Moet et Chandon | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

One of the most beautiful restaurant interiors in Cape Town is the newly opened Brio 1893 jazz restaurant on Adderley Street, one half of the previous Riboville Restaurant that closed down more than a year ago, and close to The Taj Twankey Bar. “Brio” is a musical term, meaning lively and spirited, and that is what this restaurant embodies.

The German owner of the 1893-built ABC Building, in which the restaurant is housed, invited Skippy and Lauren Shaked to check out the building, despite both having sworn that they would not open another restaurant. “It was love at first sight”, beams Skippy, despite the original interior having been a mess, only the beautiful wooden floor and original lamps still in the space when they saw it.

Skippy and I have been Camps Bay “colleagues” for twelve years (he is the owner of Codfather, and ex-owner of Summerville). I accepted an invitation to try out the restaurant, shared with Clare and Eamon from Spill blog, after I had popped in for a coffee and a drink about ten days before.

Lovingly Lauren and Skippy have created a most beautiful restaurant, with a lovely ambiance. Near the bar counter a cosy lounge area has gilded chairs with a lovely purple fabric. A separate smoking lounge with its own fireplace also is beautifully decorated, and feels homely. Another dining section can be cordoned off for a private dinner for 30 guests. Soon the downstairs vault will be turned into a function venue.

Beautiful chandeliers hang over the bar area, whilst modern small chandelier-style lights light up the passage to the bathrooms, a good blend of old and new. In the bathrooms the lighting is very modern, with a lighting panel above changing colour. The original marble walls of what was once a Standard Bank add an unusual decor touch. Lauren was in charge of the decor, and has an amazingly simple touch, a less is more approach, and it says CLASS. It is not surprising to hear that she had a decor shop in Hout Bay.

The lower restaurant level has retained the beautifully restored wooden floors, whilst the raised section has my favourite black and white tiles. One is separated from other diners by classical brown leather benches, with modern black chairs on the other side of the tables. From the band stand in the middle of the lower floor we were entertained by Skippy’s pianist and guitarist, with soloist Robin. The highlight was when Skippie took the microphone – he is a singer of note, singing with passion such standards as ‘Georgia’ and ‘Georgie Porgie’. There is no cover charge for the music, and a couple danced, making this good value for a romantic evening out, celebrating a special birthday (with Skippy singing for a birthday girl the night we were there), an anniversary and even an engagement. Compared to other restaurants with live music, Brio has the benefit that one can carry on a conversation whilst the live music is performed.

Arlene, our medical student waitress, was exceptional, one of the best I have experienced. She brought us the gold covered menu and winelist. The menu is restricted, making it easy to choose. We received cheese coated bread sticks and a peppadew dip to start with, and we felt that the breadsticks would have been better served warm, and without the dip, but may have been superfluous anyway, given that the starters arrived almost immediately. I had the deep fried camembert with caramelized nuts and figs, the camembert having a lovely soft centre contrasted with the crispy crumbed exterior (R 62). Clare enjoyed her oysters, at R15 each, beautifully presented. Eamon was happy with his grilled calamari (R49). Other starters offered are roquefort snails (R59) and springbok carpaccio (R88).

The signature main course is the peppered fillet (R130), which both Clare and Eamon had, prepared perfectly medium-rare, as requested. I found my grilled calamari (R96) too sharp in taste, making my eyes water, and Skippy explained that it has a sprinkling of cajun spice, which is not mentioned in the menu. He immediately replaced it with an unspiced plateful, which was served with basmati rice. Other mains range from the Brio Burger at R79, to a seafood platter at R420. One can also order carpetbagger steak (have not seen this on a menu for years!), oxtail, steamed mussels (temporarily not available due to the red tide), linefish and crayfish thermidor. Starches, vegetables and sauces cost extra, between R18 – R 25. Side salads cost about R50.

Two desserts offered (malva pudding at R45 and creme brulee at R39) is too restrictive a dessert choice, in my opinion. Clare’s creme brulee was a generous portion, and was perfectly prepared. I enjoyed my cheese platter (R89).

