Mozart | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

I have loved the Grand Café and Rooms from the time it opened in Plettenberg Bay four years ago, and I stayed in it whilst I was having the building renovated that has become my Whale Cottage Plettenberg Bay. It has had its ups and downs over this period, but seems to have lost its edge since it was taken over by new owner Sue Main, and who subsequently added the Camps Bay and Granger Bay branches in Cape Town. We were most disappointed with our last visit a week ago.

But to start at the beginning of The Grand Café and Rooms. Enterprising entrepreneur (Homework clothing) Gail Behr opened this unusual pink-painted 8-bedroom boutique hotel and restaurant in Plett. It was at the time that I travelled to Plett once a month to oversee the renovations to what was to become our newest guest house. The Grand became my home from home for a year of travelling, and I was well looked after by the friendly staff, including Steven, Sydney, Robert and Eric. The room decor is unusual, extravagant in its use of red velvet, extra-ordinarily high beds with bedside stools, and generous baths. But it was the Café part of The Grand that we loved especially, and the music collection played boldly throughout the day via an iPod compiled by Behr’s son Steven Whiteman was amazing – Mozart for breakfast, opera for late morning, light jazz during the day, Sinatra for the early evening, more jazz at night. It gave the restaurant the most wonderful atmosphere at any time of the day, and a character which I have never experienced before. To add to the charm created by the music is the Café deck, with a wonderful view over the Plett lagoon, from which one can see amazing moon rises. In early days The Grand was a meeting point of all Behr’s friends from Cape Town, Johannesburg and other corners of the world. It took a long time to meet Gail, and I was quite intimated by her initially, given quite a stern sounding set of house rules. But she was much nicer than the rules made her sound when we did finally meet.

All good things come to an end, and Behr decided to move into the hotel, and only use the top four rooms for guests, and she lived downstairs. The Café was no longer open to the public, falling into Behr’s private space, and guests were served a very restricted breakfast relative to what we were used to, in a non-view courtyard. The building was painted white, and it lost its charm. Then The Grand Café and Rooms was sold to Main, who built on the success of this brand to open first in Camps Bay (buying the building for about R40 million), and then The Grand on the Beach a year ago. It was odd to see The Grand crockery in other restaurants, such as Nguni, before it was sold to Main. One welcome change Main made was to have the building repainted its landmark pinky colour. Admirably she changed little about the decor, which also reflects Behr’s initial lush red velvet look. Main even used Adam Whiteman, another Behr son, who is an interior decorator, to decorate the Camps Bay restaurant.

One comfortable thing about The Grand Café is that its menu has not changed much over the four years, and that the prices seem to have largely remained the same too. The first problem we encountered with the nice branded maroon menu folder is that the starter and main course/dessert pages were swopped around in it. The menu does not resemble the A3 “newspaper” feel of those in the Cape Town restaurants. Our order was taken, before we were asked if we had been told about the specials by Sybil, who seemed to be in charge and who has been at The Grand from the time it opened. She sent another waiter, but he too struggled to tell us the specials, which will be on the new menu introduced this week, but that had been available to order for the past week already. Before we could not even reconsider our order, given the specials, our food was served!

The tempura prawn starter (R70) is absolutely mouthwatering, and is a signature dish. None of the other The Grand branches can prepare it like the Plett branch can, Camps Bay using shrimps which just do not match the wonderful Plett prawns. The slice of Caesar has also been a standard, costing R60 for the iceberg served with bacon, croutons and parmesan, and R80 with chicken added. The Waldorf salad costs R 55; tuna (R45) and vegetable (R35) spring rolls; salmon naan (R 75); and calamari rings cost R40 as a starter and R65 as a main. One of the problems with a menu is that restaurants take them away when one has placed the order. Only when leaving did I recheck the menu, and realise that our served calamari (crumbed calamari tubes) were not as described on the menu at all – they were not “tender” nor “rings”! Mussels and chips cost R 75, a prego roll R60/R65 for beef chicken/beef fillet. There are only five main courses, including fish and chips (R70); line fish (R95); fillet “Bernaise” (R115); and Durban lamb curry (R115), which my colleagues ordered, with super poppadoms, basmati rice and sambals of yoghurt, bananas, tomato and cucumber, and chutney. Desserts have not changed in five years, being Afagato (R35), Phina Afagato (R45), and Cake of the day (R34).

The new menu was e-mailed to me, and a new addition is pizzas, ranging in price from R70 for the Grand “Margerita” to the blockbuster Grand Seafood Pizza at R220! Sugared Salmon (R100), an old standard, is back. Oysters and cold crayfish (both SQ) have been added as starters.

The winelist has a small selection of wines per variety, but vintages are not specified. The (unspecified) house wines are offered in white, Rosé, red, sparkling, and sparkling Rosé, ranging from R35 per glass/R195 per bottle. Suzette Champagne costs R150 for 375 ml. Sparkling wines cost R 220 for Steenberg 1682, “Pierre Jordaan (sic) Belle Rose NV” R275, and Bramon Brut R265, a local Plettenberg Bay bubbly. Billecart-Salmon Rose costs R900, Moet & Chandon R800 and Dom Perignon R 2800. Sauvignon Blancs range from R95 for Glenwood, to R180 for Springfield Life from Stone. Kevin Arnold Shiraz costs R340.

The Grand Café bubble has burst in Plettenberg Bay. While it is commendable to see it still operating, given how depressed Plettenberg Bay is, the service was shocking, a regular complaint about The Grand on the Beach, but for all the wrong reasons – there were only three of four tables eating in total, and both waiters were very new and poorly trained, and one of them came with attitude too. Our calamari served was completely different to what the menu described. The trademark magical music is gone. Sadly, The Grand Café in Plettenberg Bay is no longer grand!

