Kanonkop Pinotage | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

I had read about What’s On Eatery on Watson Street in the city centre on Twitter, with Hennie Coetzee (@Batonage) and Maggie Mostert (@BlackDelilah) recommending the new restaurant highly. I was welcomed warmly by co-owner Trever Jordaan from the minute I stepped into the restaurant, and I felt completely at home in the elegant interior that has been created in the double story building that once was Platinum restaurant. What’s On’s promise is “Food l People l Passion”, with a ‘fusion of family & friends’, and this is what I experienced last Friday evening. It offers very good value food (the starters and desserts in particular) and wines.

Watson Street connects Bree and Loop Street, one block from Buitensingel Street. I found parking easily, and a canopy identifies the eatery, and what it stands for. One enters the attractive light grey Deli and Breakfast space, which doubles up as the bar, with wines stored on shelves, and a glass counter containing salads, pies and sandwiches during the day, with croissants, cakes, pastries, and other sweet bakery treats available too. Trevor led the way to the restaurant upstairs, and showed me the private dining room, which can be used for functions with up to 10 persons. The restaurant has ten tables, and the walls are a stronger grey colour. There are lovely wooden floors, interesting paintings by Joseph Lucaks, beautifully upholstered chairs, and wallpaper on some walls, all creating a warm, homely and elegant space. One wall has quirky-shaped mirrors on it. Trevor and his partner clearly have a good decor hand. The highback chairs are attractive, and reminded me of those at La Mouette – in fact the hearty welcome was reminiscent of La Mouette when it first opened. The light was soft, created with a mix of candles, lamps and modern downlighters. The tables have a white table cloth, and the white serviette had a silver pattern running through it. Glassware is good, the cutlery is by Maxwell Williams, and the food is served on white plates and bowls, some of them not holding the cutlery, in that they slide into the plate, a common restaurant problem. A Woolworths salt and pepper grinder are on the table, as was a vase with real roses. What made an impression in being so unusual yet clever was a card with “Thank You” lying on the serviette, continuing as follows: “…for sharing our dream…please spread the news to family & friends and join our facebook group on our website…”.

Trevor is a most amazingly warm person, who clearly loves people and his new restaurant. He was hands-on throughout the evening, asking for feedback continuously. He was receptive to hearing my opinion and suggestions, and I was impressed by his positive reception thereof, and his immediate implementation of changes. He joined Twitter immediately and is planning to start a blog too. Trevor was previously a guest house owner, and that is probably why we connected so well. His goal is to make his guests feel at home, as if they are visiting his home, and he wants to get to know his guests better, as he does not want any ‘strangers’ in his home, he said. Trevor’s partner and co-owner is Chris Mears, but is not involved in the running of the restaurant. I was served by Nina, previously with Col’Cacchio in town, and she was friendly and looked attractively dressed in a white shirt and black slacks, with a branded apron from Vrede & Lust. Uri from Jardine, which closed down at the end of February, now works at What’s On. The chef is Kerin D’Offize, previously with the Foodlovers’ Market in Claremont and Harbour Rock in Hermanus.

The menu, winelist and bill holders have the same blue-green cover, with branding in white. The pages are neatly affixed to the cover, but can be easily removed when any pages have to be updated. Nina brought a plate of delicious freshly-baked olive bread to the table, which was more-ish. I ordered the duck liver parfait, served with morello cherry sauce and garlic crostini (R40). I felt that the garlic and parfait were fighting each other, the garlic being overpowering. The cherry compote was an unusual but good marriage with the parfait. Other starter options ranged in price from R35 – R 45, and included braised leek and gorgonzola tartlet, springbok bobotie spring rolls, smoorsnoek and feta crepes, black mussels, and baked camembert fondant. Unusual is that all salads can be ordered in half-portions too, at R 40 – R60 per half portion, and R60 – R80 for a full portion, probably meant to be shared. Interesting sounding salads are the rooibos-smoked chicken salad; steamed prawn and baby calamari salad; and biltong, mango and feta garden salad. I was surprised when a complimentary wild mango, mint, melon and vanilla pod sorbet palate cleanser was served. I loved the taste combination, and never eat mango usually.

The Beef Wellington main course I ordered had porcini mushrooms, garlic and bacon in the pastry casing, but no chicken liver paté (R135). It was served in two halves, the fillet perfectly prepared medium rare as ordered, with roasted beetroot ‘chips’, mash and butternut. It was served with a green peppercorn Bordelaise sauce, which I found too sharp and salty. Other main course options are oxtail, line fish and calamari, confit of lamb rib, roulade of chicken and spinach, venison fillet, sole, rib eye steak, tiger prawns, ostrich burger, and a grilled wild mushroom risotto, ranging from R 85 – R145. Side dishes are available at R15 each. I didn’t have a dessert, but the options are a chocolate and hazelnut fondant, a trio of sorbet, crème brûlee, chocolate truffle and espresso tart, and honey and almond cheesecake served with basil and chilli ice cream, ranging in cost from R40 – R50. I had a foamy cappucino (R17), made with Tribeca coffee, and I liked Trevor’s description of the foam looking like a meringue!

