Tag Archives: Neil Stemmet

The Restaurant of the Future will be your second home!

I met the dynamic ‘warrelwind’ interior curator (not designer!) Neil Stemmet from KONCEPT for the first time at Decorex about two weeks ago.  There he stole the show with his amazing BOS Tea House that he designed for the ice tea brand, and the stand won an award for the best Green stand.  It was here that Stemmet started talking to me about his vision of the Restaurant of the Future, which he had embodied in his BOS stand design, but it was too much for me to comprehend in the busy and noisy exhibition hall, so we agreed to meet at Hemelhuijs with Sonia Cabano, highly respected chef, cookbook writer, and now Twitter fan.

Neil told me that he grew up in Upington, and Hemelhuijs owner Jacques Erasmus did too, and it was at Neil’s Le Must restaurant in Upington that Jacques cut his first chef’s teeth.  Neil’s restaurant made the Style Top 10 restaurant list in 2004, unheard of that a restaurant so far from the Cape Town and Winelands could achieve this.  He says that his was the first restaurant to introduce “Afrikaanse kos” in Upington. Neil started a blog called ‘Sout & Peper’, a blog solely in Afrikaans, and he is proud in documenting the recipes and stories about food preparation of up to 200 years ago, which he is transforming into a book.   ‘Sout & Peper’ food preparation is based on the ‘keep it simple’ principle, a good design principle too he says, and he gives the example of Karoo lamb, which should be prepared in the local way by just popping it into the oven with salt and pepper, and one should not make a Greek lamb out of it.  Neil’s book will be called “Sout en Peper”, and will be a collection of stories about the origin of South African food, and it will only be published in the ‘volkstong’ Afrikaans, being a ‘kos storieboek’.  It will explain how to cook local dishes, and more than one recipe may be provided for a particular item.   Neil said his book will be ‘sout en peper’ too in containing both sadness and humour.   He will also include recipes from South African cookery icons from many years ago, such as Hildagonda Duckitt and Louis Leipoldt.

Neil is so avantgarde that he put up a sign on his BOS stand to say “Decor is dead”.  He explained this as not being the slavish following of design trends, but rather ‘anything goes’, he said, with a focus on sustainability and heirlooms, utilising timeless classics.  His mantra is “curate, not decorate”.  He is somewhat of a trend setter, and therefore he recently read the work of Dutch trend forecaster Li Edelkoort, who spoke at the Design Indaba earlier this year.  He was so excited that she forecast the colours purple and green as the new trend colours, and these two colours are the ones he chose for a project to be launched this evening at the new Freeworld Design Center on Waterkant Street, next door to Hemelhuijs.  Green symbolises the heart chakra, he said, and stands for universal love, while purple represents the 7th chakra of spirituality.  He calls these ‘heirloom colours’.  Green is going back to a shade with a black tone added, as it was used 200 years ago, he said.

Neil proudly says that ‘curation’ comes from the heart and the soul, and it is not pre-planned or pre-designed to scale.  It just happens. The curator trusts his/her mind, and one should not ‘theorise’ the process.  There must be an ‘altar’ as the focus point the restaurant, on which the food is displayed – in the BOS Tea House this was a lit high table, and the food was presented on large platters, Neil getting the Cape Town International Convention Centre to serve food in these that he felt suitable.   He became very serious when he talked about the use of purple in making an “anti-Roman Catholic/papal statement”, in retaliation to how this religious group “has raped the world for money”, his view contentious to many, no doubt.   But Neil speaks his mind, and has done so for many years.  Food is blessed by those eating at the ‘altar’, but it does not mean prayer necessarily, but rather is a sharing and connecting with those that one is having the meal with.   Vitally important is what is served – it must be fresh, real and imperfect (in other words, it is no longer the perfectly round tomato from Woolworths, but an odd-shaped one fresh from the farm).  ‘New food’ is roasts, and pies for the left-overs.  Woolworths is a no-no to shop at, he says, as its products are too perfect!  He told Sonia and I that he could feel a shift in energy amongst the people who ate at the BOS stand, due to his curation, which was focused on “designing a space to accommodate and enhance human life”.   “Altar Music” is vital too, and he often uses film scores (e.g. from ‘The English Patient’), ‘chakra music’, or Lebanese music, as he did on the BOS Tea House stand.

