I have only just paged through the Eat Out 2020 magazine, and was interested in the article on restaurants trends observed during 2019 whilst Eat Out Head Judge and Chef Margot Janse and her team of judges roamed the country to evaluate our country’s top restaurants for the 2019 Eat Out Awards. Personally, I’m happy to see that table cloths are back in. Nothing worse than eating at a bare table, Continue reading →
Prince Albert and Princess Charlène will be hosting a second wedding reception for not only South African friends and family, but also for some of the dignitaries attending the 123rd International Olympic Committee session, at the Oyster Box in Umhlanga later today.
While the details of the wedding menu and the attendance at the cocktail function have been shrouded in secrecy, some information about the wedding meal and its 450 guests have been found. The guests at the lunch will include FIFA President Sepp Blatter, FIFA ex-President Joao Havelange, International Association of Athletics Federation head Lamine Diack, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg (who both attended the Monaco wedding), Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Princess Anne, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, IOC member Sam Ramsamy, King Mswati of Swaziland, and Vivian Reddy, report The Times and Sowetan. The couple was invited to lunch with President Zuma at King House, the presidential residence in Durban, yesterday.
Executive Chef Kevin Joseph of the Oyster Box Hotel will prepare the meal, saying it is not the largest event that he has catered for, but certainly the most high profile. With nine years at the hotel, and previous experience at Raffles in Singapore, the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta and the Milestone in London, he is confident that he and his team will do a great job today. Asked why Princess Charlène had chosen the hotel for the reception, he said that her father “is part of the horse-racing fraternity and the Oyster Box has always been a big part of that world”, reports the Sunday Times. Earlier this year, Princess Charlène stayed at the hotel, and loved its Indian food.
The menu is a secret, but Chef Kevin says that he was given carte blanche for it, but with the specification that it should contain both South African and French cuisine. The colour theme for the decor is the Monaco red and white. Local produce will be organic, and fish, meat and cheeses will come from KwaZulu-Natal. All breads, pastries and ice creams will be made in-house. An oyster bar will offer oysters prepared in different ways, a butler service keeping guests topped up with ‘beautifully plated’ food. Boerewors and mealie pap will be on the menu too, as will sardines. Dombeya Chardonnay and Samara will be served, and Haskell winemaker Rianie Strydom will be one of the reception guests.
“Of course I hope the bridal couple enjoy it, but I really want the guests, international and local, to leave with the conviction that South African hospitality is amongst the best in the world. I want our guests to go home and say, ‘You’ve got to go and experience South Africa – and particularly Durban!”, he said.
Princess Charlène flies to Cape Town tomorrow, to attend a function of the Giving Organisation Trust with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Noordhoek, and visiting the Cotlands HIV/AIDS hospice and the Fynbos Project at Lourensford, both in Somerset West.
POSTSCRIPT 8/7: A special Oysters Charlène dish was created by The Oyster Box for the function, reports AFP, being oysters baked with creamed spinach, curried lentils and asparagus.
POSTSCRIPT 9/7: Princess Charlène’s visit to Cape Town was low-key, but her acceptance of the trusteeship of the Giving Organisation from Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a highlight.
POSTSCRIPT 11/7: Now that the reception is over, and confidentiality agreements no longer apply, more details of the reception menu have been made available by The Sunday Independent. A total of 60000 canapés, prepared for the 500 guests by a team of 30 chefs, included crayfish with lime and palm sugar glaze and wasabi egg puree; seared tuna loin with Japanese seven spice, crisp seaweed salad, soya and mint dressing; ostrich bobotie and raisin spring rolls; Dargyl duck liver and truffle paté; mini raspberry and honey Pavlovas; a duo of opera chocolate slices, mini chocolate and bitter orange éclairs; French apple tartlets with frangipani topping; and malva pudding. Moët et Chandon was served, as well as Dombeya and Bouchard Finlayson wines, the latter wine estate owned by the owners of The Oyster Box. The wedding cake was a lighthouse, the icon of The Oyster Box. 
Sad if true, is the report in The Times today that Prince Albert and Princess Charlène stayed in different hotels whilst in Durban.