The winelist is introduced as follows: “This list has been prepared to showcase the very best wines to complement our culinary concept. We constantly search and hand-pick the perfect selection of wines so that you, as our guest, experience ultimate wine and dining at What’s On”. The list specifies the regions from which the wines come, but there are no vintages for most of the wines listed. The wine-by-the-glass choice is restricted to one white and one red, and my recommendation to Trevor was to expand the selection. I had a generous glass of Vrede & Lust’s Boet Erasmus Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot blend, at R45 a glass/R265 per bottle, and I was allowed to taste the wine first. I am not one for blends usually, but this was an excellent wine. The white wine-by-the-glass is Neil Ellis Groenekloof Sauvignon Blanc (R35/R140). Sparkling wines include Graham Beck Brut MCC (R185) and Boschendal Brut Rosé (R195). Shiraz options are Brampton (R100), Graham Beck (R135) and Bernard Series Basket Press (R215). A number of ‘cellar selection’ wines are also available, such as Kanonkop Pinotage 2008 (R440), Rustenberg Peter Barlow 2006 (R565) and Hamilton Russell Chardonnay (R475). Corkage costs R30.

Breakfast choices include French Toast; omelets; flapjacks; oats; muesli, fruit and yoghurt; and a cooked breakfast, none of these choices costing more than R32. Lunch options include a variety of fillings on ciabatta (R39 – R55), salads (R45), beef fillet (R65); prawn, chorizo and saffron risotto (R65); chicken breast (R48); and chicken roulade (R55).

The bill says “Thank you for visiting us at What’s On. We look forward to have you back ‘home’ soon”. It is so refreshing to see a restaurant thanking its clients on arrival and on their departure. I felt at home, and Trevor has found an opportunity to ‘chat’ by e-mail almost every day since I went to What’s On, and he is a strong relationship builder, something many restaurants fail at, taking one’s custom for granted. As I did for La Mouette when they first opened last May, I spent time with Trevor to run through Social Media Marketing with him subsequent to my dinner.

POSTSCRIPT 19/5: Food bloggers and clients of What’s On Eatery were invited to try out the new winter menu this evening – two courses cost R125, 3 courses R150. One can also order off the menu, at R 39 for a choice of nine starters (including grilled brown mushrooms – left, stuffed calamari tubes, tempura snoek and prawn); R98 for one of eleven main courses (including Duck la orange – right, Coq au vin, Beef Wellington, Beef fillet, Karoo lamb shank); and R40 for one of five desserts. The winter menu is good value for money, and the portion sizes are very generous.

POSTSCRIPT 16/9: Exciting news is that Chef Oliver Cattermole from Dash Restaurant at the Queen Victoria Hotel will start as Chef at What’s On Eatery from 1 October.

What’s On Eatery, 6 Watson Street, between Loop and Bree Street, Cape Town. Tel (021) 422-5652. www.whatsoneatery.co.za (The homepage on the website has attractive food photographs, which will make one want to come to What’s On Eatery, but these are not carried over to the Image Gallery, which has more photographs of guests than of the food. The menu is on the website). Twitter @WhatsOnEatery. Deli open Monday – Friday 7h30 – 16h00. Restaurant open Tuesday – Saturday evenings.

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

The current social media “wars” taking place both in the food and wine arena should be a reason for bloggers to get together, and to write a Code of Conduct for blogging. This serious call came from Emile Joubert, a PR consultant to the wine industry, and writer of the Wine Goggle Blog, when he addressed the final and best attended meeting for this year of the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club at the Grand Daddy Hotel in the Cape Town city centre.

Emile was a most entertaining speaker, and challenged wine bloggers in improving their ‘game’. He had brought along two De Wetshof wines from Robertson-based winemaker Danie de Wet, the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, as well as Kanonkop Pinotage, the only South African wine in a recent list of “100 most exciting wines in the world”, and a magnum of Glen Carlou Pinot Noir, which were tasted by the bloggers. Emile praised the initiative of the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club, which was established in May this year. He has seen the benefit that his wine clients have enjoyed through the increasing number of bloggers, all wine lovers with an opinion, he said. Social media is a perfect platform for wine promotion. Every wine has a story, he said, making it eminently ‘blogable”, unlike spirits or beer, which are more generic beverage categories. Wines have a brand name, a culture and a personality, and these characteristics can be used to good advantage by wine bloggers. Emile acknowledged the leadership of Mike Ratcliffe in being the first wine blogger ever, for Vilafonte, about six years ago.

