Tag Archives: Nedbank

House and Leisure ‘The Food Issue’: a warmed-up ‘stew’ of leftovers!

I love House and Leisure magazine, and it is one of only two magazines that I subscribe to.  But as a decor magazine that is top-notch, its attempt to diversify into Food by publishing an annual The Food Issue damages its reputation, it obviously serving as an opportunistic advertising and promotional publication!  The cover design is very striking, however, one of the few positives to praise.

Containing 67 recipes, and divided into four sections (Easy Living, Summer, Winter warmth, and Luxury) which are not a logical classification, the second annual issue of this publication contains a less than half page Editor’s Letter by controversial House and Leisure editor Naomi Larkin.  This is where the editorial writing begins and ends. She writes: “We’ve drawn on old favourites as well as created new recipes specifically for this collection”.  This is one of the problems, in that any avid reader and therefore collector of the House and Leisure magazines will already have the bulk of the recipes, so there is little new in the dedicated The Food Issue.  We were critical of the 2011 issue too, which paired wines with the recipes, but this has been dropped in the latest issue.

Larkin boasts contributors to the publications as being top South African chefs such as Peter Tempelhoff (The Greenhouse, Eat Out 2012 Top Restaurant), Delaire Graff chef Christiaan Campbell, Eric Bulpitt (The Roundhouse), Malika van Reenen (Signal restaurant at the Cape Grace hotel), Werner Snoek (Toadbury Hall in Johannesburg), and Kevin Gouws ( ex-Shamwari Townhouse).  However, most of these chefs only have one recipe featured. None of the restaurant affiliations are mentioned in the editorial.  If recipes of top chefs (not all chefs meet this description) were included, one wonders why there were not more Eat Out Top 10 restaurants included, such as Luke Dale-Roberts’ The Test Kitchen.  I called one of the chefs, whose recipe is included, and he did not even know about the inclusion nor the publication, and remembers that his recipe was in a House and Leisure magazine some months ago!

Even worse is for other chefs, whose recipes were included, but who did not receive an honourable mention in the Editor’s Letter: Arnold Hoon (owner of Ah! guest house in Paternoster), Tina Bester (of Queen of Tarts), Susan Greig (offers cooking classes in Johannesburg), Craig Cormack and Bertus Basson (from Sofia’s and Overture, respectively), Laurent Deslandes (Bizerca Bistro), Heidi van Loggerenberg (only reference to her via Google is to Raw Pot Luck in Johannesburg), Darren Stewart (Saffron Restaurant at Abalone Guest House in Paternoster), Kirsten Zschokke (much better known as Miss K in Green Point!), Chantal Coady (Rococo Chocolate), Chris Erasmus (Pierneef à La Motte), Jonathan Cane and Kathryn White (Mess Kitchen), and Neil Jewell (Bread & Wine).   The overwhelming majority of the recipes are written by House and Leisure Food Editor Raphaella Frame, and many are by Phillippa Cheifitz, their former Food editor.  Photography is generally of a good standard, but interesting is that photographs in past House and Leisure issues have been used (e.g. the safari-look shoot at Kirstenbosch for the ‘Medley of Small Birds: roast quail, pigeon and poussin’ recipe was in the December 2011 issue.

Advertisers include VW Tiguan, Siemens, Luxaflex, Easylife Kitchens, Chateau d’Ax, Clicks, Fleur du Cap, Le Creuset, Rio Largo, Eclipse, Miele, Wiltshire, Kelvinator, Spier, Luigi Bormioli, Mount Grace, Lindt, Golden Cloud, Nedbank, The Beach House/theHomechannel, Frederique Constant, and Investec.  Not all the advertisements are relevant to the food content of the publication.

House and Leisure The Food Issue, 2012, R39,95.

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

COP17 Climate Change Conference 2011: Lots of ‘hot air’, but good for SA!

It was hard to get a grip on the deliberations of the United Nations COP (Conference of Parties) 17 Climate Change Conference, which took place in Durban over the last two weeks, and ended a day late with a last minute agreement reached yesterday, but it certainly placed Durban and South Africa on the world news map.   It also had a magnificent tourism benefit, the Durban hospitality industry saying that it was bigger and better than the 2010 soccer World Cup.

Close to 15000 delegates from 200 countries met for two weeks, and agreed in the 11th hour to one global law regarding greenhouse emissions.  The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action is a bundle of agreements, which extends the Kyoto Protocol by five years, establishes a Green Climate Fund, looks to transfer clean technology to poorer countries, seeks the protection of forests, and addresses further technical issues, reports the Cape Times. No specific deal has been made yet regarding greenhouse emissions, but the principle is that every nation has agreed to reduce these, a first as it includes the worst greenhouse gas offenders USA and China too.  The agreements will be finalised in 2015, and enforceable from 2020.  President Zuma had asked the delegates in his opening address to ‘save tomorrow today’.

