Tag Archives: Jean Delport

Michelin inspectors: dining detectives or normal diners?

 

South Africa does not have the Michelin Star Restaurant rating system, because there are not enough Michelin tyres sold in our country, it is said.

Yet when travelling overseas, eating at Michelin one, two or three starred restaurants has an intrigue,  because they appear to be far better than our own local best restaurants, which is not necessarily the case at all.

We are proud to have two South African chefs linked to two Michelin star restaurants: Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen owns one star JAN Restaurant in Nice, awarded for the seventh time earlier this year, and Chef Jean Delport heads up the one star Restaurant Interlude at Leonardslee Gardens in the UK, the star having been awarded for three years running. Co-incidentally both chefs studied at the former Chefs School at Zevenwacht.  Continue reading →

Lucky number seven for Restaurant JAN in Nice, in being awarded a Michelin one Star!

 

For the seventh year running, Restaurant JAN in Nice has been awarded one Michelin star. The restaurant owned by Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen is the first South African owned restaurant to achieve this international recognition.

More recently the Restaurant Interlude in West Sussex in the UK, owned by Benguela Cove in Hermanus owner Penny Streeter and headed up by Chef Jean Delport, has also gained a Michelin one star, for the third year running. Continue reading →

Is Restaurant Mosaic and The Test Kitchen Awards withdrawal a death-knell for Eat Out?

 

Earlier this morning I wrote about Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient showing up Eat Out when it was ranked in the Top 200 of the 1000-restaurant La Liste. At the Eat Out Awards two weeks ago, Chef Chantel Dartnall announced her restaurant’s withdrawal from consideration of the Eat Out Awards. This morning Chef Luke Dale Roberts followed suit, announcing the withdrawal of his The Test Kitchen from the Eat Out Awards, using the same motivation as that of Restaurant Mosaic. Is this the end of the road for the Eat Out Awards?! Continue reading →

The Eat and Meat of a Michelin Restaurant Inspector! A star job, eating out 275 times a year?

The local JHP Gourmet Guide once again tried to link itself to the Michelin star rating of our local restaurants, by awarding top local restaurants one, two, and three plate accolades, as if they are equivalent to Michelin one, two, and three stars. I have been critical of this exaggerated and dishonest link by Jenny Handley and her Gourmet Guide Awards, especially as I know how the restaurant visits are done by her. (See the Blogpost link at the end of this article). A recent Forbes article ‘The Secret Life of an Anonymous Michelin Restaurant Inspector’ therefore attracted my attention, and I summarise it below, so that I could double check my view on this. Continue reading →