Quick to make capital of the most high profile event The Oyster Box has ever hosted, parent company Red Carnation Hotels has launched a “You’re One in a Million” R1 million wedding package at The Oyster Box and sister hotel The Twelve Apostles in Camps Bay. The two night stay at The Oyster Box includes a Rolls Royce transfer, accommodation in the Presidential Suite on the wedding night, a microlight trip, ‘free-flowing oysters, champagne, strawberries and chocolate fountains throughout their stay’, use of the spa, a pre-wedding spa party for the female guests, a Zulu dance welcome, a gourmet seafood evening, champagne breakfast, golf for the groom and three friends, hair and make-up for the bride, flowers for the wedding, horse-drawn carriage, the services of a photographer and videographer, a parting gift of an oil painting of The Oyster Box, and two nights at Phinda. The Twelve Apostles package includes a return business flight, a silk Madiba shirt, champagne, canapés, rehearsal dinner, South African smorgasbord and seafood barbeque, entertainment by Cape Minstrels and a jazz band, champagne breakfast, hair and make-up, manicure and pedicure, barber service for the groom and best man, as well as massages and mini manicure and mini-pedicure, scenic drive for waiting wedding guests on Harley Davidsons or vintage cars, the wedding ceremony, a music trio, butterflies, marriage officer, photographer and videographer, a cheetah for photographs, venue decoration, seven-course banquet, Bouchard Finlayson wines, champagne, wedding cake, a jazz trio, a one hour scenic helicopter flight, a half-day cruise, and a two-night stay at Bushman’s Kloof.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
On 23 September Eat Out will announce its Top 10 Restaurant Awards list of twenty finalists. Ten of these will be chosen by three judges (Abigail Donnelly, Peter Goffe-Wood and Arnold Tanzer), and announced at the Eat Out 2010 Restaurant Awards gala dinner at the Westin Grand Hotel on 28 November.
To live up to my reputation in having been nominated for the SA Blog Awards in the “Most Controversial Blog” category, I have done a prediction of some of the Top 20 Restaurants we might expect on the list, as well as those that will fall off the list, in my opinion. I have also predicted which restaurants will make it onto the list for the Eat Out Restaurant Awards 2011. It is important to note that Eat Out specifies that a chef must have been with a restaurant for a year, to be selected for consideration for this prestigious award, the “Oscar” of the Restaurant industry.
Top 20 list
1. Rust & Vrede (chef David Higgs) in Stellenbosch: I predict that Rust & Vrede will make the number one slot of the Top 10 list, given that Luke Dale-Roberts is no longer at La Colombe full-time. David’s food is consistently good, creative, and the restaurant made it in the top 100 on the Top 50 Restaurants in the World list earlier this year. David Higgs is one of four chefs preparing the meal for the Restaurant Awards’ dinner, and this is a sure-fire predictor of being on the Top 10 list
2. Overture (chef Bertus Basson) in Stellenbosch: Consistently good, and always re-inventing his restaurant, Bertus deserves better than joint 10th, which happened in 2009. Definitely a Top 10 contender
3. Mosaic Restaurant in Pretoria (chef Chantel Dartnall): Chantel is also a chef at the Restaurant Awards dinner, so an automatic Top 10 contender
4. The Roundhouse in Camps Bay (Chef PJ Vadal) : not everyone’s favourite due to the arrogance of the management, but the fact that the chef is cooking at the Awards dinner is a sure predictor of Top 10
5. Restaurant Christophe, Stellenbosch (chef Christophe Dehosse): no glitz or glamour in terms of its interior, yet the Spookhuis is steeped in history. Christophe is charmingly French, and is a hands-on chef both in the kitchen and inside the restaurant. His food is excellent.
6. The Greenhouse at the Cellars, Cellars Hohenhort Hotel, Constantia (chef Peter Tempelhoff) : Peter is a favourite on the Top Restaurant list, and has been on the Top 10 list twice, at the current restaurant, and at Grande Provence before that
7. Jardine’s on Bree Street, Cape Town (chef Eric Bulpitt): Eric is cooking at the Awards’ dinner, so an automatic Top 10 candidate. He is also about to return from Copenhagen, where he spent 6 weeks in the kitchen at Noma, to gain inspiration. Noma is the top restaurant of the Top 50 restaurants in the world.
8. Jordan’s Restaurant with George Jardine, Stellenbosch (chef George Jardine) – last year’s move to his new restaurant at Jordan Winery no doubt cost George Jardine a place on the Top 10 list, a shock, as he had been number 2 on the list the year before. He had announced the move to Stellenbosch for personal reasons, and the judges had clearly taken this into account. George Jardine has been on the Top 10 list for a number of years, whilst at Jardine’s. George Jardine’s food preparation is excellent, but as at Jardine’s, the restaurant interior leaves a lot to be desired.