Reaction to the outcome of the conference has been mixed, some saying it was a lot of ‘hot air’, was ‘too late’ and ‘too vague’.  Scientists have said that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2017, to avoid dangerous climate change.   Greenpeace International said that ‘the new accord could take the globe over the 2°C threshold at which we pass from danger to global catastrophe‘, according to a report in The Times. At the Conference, ESKOM and Sasol were named South Africa’s most heavy polluters, reported Business Report. ‘Green bank’ Nedbank funded the Eskom Medupi coal-fired power station, which violates World Bank environmental regulations.

Durban is expected to have generated R1 billion in revenue, having received R200 million from the government and utilising R50 million of its own funds to stage the conference. Accommodation in the city was fully booked, reports The Times, with 160000 bed nights and 495000 meals sold. Delegates supported local restaurants, tourist shops, and transport companies.  Durban was highlighted as a city with good organisational skills and infrastructure.   Critically a delegate commented about the non-climate friendly 5* hotel changing towels every day, and not requesting the guest to indicate when this should be done, a lesson for accommodation establishments to demonstrate their contribution to going green.

Glamour VIP visitors to the conference, including Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt as well as Prince Albert and Princess Charléne, attracted further media attention to Durban. The Jolie/Pitt couple rented a villa at Zimbali Coastal Resort, at R8500 per day, reported the Sunday Times. Oprah Winfrey and the President of Panama have previously rented the house. The Monaco royal couple stayed at The Oyster Box again, where the princess had stayed during their South African honeymoon.

At least one COP17 Conference delegate found time to extend his visit to Durban to fly to Cape Town, and is staying at Whale Cottage Camps Bay.

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

Nedbank Sweet Service and Coco’s Sour Service Awards

The Sweet Service Award goes to Nedbank, and is nominated by Suzaan Groenewald of Batavia Boutique Hotel in Stellenbosch: “On Friday, the 16th September at around 9 am I called the Nedbank Merchant center to enquire about getting a separate pinpad for my credit card machine. The call was answered immediately – I could not believe my luck that I was not put on hold at all! The lady on the other side was very friendly and helpful and got the order for the pinpad placed very quickly. I was very happy to hear that it is supplied at no extra charge! At 11 am the technician was at my hotel to install the pinpad! It was a wonderfully unexpected surprise to see him standing at the door within 2 hours of me calling! That is what I call great service”!

The Sour Service Award goes to Coco’s in Hermanus, and is also nominated by Suzaan Groenewald as follows: “Last Sunday, the 18th of September, me and my 2 sisters drove through to Hermanus to go see the whales. Well, apart from not seeing any whales, we had a very bad experience at Coco’s – formerly Cubana. We all ordered cocktails – from the very cryptic menu. On the cocktail menu there is no indication at any of the drinks of what alcohol is actually put in the cocktail. One is left to wonder what will come to the table. They can literally throw anything into the glass. The first round was ok. But then we ordered our food, ate and decided to order another cocktail for dessert. I order something called a Yama Mojo. The description said it was a “cranberry and strawberry fantasy”. It was no fantasy. It tasted awfully strong of Tequila and nothing else. I could not drink it, and did not want it. I called our waitress. She was not very helpful, left the drink sitting in front of me and called the manager. In walks a lady with a very bad replica of the South African flag sprayed onto the one side of her hair – the manager. She was very defensive from the get go, and after I asked her to take the drink away because it tasted disgusting and that  was not going to drink it, she told me that there was no tequila in it, I was mistaking the taste of ‘Vino Blanco’ and ‘Mojo Jojo’ for Tequila. She took the drink, turned around and walked away without any sign of an apology, not asking if I would like anything else in its place, and when the bill came it was still on there. I looked for the manager to ask to take it off the bill, but she was nowhere to be found. This was truly a SOUR experience and I will never go back to this restaurant”.

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com. Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.

Restaurant Review: Café Dijon @ Zorgvliet is a ‘Boere Bistro’!

Café Dijon has operated in Stellenbosch for about three years, and its operation there did not impress me.  On hearing the praise heaped upon the Stellenbosch restaurant by Michael McKenzie as well as restaurant reviewer JP Rossouw, I decided to try the recently opened Café Dijon @ Zorgvliet, on a wine estate at the foot of the Helshoogte Pass.  The co-owner of Café Dijon called it a ‘Boere Bistro’, given its local touch to a French-style bistro, with a seasonal country kitchen.