I ordered the pork and chicken liver terrine with the most unusual accompaniment of orange preserve at Hemelhuijs, and Neil was very envious of my choice, saying it embodied ‘food of the future’.   Neil said that the restaurants can no longer be run as currently, and he sees neighbourhood restaurants springing up, which are supplied by the residents in that neighbourhood, and supported by them too as customers.  This creates a relationship with one’s social community, and waiters must know their patrons, and serve them accordingly.   Neil also talks about ‘lardering”, using fruit and vegetables of this season for next season, by preserving them, and making relishes, keeping all of this in the ‘spens’.  “Real’ bread will be baked at home again instead of supermarket bread being served, simple cuts of meat will be served, and gas will be used as a means of cooking to conserve electricity, and all one’s baking will be done on one day for the week ahead, to save time and energy.   Consumers will become more independent in their supply, growing their own vegetables and herbs, and turning them into long-term sustenance.  Restaurants will not have menus any more – the chef will decide on the day what he can prepare, given what fresh supplies he has.  Clients will learn to be brave in trusting the chef in his food preparation choice, and clients will be in the kitchen inside the restaurant, with the chef, while he prepares their food. 

Restaurants will have chairs, couches, or even beds in them, with music, books and children – they will no longer be elitist.  Good examples of such restaurants are Pierneef à La Motte, Towerbosch  (for which Neil did the interior), Babel (seven years ahead of its time, Neil says), and Hemelhuijs.  The food served in such restaurants is elementary, honest and sustainable as far as possible (e.g. in New York restaurants grow vegetables on top of city skyscrapers, Dash restaurant is growing vegetables and herbs on top of the V&A Hotel roof, and Dear Me is growing its herbs in special containers hanging from its ceiling).  Restaurants are no longer places at which to just eat, but also serve as a replacement of one’s office and home, a ‘connecting space for like-minded people’, our ‘home away from home’!  This trend will spread to accommodation establishments too, with guest houses and hotels becoming ‘non-guest houses’ and ‘non-hotels’, making the guest feel at home but in which one’s privacy is not compromised. As customers we will become ‘excessively open’, Neil says, becoming so ‘naked’ that all can ‘see’ one, and one can say “here, this is me”!

It was the accolades and attention that his BOS stand created that led Ravi Naidoo, the organiser of the Design Indaba, to invite Neil to create a pop-up store in the very fashionable Fashion Mall of the V&A Waterfront, for an as yet unannounced project.

POSTSCRIPT 16/5:  Neil Stemmet was one of four curators/designers invited to present their interpretation of “Openness to Explore” at the Freeworld Design Centre on Waterkant Street.  Each designer designed a pod.

Neil Stemmet, KONCEPT, Cell 082 373 3837. www.konceptdesign.co.za

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

Winestyle and TASTE crush Crush! digital food and wine magazine!

We have written about Crush!1, Crush!2 and Crush!3, Michael Olivier’s digital food and wine magazine, which he launched last year.   As other publications are being launched which embrace food and wine, both digitally and in print, I chose to evaluate Crush!4 against its competitors, putting myself in the shoes of a food and/or wine marketer, deciding where to spend a marketing budget, and as a food and wine lover, deciding where to spend my time reading.   I evaluated Winestyle, TASTE, and Crush!4, all three magazines focusing on food and wine, with a Postscript on Crush!5.

Winestyle

The first (Summer) issue of Winestyle was sent to subscribers (note one does not pay to receive the magazine) in December, and its concept is a most creative and environmentally-friendly “print on demand” one.  This saves the publishers from over-printing, saving paper and costs, and ultimately the environment.  It is published quarterly.  What makes it unique is that a weekly newsletter is sent by e-mail to each subscriber, updating them on food and wine news.  While the brand carry-over is not strong in terms of the banner design of the newsletter (initially I thought the newsletters were from wine consultant Nikki Dumas, who has a similar company name).   This builds brand awareness weekly, and bridges the quarterly print publishing period.

