top 10 restaurant in Cape Town, and owned by Chef Harald Bresselschmidt, having been on the Eat Out Top 10 list for many years, but then fell of the list for a number of years too, until last year.

15.   Delaire Graff:  The restaurant is known for its good service and beautiful views, and Chef Christiaan Campbell and his team quietly get on with what they are good at.

16.   Waterkloof:  The Somerset West restaurant, with Chef Gregory Czarnecki, has an excellent view, interesting architecture, and good presentation.

17.  The Restaurant at Grande Provence: Another low key restaurant, this Franschhoek restaurant has featured on the Eat Out Top 10 list twice, with chefs Jacques de Jager and Peter Tempelhoff.  Chef Darren Roberts is passionate about cooking, and creates beautifully prepared and plated fare.

18. Reuben’s One&Only Cape Town: This restaurant could also be eligible for inclusion in the Best Bistro category.  At best a token inclusion on this list.

19.  Hartford House:  This KwaZulu-Natal delivers consistently, and has been a regular on the Eat Out Top 10 list in past years, with passionate ‘local is cool’ Chef Jackie Cameron.

20.  DW Eleven-13:  This Johannesburg restaurant, with Chef Marthinus Ferreira, made its first appearance on the Eat Out Top 10 list last year.

Restaurants that will not appear on the Top 20 shortlist, we believe, are the following:

1. Rust en Vrede: Due to the departure of David Higgs, the new Chef John Shuttleworth has not run the wine estate restaurant kitchen for a full year, a criterion for the award.  Number 1 Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant last year.

2.  La Colombe:  Chef Scott Kirton probably needs some time to settle in, having worked with Luke Dale-Roberts previously.

3.  Reuben’s Franschhoek: The opening of the Reuben’s One&Only Cape Town was at the expense of this restaurant, a previous Top 10, and even number 1 restaurant on the Eat Out Top 10 list.

4.  New restaurants Dash, Casparus, Johan’s @ Longridge, and De Huguenot have not been open for twelve months, and therefore will not be eligible yet.

The Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards will be presented at the Rotunda at the Bay Hotel on 20 November.  Last month the American Express Platinum Restaurant Awards were announced.  JP Rossouw’s annual restaurant star award list has not been announced yet.  It is interesting to hear that Spill Blog is planning to organise a new Restaurant Award next month, with potential funding by Cape Town Tourism, it is said.

POSTSCRIPT 5/10: The Top 20 Finalist list has just been announced (11h30):  We had 15 of the 20 finalist correct.  Our prediction of Aubergine (a surprise!), Delaire, Waterkloof, Reubens at the One&Only Cape Town, and The Food Barn were incorrect, not making the short-list.  Five restaurants we did not have on our list, that are short-listed, are Azure at the Twelve Apostles, Babel at Babylonstoren, La Colombe, Roots in Gauteng, and Restaurant Mosaic at Orient in Pretoria.

POSTSCRIPT 13/10: Eat Out has presented an informative profile of each of the Top 20 chefs in its newsletter today.

POSTSCRIPT 23/10: Tony Jackman has written critically in the Weekend Argus about the Eat Out Top 20 Finalist List.  He believes that new restaurants should not be included in such a list before they have not been open for two years.  He questions the wisdom of not including Rust en Vrede. He believes that longevity of a restaurant should be taken into account.  He is very critical about the 16 Cape restaurants on the list, compared to only 4 for the rest of the country.  He wonders whether the geographical balance of the list would be the same if the publishers of Eat Out were based in Johannesburg, and says there should be more balance, given that it is a national publication.  He highlights that none of the three Reuben’s are on the list.  Interestingly, he questions how long Luke Dale-Roberts will stay in his current location.  He raises the question as to whether great restaurants can remain great, irrespective of the chef, mentioning La Colombe and Bosman’s as examples of restaurants not influenced by who is the chef, and suggests ‘let’s lose this cult of the chef perosnality‘, adding ‘The restaurant should be the point – not the chef’.   Jackman mentions every Top 20 finalist, with the following exceptions: Richard Carstens from Tokara, and Margot Janse from The Tasting Room.

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