One of the shock decisions by the Government during the State of Disaster during the Corona Virus Lockdown has been to make it illegal to export South African wines, and to transport wines from wine estates to the ports, just nine days after exports were allowed, and despite the export of fresh fruit and other agricultural products being allowed. The export wine ban means a loss of R200 million per week to the wine industry, says industry body VinPro. Continue reading →
A lively entertaining debate about how opinionated bloggers can be in their blogs about their restaurant experiences was created when well-known food alchemist Pete Goffe-Wood, owner of Wild Woods Restaurant, Eat Out Top 10 restaurant judge, restaurant consultant, and owner of the Kitchen Cowboys cookery school for men addressed the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meeting at the Chef’s Warehouse and Cookery School on Thursday.
Goffe-Wood said that he started blogging about a year ago, as an extension to his writing for the Food page in GQ magazine. He does not rely on his Kitchen Cowboy blog to make money, but instead he uses it to express his passion about food, and his opinions about issues relating to the restaurant industry, e.g. pricing of wines, corkage, restaurant reviews. He does not blog every day, but rather when he needs to “vent” his opinion about something that is an issue for him.
It is clear that Goffe-Wood enjoys opinionated bloggers, who do not shy away from expressing their views, and who stand by what they write. Some of his favourite blogs are “Diary of a Food Whore”, “Eat Asia”, as well as “JamieWho”. He singled out attendee Kim Maxwell as a good reviewer, and mentioned the controversy about JP Rossouw’s review of La Mouette. If one critiques a restaurant, one must be able to substantiate the reason for the criticism, he said. A blog that did not carry criticism about restaurants, and that only said good things about good restaurants would not have depth, in his opinion, and would not be a benefit to the restaurant industry.
Goffe-Wood clearly does not like food blogs with recipes, which he disparagingly described as having beautifully styled photographs, but with “inane writing and inane recipes”. He himself would never write about recipes on his blog. He also criticised bloggers who had nothing new to say, and who cut and paste the work of other writers. He discussed the value of blog comments, and felt them to be a beneficial in that they get a discussion going, even if commenters can be harsh in criticising each other. Another question raised was how polite one must be in expressing a negative opinion.
Pieter Ferreira has been making MCC sparkling wines at Graham Beck for the past 20 years, and is called “Pieter Bubbles” by his friends, and writes a blog called “Bubbles on Wine”. His blog grew out of his Tweeting, which he does during his day to day activities on the Graham Beck Robertson and Franschhoek farms. The Tweets become a reminder for him about his experiences during the day, and these he can put into his blog on a later occasion. He likes to put other writers’ interesting stories on his blog, and also to share exceptional experiences at restaurants, or about a special bottle of wine. While his blog is a personal one, he is blogging mainly about Graham Beck brands, and therefore it benefits the wine estate as the blog posts will be found via Google searches.
Ferreira’s bubblies are so outstanding that Nelson Mandela chose Graham Beck Cap Classique for his inauguration. Many years later, President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle celebrated their inauguration with the same brand. Ferreira told the story that the cellar at the White House may only stock American wines. The Graham Beck wines are stored in the kitchen, to get around this sacred White House rule. Ferriera brought the Graham Beck Brut Blanc de Blanc, Brut Rose, Coffeestone Cabernet Sauvignon and Gamekeeper Reserve Chenin Blanc for the Bloggers’ Club members to taste.
Due to space constraints at the Chef’s Warehouse and Cookery School, the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meetings will be held at a larger venue in future. Please contact Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com to obtain more information about the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com (Photograph by Lesley Cox)
“Overture” is a musical term, meaning introduction to a musical piece. As a restaurant, Overture has been operating on the Hidden Valley wine estate outside Stellenbosch for 2,5 years, and no longer needs to be introduced. With its owner and chef Bertus Basson, it has established itself as a most professional and passionate restaurant, which has made it on the Eat Out Top 10 restaurant list for the last two years.
To receive an invitation to a lunch at Overture is a treat – to spend 2,5 hours hours with Bertus Basson enjoying his restaurant’s lunch with him was an absolute privilege. It was my fourth visit to Overture, having enjoyed each of our lunches in the past.
As I drove to the Hidden Valley Estate, well hidden at the end of a road that takes one past Ernie Els wines outside Stellenbosch, not far from another Eat Out Top 10 restaurant, Rust en Vrede, I had to think back how negative Rossouw’s Restaurants was about the road to Overture when JP Rossouw first reviewed it. It is no problem to drive at all, unless JP has a fear of heights. All is forgiven, Rossouw has been back, and now he has included Overture as one of his select top-rated 3-star restaurants.