9. Bizerca Bistro, Cape Town (chef Laurent Deslandes): Bizerca seems to be every chef’s favourite restaurant, when they are not cooking in their own kitchen. Last year the industry laughed when the restaurant received a ‘consolation prize’ Best Bistro Award, a category not announced previously, and having no competition in it (9th Avenue Bistro in Durban was also on the Top 20 list, and made Top 10)
10. Terroir, Stellenbosch (Michael Broughton): Terroir has won numerous Top 10 awards, and seems to be a favourite of the judges.
11. The Tasting Room, Franschhoek (chef Margot Janse): the restaurant seems to have a love/hate relationship with Eat Out, in that it was left off the Top 10 list for three years, from 2004 – 2007, and that it had to endure the humiliation in sharing 10th place with Overture on the Top 10 restaurant list last year (a first for Eat Out in having a joint winner), indicating that the judges did not want to offend any of the two restaurants, but it became an insult to both restaurants instead. This created a Top 12 Restaurant list in reality, and the judges will be sure to not lose face to make compromise selections again this year! The interesting contrast is that the restaurant has featured in the Top 50 Restaurants in the World list, but for the first time another South African restaurant overtook it, La Colombe making it to an unbelievable 8th place on the international list.
12. Grande Provence, Franschhoek (chef Darren Roberts): Chef Darren is a highly talented chef, and has been around the block for 20 years in South Africa alone, but has been sadly neglected by Grande Provence’s Marketing department. He has just returned from a week cooking at the Grill Room at the Hong Kong Country Club, one of the most exclusive eateries in the city, sharing his menu and the wines of Grande Provence. (POSTSCRIPT 21/9: Chef Darren says that his restaurant is not eligible for the 2010 Awards, as he only started in January, therefore not giving him a full 12 months at the restaurant, a requirement for the Awards).
13. A Durban restaurant – to not be seen to show Cape Town and the Cape as the center of the cuisine universe, a restaurant from this city is normally selected by Eat Out. The choice of 9th Avenue Bistro has raised eyebrows for its inclusion in the Top 10 list in the past, especially for its location in a parking lot. The owner/chef appears to have left in the past year.
14. To be politically correct, a Johannesburg restaurant also needs to be on the Top 10 list. Roots at the Cradle of Humankind has been a winner for a number of years.
Other potential Top 20 short-listed restaurants could include The Restaurant at Waterkloof in Somerset West, Bistro 1682 at Steenberg, Delaire restaurant at Delaire Graff, 95 Keerom Street (see why for Carne below) and Bosman’s at Grande Roche (once the top restaurant in the country, but it has been left off the shortlist for so many years now).
Restaurants not making Top 10
1. Reuben’s in Franschhoek – winning Top Chef and Top Restaurant in 2004, Reuben’s has not made it back on the Top 10 list since 2006. Too many service-related complaints have dogged the restaurant, and Reuben will have to make sure he does not stretch himself too thin when he takes on his biggest challenge yet at the One&Only Cape Town from October.
2. Carne was on the Top 20 list last year, and fortunately for Eat Out they did not select it to the Top 10 list, given our disclosure of the restaurant’s dishonest claim that all its meat is from its Karoo farm and is organic. Carne has since removed this claim from its website. However, owner Giorgio Nava is a most charming and determined man, and has a close relationship with Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly, who refused to respond to our allegations about Carne’s claim, even when it was proven to be correct! I therefore predict that 95 Keerom Street will receive a ‘consolation’ Top 20 nomination in its place.
3. Cape Colony at the Mount Nelson Hotel – Chef Rudi Liebenberg made the Top 20 list two years running, whilst at The Saxon in 2008, and the Mount Nelson in 2009. It is unlikely that the restaurant can make the Top 10 list, given that it is undergoing a major renovation as well as a re-invention of its menu currently, and will only open again in November.
4. Salt restaurant – coming to the restaurant at the Ambassador Hotel in Bantry Bay, from Grande Provence, for which he received a Top 10 listing, chef Jacques de Jager’s presence is so low key at Salt that I regularly phone to check if he is still there. His wonderful cuisine hand one knows from Grande Provence does not seem to have made the journey to Cape Town yet, in that his menu and the food quality is disappointing!
5. La Colombe – given that ex-chef Luke-Dale Roberts has moved to a consulting role at La Colombe, it is unlikely that the restaurant should make the Top 10 list. This is re-inforced by Luke’s announcemnet (on 20/9) that he is to open his own restaurant The Test Kitchen at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock in November.
Bubbling under for Eat Out Top 20 in 2011
Given the new restaurant openings in the past few months, a number of exciting contenders are on the potential Top 20 list for 2011, as they will have operated for a year by then:
1. Pierneef à La Motte at La Motte in Franschhoek – wow, wow, wow, and that was only after having been open for 2 days! Top 10 for 2011 for sure.