I had never been to Zorgvliet before, only having read about it in Noseweek in two respects – the neighbours being up in arms about the loud music when they host weddings on the wine estate, and that Nedbank forced the previous owner into an auction, which was to his financial disadvantage.   One drives past the function rooms when one arrives, and then down a romantic tree-lined lane, with a lovely fresh country smell that reminded me of mushroom picking on Paarl Mountain as a child.  One passes the winery, and the coffee shop and picnic building, around which there are lovely lawns.  A little further along is a Cape Dutch building, previously the manor house which housed the Herenhuis restaurant, but now is the Zorgvliet tasting room.   Café Dijon @ Zorgvliet has opened in the building that was previously the tasting room, its owners having found the manor house too stiff for the more casual and relaxed atmosphere they wish to create. 

The owners of Café Dijon are not French at all, as I thought, but locals.  Johan (‘Dup’) du Plessis grew up on a neighbouring farm and his wife Sarah comes from Somerset West.  Sarah trained at Silwood Kitchen and then worked in Monaco for Sir David Brown of Aston Martin fame.  Dup grew up in a household in ‘which real men don’t cook’, but he did learn to, and they met at Deltacrest outside Franschhoek.   When it burnt down, they decided to open a ‘Thirties style bistro in Stellenbosch, opposite the Town Hall, offering classic French dishes and comfort food, which Sarah said suits the design of the venue perfectly. 

The restaurant interior is very large, and looks like a tasting room, with barrels on the walls and still having the tasting counter.   It was much nicer sitting outside on a lovely pre-winter Saturday afternoon,  and here seating is very casual at long green benches and tables, and a few small café-style tables and chairs.  Cheap striped placemats are on the table, with Eetrite cutlery.  There are no table cloths. French music plays inside, and when I heard Françoise Hardy singing it brought back nostalgic memories of seeing her concert in Cape Town about forty years ago.  She is one of Dup’s favourites.

Almost all the waiters were previously employed by the Zorgvliet restaurant, and Wilma was friendly and efficient.  It was odd to see a manager hiding inside the restaurant, when all the patrons were sitting outside.  She only checked on one’s satisfaction after each course was served, but did not stay outside to check on things generally.  Wilma had to ask Sarah some of my questions, so she came to chat, sitting down at the table, and I found her to be very charming, down to earth and passionate about what she is developing at Zorgvliet.  She showed me a patch that is to become their vegetable garden, visible from the outside seating.  She wore a House & Garden apron, and both she and Dup cook, meaning that one is assured of the best.

There is no printed menu, but a blackboard lists the menu items, which means that what is offered can be changed regularly, depending on what the chefs have in stock.   The menu has mainly starter type items, and I chose two of these – a generous serving of duck liver paté (R50), served with redcurrant jelly and toasted baguette, which unfortunately was burnt, so I asked for more of the crispy untoasted baguette, which had been brought to the table with Olyfberg olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  This was followed by Norwegian salmon on which was placed a tian of fennel avocado, cucumber and prawn (R60), a lovely fresh summer treat.  Other starters include fior de latte caprese, venison springrolls, three-cheese-tartlet with salad, parma ham and melon, and chicken and mango salad, ranging in price from R50 – R65.  Sirloin and fillet cost R115, Karoo lamb R130, pork belly R100, braised veal short ribs R110, butternut ravioli and gnocchi bolognaisse (R80), and vongole linguini R90.  Desserts cost R30 – R35, and include chocolate mousse, creme brûleé, and home-made ice cream (flavours on Saturday were coffee, condensed milk and Frangelico with walnuts).

The winelist is in a brown plastic cover, and only Zorgvliet wines are available, under the Zorgvliet (R145 for whites and R150 for the reds) and Silver Myn (R110 for whites, R125 for reds) brand names, the latter wines being offered by the glass too, at R25 for the whites and R28 for the red wines.  One can order Zorgvliet White, Sauvignon Blanc, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as the Richelle 2005, which costs R500.  The Silver Myn is available in Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir.  The vintages are listed on the winelist.

The opening of the new Café Dijon @ Zorgvliet has created confusion, with some readers of the restaurant write-up in The Month thinking that the Stellenbosch branch has closed down, Sarah said.  They have a good team there, and Sarah and Dup will be mainly based at Zorgvliet, being closer to their home. The menu is similar but not identical at the two Café Dijons. 

I was impressed with the food served at Café Dijon @Zorgvliet, but found the venue too large for the few guests.  It was lovely sitting outside, and I am not sure how the large venue will work with inside seating on winter days.  Chatting to Sarah made all the difference to my enjoyment of being there, and she is a valuable asset that should be connecting to her guests, as she is a good people’s person, and as her manager is not fulfilling this role.

Café Dijon @Zorgvliet, Banhoek Valley, Helshoogte Pass, Stellenbosch.  Tel (021) 885-2580.  www.cafedijon.co.za  (The new Café Dijon @Zorgvliet is not yet on the website).  Wednesday – Sunday lunch, Friday and Saturday dinner.

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