The 88-page magazine is larger than the standard A4 size, and has an attractive cover, although it is not photographed in a vineyard.  The paper quality is outstanding, as is the photography.  Editor Jenny Ratcliffe-Wright is from Warwick wine estate originally, where her mother Norma and brother Mike make excellent wines, and this makes Jenny well-connected to the wine industry.  In her editorial Jenny writes: “It is our intention to help everyone make full use of every wine-drinking day …. it’s your passport to all things enjoyable, to in-the-know wines, delicious and simple-to-prepare food and accessible travel – all in a large, sexy, glossy, collectible magazine”.   The theme of the Summer edition is celebration, and therefore champagnes and sparkling wines are predominantly featured.

Advertising support is impressive for a first edition, and reflects the confidence of the advertisers in the publication, and wine estates Graham Beck,  Glen Carlou, Clos Malverne, Kleine Zalze,  Nederburg, Highlands Road Estate, OBiKWA, Creation, Eikendal, Adoro Wines, Muratie, and Morgenhof have taken full-page ads.  Jenny anticipates having 2500 subscribers by the time the next issue is launched in March.

The editorial content includes a focus on sparkling wine producers in Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, including JC le Roux, Simonsig, Villiera, Morgenhof, Cabrière, Graham Beck, Anura, and Sterhuis, and recommends accommodation and restaurants in the area.  A profile on a very casual looking Jean-Philippe Colmant, making excellent bubbly in Franschhoek and importing champagnes, is written by Cape Talk’s John Maytham.  A travel feature focuses on the Champagne region, which is informative and has beautiful photographs.  A food feature focuses on Tapas, with short recipes, and amazing photography by Christoph Heierli.  A Restaurant feature recommends places offering ‘alfresco dining’ in Johannesburg, Durban, the Winelands and Cape Town.   A feature on cocktails has some that call for sparkling wine. The results of a wine-tasting, a panel comparing South African sparkling wines Silverthorn, Colmant Brut, Villiera, Jacques Bruére, and Simonsig, with champagnes Moët & Chandon, Veuve Cliquot, Piper-Heidsieck, Pol Roger and Tribaut Brut Tradition, are featured.  Joint first winners were Silverthorn the Green Man Brut and Tribaut Brut Tradition.  A tasting panel evaluation of the 2010 vintage Sauvignon Blanc of Groote Post, David Nieuwoudt Ghost Corner, Neil Joubert, Arabella, Sophie Terblance, Delaire, Diemersdal, Klein Constantia, De Grendel and Du Toitskloof ranks them in this order.  An article on cigars concludes what must be the most excellent food and wine publication available locally now.

I cannot wait for the Autumn edition.  I do recommend that there be more synergy between the magazine and the newsletter as well as its website in terms of branding and design.  Of the three magazines reviewed in this blogpost, Winestyle is the best by far, and we congratulate editor Jenny on this achievement for her maiden issue.

TASTE

Woolworths’ in-house magazine is written and published by New Media Publishing, and they have regularly won ADMag and Pica Awards for Customer Magazine of the Year for it, most recently in 2009.   It costs R20,95, is published monthly, and is sold in outlets other than Woolworths too.   It is A4 in size, with 134 pages, and does not have a statement to describe what it stands for, but its cover photograph represents food.  Wines appear to be a secondary focus.  The editor is highly regarded Sumien Brink, with Abigail Donnelly ably at her side.

Advertisers are a mixed bunch, including car retailers, liquor brands (Darling Cellars, Krone, Bombay Sapphire, Veuve Cliquot, Brand House), watch brands, kitchen suppliers, decor brands, food brands (Lancewood, Lindt), investment companies, a restaurant (Cape Town Fish Market), and accommodation, most of the brands not sold by Woolworths at all.

The editorial content of the December issue includes a Trends feature, and food related trends are featured with beautiful large photographs by Lee Malan and Jan Ras.  Where recipes are featured, they are short and sweet, and do not dominate the look of any page (something competitors House and Leisure Food can learn from).  A Foodstuff feature focuses on products that are sold at Woolworths, but most are non-branded items, and the Woolworths link is very low key. It even has an interview with and one done by Andy Fenner, who writes the JamieWho? blog, a contributor to Crush! issues 2, 3 and 4, but he has withdrawn his support, probably due to his new (not yet clearly defined) involvement with Woolworths, and not wanting to be associated with his friend David Cope’s disparaging Twitter campaign against ourselves, in retaliation to our review of Crush!3.   A chicken feature by man-of-the-moment Justin Bonello, a fish focus by Sam Woulidge, a canapé feature by Mariana Esterhuizen of Mariana’s, a feature on Dewetshof by Woolworths wine consultant Allan Mullins, and a feature on Oded Schwartz of Oded’s Kitchen and his relishes, chutneys and preserves, follow.  Christmas recipes are featured, but are few in number.  Restaurants featured are the fabulous Babel on Babylonstoren (next door to Backsberg), and the heavenly Hemelhuijs.  Blueberries are featured, with recipes, as are Summer lunch recipes.  An exclusive extract from Australian Bill Granger’s receipe book “Bill’s Basics” is featured.  A travel feature by Judy van der Walt focuses on the Dordogne region, and the magazine ends off with a month’s worth of recipes for snacks, lunches, tea time, and suppers.