2. Indochine at Delaire Graff– I thought that the original Delaire restaurant would make Top 20 this year when I first visited it a year ago. But it has lost many staff members, including a talented sommelier and Maitre’d, and service and food reports are not as positive as when it opened. The new sister restaurant Indochine has great potential, and could make the Top 20 list in a year.
3. Richard Carstens opens at Tokara Restaurant next month, and has been an Eat Out Top 10 chef six times. Hopefully he has staying power to last a year at the restaurant.
4. The Bombay Brasserie at The Taj hotel.
5. Reuben’s at the One&Only Cape Town – this is a ‘grown-up’ and sophisticated Reuben’s, yet has some of Reuben’s favourite dishes, such as calf’s liver.
6. The Test Kitchen at the Old Biscuit Mill, Woodstock – given that Luke Dale-Roberts has been named the world’s 12th best chef in the world in 2010, this is a no-brainer for his new restaurant, set to open in November!
7. Grande Provence does not qualify for the 2010 Awards, as Chef Darren Roberts has not been at the wine estate for a full 12 months. He would be a natural candidate for the 2011 Top 20 shortlist.
We would love to have your nominations and predictions before 23 September, as well as comments about ours – please e-mail me at info@whalecottage.com
POSTSCRIPT 15/4: It has been announced that David Higgs has resigned and will leave Rust en Vrede in mid-June.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
Hidden in the suburb of Paradyskloof (meaning “valley of paradise”) outside Stellenbosch, opposite the Stellenbosch Golf Course and on the road to the Vriesenhof wine estate, is Majeka House, a 5-star Boutique Hotel, with a top class French-style restaurant, a cuisine paradise, blessed with a creative young chef Anri Diener.
Co-owner Karine Dequeker is French, having studied at the Lausanne Hotel School, and worked at the Grand Roche Hotel, Lanzerac Hotel and Table Bay Hotel as Banqueting Manager, and it is her heritage that comes to the fore in the French-style menu of the Restaurant at Majeka House. Her husband Lloyd van der Merwe comes from the corporate hotel route, having worked at Protea Hotels and Holiday Inn, and at SETA, the hotel industry training body, before he became a training consultant. Majeka House previously was the private home of Karine’s father, and she and her husband set about a redesign of the property, spread over three erfs, to make it an 18-bedroom Hotel, opening 18 months ago. The property is spacious, and the bedrooms, swimming pool, parking area and restaurant all are generously sized. One would not know about the restaurant if one drove past the Hotel, as it is not separately branded nor visible. The Majeka name comes from the first two letters of the names of three of the owners of the property.
The invitation to review the Restaurant at Majeka House came from the Van der Merwes, who read this blog regularly, and from my son, who is one of the managers of the Hotel. I accepted the invitation, with their understanding that the review would be written objectively and critically, as always.
An interesting introduction to the Majeka House restaurant is the arrival of an amuse bouche in one’s bedroom at 18h00, whether one eats at the restaurant that night or not. I received a salmon roll and a butter pan-fried prawn on greens, a lovely way to make one look forward to dinner.
The Majeka House restaurant can seat about 30 diners, and leads to the bar and library. It has a large fireplace, with two interesting paintings by Vicky Sander on each side of it. The dominant wall has trendy wallpaper in gold and black, the curtains are silk-style in a golden/cream colour, the chairs are suede-style, with Persian carpets scattered on the wooden floor. Chandeliers add the French touch. The staff uniforms are Africa-inspired, in blue and cream, perhaps a contradiction to the French feel. The dark wood tables have a cloth over the centre, set with fine glasses and cutlery. What was unusual was the homely touch of a massive serviette in a serviette ring, lying at an angle across the diner’s eating area, as opposed to the left, or on the side plate, as is the norm. The fresh rose from the garden and a flower-inspired candle holder rounded off the table decor. Most of the crockery used is from Wonkiware, which adds a design touch to the dishes presented, the chef being minimalist as far as garnishing goes.
Music-wise a piano can be seen, but luckily there is no pianist tickling the keys (the Mount Nelson Cape Colony’s pianist does not stop playing, and it became irritating eventually). I found the French-style rock music too loud and too heavy, and was delighted when Hotel Costes was eventually played.
The Tasting Menu’s four courses are listed from 1 – 4 in French, reinforcing the French style of the restaurant. One has a choice of two dishes per course, and it costs R250, or R400 with a wine paired with each course. The lovely waitress Phelisa brought an unusual glass plate with what looked like a tablet – a small round white ‘something’ with the word WOW on it. She poured warm water over it, and it rose and expanded immediately, to become a cloth with which one can wipe one’s hands before starting to eat. I had never seen this before, and it was a nice unusual touch. Warm bread was served with butter.