The winelist offers about ten choices per variety, but does not contain vintages. Champagnes range in price from R1 100 (Moet et Chandon Epernay NV) to R3660 for the Dom Perignon Epernay). Cap Classiques cost around R250, for Simonsig, Steenberg 1682, Pongracz and Graham Beck. Fleur du Cap Sauvignon Blanc costs R118, and Klein Constantia R238. Chardonnays start at R116 for Brampton, with Hamilton-Russell the most expensive at R649. Guardian Peak’s shiraz is reasonable at R138, and Ernie Els’ the most expensive at R484. Fleur du Cap’s Pinotage costs R128, while the Guardian Peak Lapa costs R468. Eamon was kind to me, knowing my preference for shiraz, and ordered a Neil Ellis for us and I was surprised that the 2008 bottle came with a screw top. It costs R222.

We loved the evening at Brio – the beautiful decor, the ambiance, the friendliness of the staff, the generosity of Skippy and Lauren, the live music (Skippy’s singing in particular), the reasonable prices and the good food. We will definitely be back.

Brio 1893, ABC Building, 130 Adderley Street, Cape Town. tel 021 422 0654. www.brio1893.com (website under construction). Open Mondays – Saturdays. Dinners only.

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

The Caviar Group (Beluga, Sevruga, Caviar Fine Foods) owner Oskar “Blonde” Kotze has a weakness for blonds, or so his marketing tells us, as most photographs used to market his restaurants feature sexy girls, particularly blond ones. Blonde, the newest restaurant of the Caviar Group, opened earlier this month as a dinner-only venue on Hatfield Street. While the female staff are all blond, the male waiters are not, and the food as well as the prices of Blonde leave much to be desired.

If one drives to the restaurant from the Parliament side, one will see an ueber-massive billboard with a ……blond on it, and the name of the restaurant (but only during the day, and not at night, as it is not lit). If one comes down Hatfield Street from Orange Street, one would not notice the 110 year old Victorian restaurant building, and drive past it. The red carpet entrance is through stylish glass double doors, down a passage with a massive chandelier. The white walls are adorned with large murals of ……blonds drinking Moet et Chandon. The chairs have a black and white floral design, and are very comfortable. The double story house, home to a number of failed restaurants previously, is divided into a number of small dining rooms, none having more than 3 or 4 tables or so in them, giving one a feeling of being cramped inside the small rooms after a while.

One is greeted by a hostess (Nikita), who is so new that she does not know where table 301 is, as per the booking sheet. The service from waitress Karien is professional, but she seemed incredibly nervous, stuttering and shaking. Three Managers were on duty, and each one of them regularly came to check if all was in order at the table, meaning that up to seven persons ask one the same question in an hour, a nagging irritation. One receives an A3 menu, with a full page …… blond on the reverse side, and another …… blond at the top of what is called the “Unofficial Menu”. A “menu explainer” comes to each table, and he explains the menu, making his personal recommendations, not surprisingly for the most expensive items on the menu (the Foie gras balentine and the Roasted foie gras starters, at R 139 and R 129, respectively) and the Truffle-infused fillet as a main course, indicated as being the restaurant’s signature dish, at R 189.

Very nice bread rolls were served, with a complimentary generous platter of little toasted breads, duck liver pate, roast beef, pickled onions, and homemade sweet chilli sauce. An amuse bouche was then sent to the table, butternut soup served in an espresso cup.

The wine list has about 60 wines, and eleven each are by-the-glass. For white wines the wine-by-the-glass choice is mainly from Greyling (“The Doppie”, Family Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, “Botterbek”, “Mengelmoes”), all at R 29, up to R 59 for Sterhuis Barrel Select and a Mulderbosch 2006. Red wines by-the-glass also start at R 29 for Saxenburg and Greyling HMI Collection, up to R 55 for Boschendal 1685, Greyling Family Reserve and Clos Malverne Pinotage Reserve. Between 5 – 10 options are offered per wine variety, and then an additional heading adds about 20 further options, being more select and more expensive (e.g. the “Special red wines” list includes Vergelegen V 2006 at R 1685, Meerlust Rubicon in various bottle sizes and vintages, and Raats Mr De Compostella 2007 at R 1065). The “Special white wines” list includes a Vergelegen White 2006 at R 665. Very few of the wines have vintages provided on the list. The Graham Beck Merlot was served in an odd glass, very bulbous at the bottom and a very narrow top, almost like a larger wine estate tasting room glass, which does not allow the wine to breath well.