I hadn’t bought a TASTE magazine for a while, and remembered it to be more attractive and impactful.  The focus may be too much on recipes, and too little on wines.   The features are written by good quality journalists, and could possibly be expanded.   I liked the way Woolworths as a brand is not ‘in your face’ when reading the magazine – in fact I wouldn’t have minded more direct brand-linkage, to know what to look for when next I shop.  There are so many organic and other quality suppliers to Woolworths of fruit and vegetables and other foods, as well as of wines, which could all be the subject of features, not necessarily linked to recipes only.  A “new Woolworths products” feature would be welcome.  For a marketer, TASTE would be an important advertising medium to consider, given its association with Woolworths, and the profile of the Woolworths shopper, with a reasonable disposable income.    There is little carry-over between the magazine and its website.

Crush!4

The digital food and wine magazine Crush! has no print partner, and is haphazard in its publishing frequency. On Twitter the editorial team hint at how busy they are in doing work for the publication, but on average it appears to take them two months or longer to publish a new issue.  The arrival of the new magazine is announced on Twitter and by e-mail, as one has to subscribe to receive a link to it, and is free of charge.

Crush!4  has 44 pages and was published early in December.  It appears to have lost its restaurant reviewer JP Rossouw, and Olivier has taken over writing the restaurant reviews, something we suggested in one of our earlier Crush! reviews.   We are delighted with another of our recommendations that Olivier adopted, which was to let (lady) bloggers participate in his magazine, and he has done so by giving highly regarded blogger Jane-Anne Hobbs from Scrumptious blog a recipe feature, and he has introduced a recipe competition, in which the recipes of bloggers Colleen Grove, Jeanne Horak-Druiff, Meeta Khurana-Wolff and Nina Timm can be evaluated by readers.

The navigation of the pages, and more particularly the content on each page, remains tedious. The front cover looks better, the copy on top of the photograph being easier to read, but it is not yet perfect, especially when one compares the ‘less is more’ covers of the two other magazines above.  Most flashing gimmicks have been removed from the front cover, and have largely been discontinued.   Advertising support is poor, and appears reduced relative to previous issues, and compared to the two other publications above, with only Hidden Valley, Pongracz, Laborie, Old Mutual and Ultra Liquors advertising.

The content consists of a wine page written by Olivier, and features premium brandy cocktails, a vineyard dog, wine finds, a wine myth and an overview of Sauvignon Blanc.  The Essentials page, as before, has products with poor brand recognition, but the names are typed alongside each product.  A Plaisir de Merle feature is a good promotion for the wine estate.  The recipe pages by Jane-Anne Hobbs have fantastic photography done by herself (perhaps she should become the Crush!photographer!), but I could only get to see three recipes (soup, dessert, gammon) – I am sure there were more, judging by the six bottles alongside the opening recipe, and Olivier recommends a wine per recipe.   The names of the wines are not typed alongside the bottles.   The JamieWho? page by Andy Fenner is blocked by a Laborie promotion box, still has silly moving balloon captions, and focuses on Absinthe, Champagne, Hangover Cures, Jardine’s Christmas cake,  and Christmas cocktails.  In two of his mini-stories the copy ends mid-sentence.  The review of Babel Restaurant at Babylonstoren is blocked by a competition box, and one does not know how to close it.  Restaurant names at the bottom of the Babel article are harder to read on the right hand side, especially ‘Cafeen’.