The menu is not branded, and the items are printed on a patterned sheet of cream paper presented on a brown leather menu holder (as are the winelist and the a la carte menu), in quite small type, making it difficult to read, especially the wine that is paired with each dish, as it is in an even smaller type size.
I started with Chicken liver parfait, very creamy and soft, served with melba toast on a port jelly, its sweetness an interesting contrast to the parfait. The alternative was a Potato veloute, with fennel and smoked salmon fritters. I chose to drink a glass of Tamboerskloof Syrah 2006 with the first three courses, although I could have had a different wine with each course. The second course was a beautifully presented Mushroom risotto served on butternut puree, with a crisp parmesan wheel. The mushrooms were minute and delicate, the risotto perfect, and the food colours on the plate necessitated minimal garnishing. The alternative option was Pan-fried quail with a crayfish and saffron sauce with fresh gooseberries, a most interesting sounding combination.
The Beef fillet was a touch too close to the rare side, rather than the medium rare that I had ordered for the third course, served on celeriac puree, with oven roasted shallots and port jus. This made it difficult to cut the steak slices with the non-serrated knife provided. The alternative choice was a Buttered Kabeljou, served with a mussel and oyster mushroom ragout and Parisienne gnocchi. The highlight of the menu was the Millefeuille of chocolate mousse, served with a rectangular-shaped flat coffee meringue and citrus fruit, absolutely yummy and a chocoholic’s dream. The alternative Pear crumble with vanilla creme never stood a chance as a dessert choice. As if the four courses and the amuse bouche were not enough of a delight already, a plate with a homemade marshmallow, coffee meringue and truffle was presented with the perfectly made cappuccino.
The a la carte menu offers five options per course. Starters start at R50 (Tomato tarte tatin), and include Pan-fried scallops (R65), Tempura prawn salad (R65) and De-boned quail (R90). Main course prices peak at R180 for Seared Springbok loin, but Beef fillet (R140), Lamb cutlets (R150), Spinach ravioli (R95), and Poached linefish served with a lobster broth (R100) are also offered. For dessert Creme Brulee, Hibiscus granite and a trio of sorbets cost around R50, and a soft-centered mini chocolate cake and a cheese selection cost R80.
Chef Anri is a protege of Etienne Bonthuys of ex-Tokara, having worked for him for more than five years. She helped open the Delaire restaurant in chef Christian Campbell’s kitchen, and felt that Majeka House offered her an exciting challenge, in making the switch. She has the most exciting prospect of working at the Michelin 3-star restaurant L’Esperance in Saint-Pere-sous-Vezelay in Burgundy for two months. The Van der Merwes have developed an exchange programme with the restaurant, having welcomed its Senior Sous Chef at Majeka House earlier this year.
The winelist presents a good selection of wines predominantly from the Stellenbosch region, and one imported champagne (Pol Roger Brut at R760). Each wine is described briefly and commendably vintages are provided. Wines-by-the-glass are between 2 – 5 years old, and very reasonably priced (R26 for Dalla Cia Chardonnay, R20 for Villiera Chenin Blanc, R24 for Dalla Cia Sauvignon Blanc, R18 for Land’s End Rose, R30 for Villiera Tradition sparkling wine, R28 for Marklew Merlot, R39 for Dalla Cia Cabernet Sauvignon, R43 for Rainbow’s End Cabernet Franc, R31 for Bilton Pinotage, R34 for Tamboerskloof Shiraz, and R38 for Warwick 3 Cape Ladies blend).
The Restaurant at Majeka House is a treat, especially if one decides to spend a night of paradise in Paradyskloof at Majeka House too, and not drive back to Cape Town. The chocolate mousse is an absolute must! Not being very well-known yet, Majeka House could do well to embrace Social Media Marketing, in starting a Blog, tweeting more regularly, building the profile of Chef Anri, and perhaps consider an independent name for its restaurant.
The Restaurant at Majeka House, 26 – 32 Houtkapper Street, Paradyskloof, Stellenbosch. Tel (021) 880- 1512. www.majekahouse.co.za (Both the a la carte and the Tasting menu are listed. The Image Gallery does not have a page dedicated to the restaurant, and has few food photographs) Twitter @Majeka_House. Monday – Sunday. On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route.
POSTSCRIPT 22/11: Following the advice in our review, Majeka House has announced that its restaurant will be called Makaron Restaurant from now onward.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com