The 40 minute wait for the main course is long, but the restaurant was almost full. The “truffle-infused fillet”, served with “garlic galette potato, mushroom ragout, bordelaise jus and beef reduction”, was a huge let-down. Not only was the 220 gram fillet bland, but the truffle infusion could not be detected. The terrible taste of the potato bake cannot be described in words without making the reader of this review run to the bathroom. The mushroom ragout was the most tasty element on the plate. When the complaint was lodged with the Manager, she was very condescending, saying that maybe it just was not to the liking of her patrons. When this approach to “customer service” was questioned, she apologised, said that she would reprimand the chef, and offered complimentary desserts (a chocolate terrine, and a peach cobbler) and Glen Carlou dessert wine. It was clear that the Manager does not yet know the Blonde menu, in that she did not know the detail about all the desserts. A basil sorbet palate cleanser was sent to the table before the desserts were served.

The menu uses an interesting pricing technique, in that the prices are not written in numbers but in words, making it harder to “see” the R number, perhaps to hide the high Blonde prices! The Starter choice of ten dishes ranges in price from R 49 (Roast vegetable salad, Baby calamari, or Herb salad) to R 129/R139 for the two foie gras dishes. Roast tomato tarte tatin, calamari cerviche, duck breast, and onion veloute are other options. Ten Mains are offered, ranging in price from R 109 (smoked aubergine and goat’s cheese cannelloni) to the beef fillet at R 189. Other choices are Chicken breast, Smoked springbok, Ostrich, Confit duck roll, Kingklip, Linefish (Cape Salmon), and Beef rib. A second column offers lighter, smaller and less expensive dishes , under the heading “Simply Blonde” – it is not explained if these are for the ladies? Nine options include Roasted chicken breast, at R 99; East coast sole and linefish cost R 109; Kingklip, Salmon, Lamb rump and Lamb shank pie cost R119; and Fillet steak and Duck breast cost R 129. A choice of sides includes an unusual selection of pickled vegetables; beef and poultry reduction; chilli jam, tomato compote, beetroot and onion chutney; and “braised” mixed vegetables, each at R 25. Last, but not least, the menu makes a recommendation for “Next time at Blonde”, being a “whole roasted fillet steak for two, roasted vegetables, duo of potato, herb salad and a beef reduction.” No price is provided, and it does not encourage one to order it during one’s current visit to the restaurant.

Underneath the menu a line is printed : “anything but pepenero” – obviously a private joke, in that it could be a reference to another restaurant group that also has 4 restaurants (Pepenero, The Kove, Zenzero and Paranga – I have been told that there is no love lost between the owners of the two restaurant groups), and that no black pepper (only …… blond pepper, i.e. white peppercorns) is available. The menu also states that “A discretionary 13 % service charge will be added to your bill. Please feel free to ask us to remove it if you are not comfortable with this addition”. The tip was removed before the bill came to the table, due to the problems experienced with the main course.

The dessert menu is short, offering lemon sabayon tart, creme anglaise soup, and Absolut mango chocolate martini as options in addition to the peach cobbler and chocolate terrine, in a price range of R 49 – R 59. The Glen Carlou “The Welder” is offered on the Dessert menu at R 59.

The bathroom is very ordinary, with average standard fittings, and feels tiny and cramped.

Blonde, 129 Hatfield Street, Gardens. Tel 021 462 5793. Tuesdays – Sunday dinners. www.blondedining.co.za (website still under construction!).

POSTSCRIPT: A further sign of the ……blondness of Blonde’s marketing department is an ad with a ……blond in the Business Report of 19 May, which lists the telephone numbers and website addresses of all four the restaurants in the Caviar Group – for Blonde it says “opening soon” and provides the web address, which is still under construction!

POSTSCRIPT 7/2: Blonde is to close down at the end of February, the current concept not having brought in the feet nor revenue, despite heavily discounted prices of its expensive menu and winelist. This is the e-mail that was sent today:

“Our sexiest socialite Blonde had an amazing summer , met some remarkable people and brought out some incredible dishes. In fact, we’re so happy with our concept kitchen’s wonderful creations, that over winter we’ve decided to send her shopping for even more exciting new ideas!! Sadly, this means we’ll be closing our doors for a while, but don’t despair we’ll be back with a brand new menu concept, served with our signature style and charm. In the meantime, look for your favourite Blonde creations at Beluga and Sevruga, or book Blonde as a private venue for your event, and get a sneak peek at what spring will bring. For her farewell, we are giving you 50% discount on your entire food and drinks bill for the entire month of February. Closing dates: March 2011 – August 2011”