A seven-day recipe card feature by Carey Boucher-Erasmus (a food consultant to the Pick ‘n Pay Cookery School, according to Google) is easy to follow and read, but no information is supplied about who Carey is.  There is no consistency in the colours used for the names of white and red wines alongside the bottles, the white wine names typed in blue (High Five) or in green (Quaff Now).   Sophia Lindop does great food features, but has used herbs in the last two issues (rocket in the current issue and rosemary last time), making it hard to see dishes prepared with these, and thus to have attractive photographs, even if they are photographed by star photographer Russel Wasserfall.   David Cope outs himself as a guest house reviewer, of South Hills, presented on a messy red and white check background which is similar to that which he uses on his ‘The Foodie’ blog.  A summer picnic spead looks good enough to eat off the screen, and is prepared by Luisa Farelo, but there is no indication as to who she is (I could not find any information about her on Google).  The focus on Parlotones wines, named after the group, is fun in having their music videos, but I did struggle to get one to play properly.  I also struggled to find the way to open the Prince Albert feature by Russel Wasserfall, eventually finding it at the bottom right, in the smallest possible type size.  A feature on trendy Artisan Breads tells the Knead story, with colour photographs, and mentions the names of only five other artisanal bakeries around the country – there are that many others in Cape Town alone!  Helen Untiedt’s organic vegetable garden, and a Book Review page conclude Crush!4.

My overwhelming frustration with Crush! is the difficulty of reading it, and the struggle to move forward or to close what one has opened.  The promotional boxes blocking copy remains a problem, which cheapens the magazine and is irritating to have to close.  Perhaps Olivier and the design team can look at Opulent Living’s e-magazine, only 8 pages long but published regularly – it is easy to read, has no promotions, with beautiful photographs – a top class digital magazine!   I was interested to see the Crush! blogger recipe rating, and the low participation is a surprise (the highest vote is by only 100 readers after two months), given Olivier’s claim that the magazine would go to more than 1 million readers!     If I were a marketer, I would not advertise in Crush!, as a digital magazine cannot present a food or wine brand with the appetite appeal that a print magazine can, especially given the poor pack presentation.  I would therefore love to see a print version of Crush!, as it contains lots of good information, and could make for beautiful pages of copy and photography, something one would want to keep.

POSTSCRIPT 8/2: 

Crush!5 was launched today.  JamieWho? (Andy Fenner) has been replaced by Neil Stemmet, a talented interior designer, and he adds an Afrikaans dimension to Crush!, with all five his recipes in Afrikaans on his “Soutenpeper” page (this is causing a problem for English readers!).  David Cope has lost his name, and is only referred to as “The Foodie”, with no red and white check background to his contributions anymore, and both his article on Paternoster, and on FoodWineDesign in Johannesburg (held in November!!), are long-winded and boring, with few attractive photographs.   Jane-Anne Hobbs (unfortunately) has been replaced by Clare Bock (owner of Appetite catering company, I learnt from Google) in a food/wine matching feature – by chance I worked out how this feature works – if you click on a wine bottle, an appropriate recipe pops up, rather than finding an appropriate wine to match the recipe!   The five food bloggers in the recipe rating section are complete unknowns.  Luisa Farelo (with an introduction in this issue – she is a chef and food stylist) does another feature, this time on Sunday lunches, and the styling is good enough to eat again.  A food and wine events calendar is a good new addition, while a classifieds section probably is not, the ads being so small that one cannot read them.  A feature on The Test Kitchen, and owner and chef Luke Dale-Roberts, is good with great food photographs, as is the one on Jordan Winery, but the labels underneath the bottles are so tiny that one may not see them.  The interview with Bertus Basson of Overture (Michael is a stickler for spelling, but misspells the restaurant name in his introduction) is weird, and probably does not do him a favour.  Advertisers are Fairview, Pongracz, Old Mutual, and Avocado magazine.

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

Restaurant Review: Hemelhuijs is heaven from Manna!

Hemelhuijs is a heavenly new restaurant which opened two weeks ago in Waterkant Street, close to the World Cup pedestrian bridge crossing over Buitengracht Street, on the city side.   It is owned by Jacques Erasmus, who was one of the founders of Manna, which had a strong following on Kloof Street, whilst it was owned by Maranda Engelbrecht (she has just opened Babel at Babylonstoren).   Jacques assured me that Hemelhuijs is not another Manna, and that there will be no coconut bread, part of a Manna signature dish.