Emile was critical of wineries embracing social media by opening a Facebook page, and paying lip service to social media through poor writing on their blogs and in their Tweets, which give the wine industry a poor image, he said. He said that many wine bloggers “are more enthusiastic than talented in writing” about wine, wasting the time and space for serious wine lovers. They are boring, he said, and if they contain spelling errors, they are an embarrassment. He said that many bloggers are too obsessed with readership numbers, using links non-stop, no use he says if their blogs are lousy! He encouraged bloggers to develop their “own voice”, and to create their own ‘blog brand’. “Speak your own voice clearly, succinctly and passionately”, he urged.

Most social media programs of wineries lack a strategy, in his opinion. He recommended that a 1/3 each of one’s action should be focused on SOCIAL, MEDIA and MARKETING. He described the wine industry as ‘ego-sodden’ terrain, with over-intellectualisation of wines, for example, referring to wine tasting of “tar” and “figpaste”, having run out of new adjectives to describe the taste of wine! Emile feels that bloggers will make traditional mainstream media wine writers obsolete, and that is why Neil Pendock too has taken to blogging. He mentioned that the recent ‘Swartland Revolution’, a marketing activity by a number of Swartland wine producers in Riebeeck Kasteel to make their wine region “sexy” via social media marketing, had made TIME magazine.

In developing a Bloggers’ Code of Conduct, Emile called firstly for anonymous comments to be disallowed, saying that this would never be allowed on a letters’ page in a newspaper. He also called for a boycott of restaurants that ban writers! When asked, he explained the split in the wine industry, based on wine writers being pro- or anti-Platter. The anti-Platter writers are unhappy with sighted tastings to judge the stars awarded to each wine, as they can influence the livelihoods of those affected by lower star ratings. He called Platter “the best phone book” for the wine industry. It would appear that this group of writers is also critical of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), in that they feel that the monies spent on marketing South African wines is not effectively spent. Accepting ‘freebies’, including airline tickets and more, is frowned upon, and leads the anti-Platter faction to expose their ‘colleagues’ guilty of this practice without disclosure. This leads to backstabbing, infantile behaviour, and persons dishing out insults without being able to take them in turn.

The Food Blogger Marisa Hendricks from The Creative Pot blog praised her Twitter and blogging friends for their friendly support and ‘chattiness’, which makes Social Media enjoyable to her. She was honest in saying that she is a ‘messy’ cook, that her family does not eat fancy food every night, and that there are irregular meal times in her household. She focused on three aspects of a blog, in making it more successful. The design of the blog is paramount, as it expresses one’s personality.

Secondly, food photography needs attention. In her household photography is mainly done at night, which is complicated as far as lighting is concerned, making dishes look too yellow. She says that cellphones are not made to give good photograph quality, and that one should choose the right camera (she uses a Cannon), read the manual that comes with the camera, and experiment with the camera settings. Natural light is best, and it can be softened by gauze, she said. Food should also be lit from the side, and not directly from above. Food styling is equally important for successful photography, creating a desire of “I want to lick my screen”, she said! Styling can be enhanced through the use of cutlery, glasses, doilies, napkins, etc. White plates are classic in food styling, but bright plates offer a contrast for a one-colour food dish. The styling should be natural, in how one would eat the dish. This helps one when one submits one’s food photographs to what she called ‘foodporn” sites such as Foodgawker! Thirdly Marisa spoke about advertising, and she only allows text-based ads. She does not want her blog to look like a “billboard”. She knows that advertising could be off-putting to her readers. She also discussed affiliate links, to cookery books sold by Amazon, for example, which can work well if used properly.

In discussion it was mentioned that bloggers’ “user-generated content” is becoming more trusted for recipes and information than are recipe books and magazines. Marisa called for better hardware to read blogs. Disclosure of receiving free products is paramount, it was said, and PR companies should not expect bloggers to write about the products they have handed out, much like a print journalist will not guarantee that he/she will accept a media release. It was felt that one should not write about something one did not like.

A competition amongst attendees to find the most frequent Tweeter during the two-hour Bloggers’ Club meeting led to a flood of Tweets. Hila Jonker (who Tweets as @LadyRaven) won the prize of a bundle of fresh greens from the gardens of the wonderful new restaurant Babel at Babylonstoren.

The 2011 programme for the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club will be announced closer to the start of the new year. The first meeting of the year will be hosted by Pigalle on 26 January. More information is available from info@whalecottage.com.

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