The Grand Café and Rooms, 27 Main Road, Plettenberg Bay. Tel (044) 533-3301. www.thegrand.co.za (the website is minimalist, quite contrary to the lush interiors, and is shared across the three Grand restaurants. Surprisingly, no menu, winelist, nor any food photographs are in the Gallery of any of the three website sections). Open for lunch and dinner Monday – Sunday for the season.

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

I have the highest admiration for Richard Griffin, who must be one of the most creative restaurateurs in Cape Town as far as restaurant ‘theatre’ goes. Café Mozart has been a Cape Town institution on Church Street, in the section that is a pedestrian mall between Long and Burg Streets, in the antique center of the city, and is one of the latest additions to the Griffin restaurant collection. It is a friendly inexpensive pitstop for locals working close by and for shoppers, given the shortage of parking in the area. Unfortunately, there is no Mozart at Café Mozart!

You cannot miss Griffin’s new improved Café Mozart when walking down the lane – it has a little wooden fence around the outside seating area, decorated with lots of plastic flowers, attracting one to the restaurant. In a corner there are a number of wacky ‘cakes’ decorated in a floral hat theme. Looking lost is a wire and beaded goat (I saw a similar one at The Sidewalk Café), which is the inspiration for a Facebook competition which Griffin is running across all his restaurants. Black table cloths are covered with thick red velvet cloths and lace overlays. Centre point is a wonderful tree giving shade to the restaurant area, making it perfectly cool for a hot Cape summer’s day. The restaurant interior is tiny, although there is an upstairs seating section. The open-plan kitchen is visible as one enters the restaurant, the new counter having changed position since Griffin took over the restaurant in September. In the window is a lovely display of cupcakes and other treats. Plates decorate the walls of the interior. Cutlery and paper serviettes are brought to the table in a mini-champagne bucket. Beggars coming to the table is off-putting, and spoil the magic.

I drink a lot of water, and loved the water which was poured from a jug with lemon slices, mint and nectarines, a refreshing summer drink. The wine list is short and sweet, with only 13 wines. A Mozart House wine is inexpensive at R22/R90 for the white and red wines, vintage, variety and origin unspecified. Jordan Chardonnay costs R165, De Grendel RosÃ© R22/R90, Simonsig Shiraz R105, and Warwick’s First Lady R135.

The menu is dedicated to Griffin’s parents Jean and Malcolm Griffin. It is an unassuming photocopied A4 page, cleverly folded to separate the food items from the beverages. The menu introduces the restaurant as follows: “Nestled in the heart of the Cape Town CBD, Café Mozart is a renowned landmark which has been charming both locals and visitors alike for just under 30 years. This beautiful historical building has been witness to the growth and evolution of the Mother City and has been home to many a business, including a locksmith in 1939, one of the first recorded enterprises on this site”.

Breakfast is served until a generous midday, and eleven options are offered, from the predictable muesli, fruit and yoghurt (R30); French Toast (R32); and omelette (R35); to such unusual items as “Cumberland bangers, eggs, baked beans and toast (R35); Eggs Royale with smoked salmon (R48); and The Full Mozart (R48). Gourmet sandwiches are served on a choice of ciabatta, wholeseed molasses, and German rye, with a side salad. They range from R35 for brie, to R45 for an interesting sounding Bobotie sandwich! Plain “Toasted Governments” are available in nine variations, reasonably priced from R26 – R31, which includes a salad. Salads can also be ordered from a “chef’s salad table” on weekdays, costing R40 per plateful. Fifteen lunch dishes are offered, quite a mixed bunch including further salads (R35 – R45), mussels (45), Bobotie (R65), a Mozart Royale burger (R45), sirloin (R85), and a delicious Chicken Schnitzel, three pieces served with linguine are excellent value at R65.

Peta Synn is the Manager, and has come a long way with Griffin, since 2006. She is very friendly, and eager to help. Griffin first attracted attention when he opened Madame Zingara in 2001, the first time a Cape Town restaurant had seen “foodtainment”, with belly dancers and jugglers wandering through the Loop Street restaurant. An overnight fire in 2006 closed down the restaurant, but became the inspiration for the new Madame Zingara Theatre of Dreams, which Griffin set up underneath the highway outside the harbour, and put on the most amazing circus-type entertainment whilst serving hundreds of patrons in the middle of nowhere. It became the talk of the town, and of the country, to such an extent that a backer attracted him to open in London, unfortunately just as the recession started biting, and the backer withdrew, leaving Griffin and his team high and dry, forcing him to close both the London and the local operation two years ago. A Cape Town backer couple supported him to get him back onto his feet, to help him reappear on the restaurant scene with the opening of the Bombay Bicycle Club, at the top of Kloof Street. Then came The Sidewalk Café in Vredehoek, Café Mozart, and his most recent conquest is Café Paradiso on Kloof Street, which has just re-opened under his direction. Alongside this, he resurrected Madame Zingara earlier this year, this time located at Century City, and now touring the country.

Café Mozart is hard to get to if one is reliant on parking close by, but if one is in town, it is well worth making a stop, sitting under the CafÃ© Mozart tree to catch some Cape cool, whilst watching the hustle and bustle of the city pass by.

Café Mozart, 37 Church Street, Cape Town. Tel (021) 424-3774. www.themozart.co.za. Monday – Friday 7h00 – 17h00, Saturday 8h00 – 15h00.

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