Bertus and I started talking about the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards, which placed Overture and Le Quartier Francais’ Tasting Room at joint 10th position, an unprecedented occurrence in the history of the Eat Out awards, and which attracted a huge degree of criticism. Basson admits that he was extremely angry, using an unrepeatable word. He consoled himself by saying that at least he was in good company with Le Quartier Francais’ chef Margot Janse. Whilst he said he did not need to rethink his restaurant as a result of this ranking, he did make one immediate change – that was to start buying imported products, e.g. scallops, salmon, truffles, and foie gras, because the imported products offered a better range, and the service delivery from the importers suited his needs better, says Basson. Prior to this Basson had been ‘proudly South African’ in terms of sourcing his ingredients. Recently Basson has thrown out the clipboard menu holder, and changed to a beautiful brown leather holder for each of the winelist, and the daily menu, the latter which changes daily.
Bertus Basson is a character – for years he sported a Mohican, but he has grown his hair, and now hides it underneath a grey ‘Andy Capp’ cap. He had stopped smoking earlier in the week, and was really chuffed about this victory. The restaurant has added new round tables, for tables for two, and added beautiful white table cloths and serviettes. Bertus talks and talks, and he reflects confidence in his product and his staff, without ever sounding like he is bragging. He has found his niche, yet he never takes his restaurant’s success for granted. He often arrives at work, he says, and radically changes something about it – the winelist, a dish is added or removed, constantly reinventing the restaurant, believing that evolution is necessary for all restaurants.
We discuss the plethora of food blogs and restaurant websites, and he is critical of some, and complimentary of most. He says he reads Eat Out, Food24, JamieWho, Kim Maxwell, Tony Jackman, Michael Olivier and WhaleTales regularly, to stay up to date about what is being written about restaurants. While he wants to make sure that any mentions of Overture are positive, and he wants to learn more about his restaurant colleagues through these websites, he says that he does not care about reviews, because the success of his restaurant is purely measured by his bookings book. The summer season has been very good, mostly sold out, and so far the ‘green season’ has been better than last year.
One of his favourite restaurants is Restaurant Christophe (its foie gras in particular – read our review), and he raves about George Jardine’s new restaurant at Jordan, both in Stellenbosch.
At Overture a three course meal costs R 265, 4 courses R 315, 5 courses R 375, and 8 courses R 470. Pairing the courses to recommended wines costs extra. Each portion is roughly the same size, so that there is no differentiation between the size of a starter or a main course. In total, ten menu options are offered. The wine list has a choice of reasonably priced Hidden Valley and Lands End wines, which come from the wine estate, but Overture also offers a small collection of four Cap Classiques/champagnes, white and red wines, and dessert wines each. A special 4-course winter lunch menu is available at R 200, Tuesdays – Fridays.
We were spoilt by being served by the Maitre’d Kris van Zyl and the sommelier Kris Snyman. An amuse bouche was brought to the table on a wooden board, with a selection of coppa ham, sweet cream and onion, parmesan cheese straws, garlic aioli, and caviar salt. An olive roll was served with this, as was a refreshing glass of Graham Beck Brut Rose. A glass of Jordan Unwooded Chardonnay accompanied the first course, which was my favourite dish of the meal: cured salmon and kingklip terrine, a beautiful pink/white wheel, oyster beignet, and seared scallop in a sweetcorn and vanilla sauce. Tagliatelle, basil pesto, buffalo ridge mozarella and smoked aubergine puree, a symphony in green, was served with Aeternitas Blanc, a garagiste wine made by the Kanu winemaker after hours in his garage in the Strand. A matured entrecote with turnips and pomme fondant was paired with the Hidden Valley Gems, a Bordeaux style blend. When the dessert of chocolate torte, banana and banana sorbet was served, the sommelier brought two massive bottles of Bottega Chocolate Grappa, offering us a choice in white chocolate or dark chocolate. The glass bottles look less like alcoholic containers, and more like those for shampoo, and become a talking point at the table close by, being so unusual.
Our coffees were served with a collection of jugs, containing a most unusual vanilla syrup, grappa, and cardomon syrup, which one can add to one’s coffee, a nice touch. The ‘real’ Bertus came to the fore over coffee, and he talks almost emotionally about the new ‘addition to his family’, Patat his dog. One can hear the love for his pet when he speaks. He emphasises that Overture is family friendly, and he and his team will gladly prepare meals suitable for young guests.
I left Overture impressed with the slick operation which Bertus and his team runs. His staff appear happy, despite his reputation of being a tough boss, but he needs the best staff, to stay at the top. He sources the best products, and he has his hand firmly on his restaurant’s pulse, and is mostly in the kitchen himself. If there was anything to recommend, then it is to the Manager Kris to look a little less serious, and to smile more. I also found it hard to understand him explaining the elements of each dish, but was allowed to take the menu with me, to save me from having to write it all down. I know I will return to Overture regularly, and that Bertus and his team deserve better than joint 10th in this year’s Eat Out Top 10 restaurant awards list!
Overture Restaurant, Hidden Valley Wine Estate, Annandale Road, off R 44, Stellenbosch. Tel 021 880-2721. www.dineatoverture.co.za (the website is not very helpful, with barely any information, and an outdated menu of 12 March). Open for lunch Tuesdays – Sundays, and for dinner on Thursday and Friday evenings. On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com