I asked about the restaurant name, and the Dutch imprint.   The name came from the direct translation, which would be the house of joy, or it being heavenly.  The restaurant is also around the corner from the Lutheran Church, which one sees on Strand Street.  He chose the Dutch link, to give it a more charming feel and it reflects his heritage and family tradition, coming through in the menu, for example the fresh farm eggs, farm chicken and lamb ribs, all of which Jacques and his team have reinvented.

The restaurant is a large space, and spills out onto the traffic-free pedestrian walkway.  Neighbouring buildings sell products relating to the design and decor industry (Lightworld, Finda spa baths, and a paint shop is being set up).  A Peruvian restaurant is set to open across the walkway.   When one walks in, one sees a display space for Jacques’ ‘home ware’ range, black ceramic crockery which Jacques has designed and is made for him. The black colour, not just on the outside but inside too, retains the heat of the plates when pre-warmed, for half an hour, he told me.  I thought them to be great for getting a better photograph relative to the dominant use of white plates in restaurants.   Jacques uses the restaurant as an outlet for the home ware, as well as for the wonderful slick classic yet modern square-shaped zen-feel furniture, made from wood and black steel structures, all of which can be ordered.  Material serviettes are provided, and the cutlery is new and shiny, a classic modern design. 

Jacques told me that he is the creator of crockery chandeliers, which I first saw at Manna, and he also made the three modern chandeliers with crockery from the Dutch East India Company for the new Pierneef à  La Motte.   There are no crockery chandeliers at Hemelhuijs.  Not only is Jacques an interior designer and restaurateur, but he is also a restaurant consultant, helping others to set up new restaurants.   On the ceiling is a large rectangular white structure, on which Jacques created images, ‘like a 5-year child having fun and playing’, he explained.   I asked him which his favourite restaurant is, and he immediately said it is his home, having eggs on toast.  He most regularly goes to Chef Pon’s in Gardens, for its predictability, nothing about the menu or the food changing.

Business has been good to date, and lunches tend to be fully booked, mainly by female supporters, rather than city businessmen, as Jacques had expected.  Many of the clients are ex-Manna friends.  The A3 white menu looks just like that which Manna first used, and on one side it says simply: “Hemelhuijs: Everyday Luxury”, a nice and simple positioning.   Breakfast is served all day, and most of the menu items are relatively standard dishes with one surprise ingredient, giving them a creative twist.   The wine selection is very small and focused, the “boutique house wine” being Henry Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz, made by Hennie Andrews near Napier, not only a good wine maker, but the original bread baker at Manna.  Two sparkling wines are served: Graham Beck Brut Rosé and Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel, reasonably priced at R35/R160. 

The menu has no dishes costing more than R90, for Baked salmon trout, pine nuts, dried cranberries and grapefruit butter.   I ordered Fresh asparagus, smoked salmon and a wonderful hollandaise sauce (R70), served with home-baked rye bread, which I dunked in the sauce, to mop it up.  The white asparagus spears were lightly blanched, making them super crunchy.  The dish looked beautiful in the black bowl.  For breakfast/brunch one can order fruit and yoghurt (R40); poached eggs, prosciutto, artichoke and hollandaisse sauce (R55); scrambled egg, salmon and toasted apple cake! (R50); and omelette and maple syrup glazed bacon, figs and goat’s cheese! (R55).  Salads cost R55 – R65.   Marzipan and dried apricot roasted chicken, a definite for the next visit, costs R 60; slow roasted lamb ribs cost R75; and the Hemelhuijs burger with creamed mushrooms and poached egg costs R70.   Crostini with various toppings range from R35 for mozzarella and tomato, to R50 for chicken and avocado.  The duck liver paté and preserved orange also sounded wonderful (R45).   Balsamic vinegar and olive oil (Hamilton Russell) are served in the most exquisite glass carafés, the olive oil one containing a herb sprig, giving it a special touch and taste.  The cappuccino (R17) was served with ‘anys-beskuit’, three generous helpings, at no charge.

I will be returning to heavenly Hemelhuijs for a breakfast later this week.  Jacques was very generous with his time and information.   The business card says: “Wholesome food, freshly made juices, artisan home ware, delicious daily bakes’.

POSTSCRIPT 6/11:  I have been back to Hemelhuijs twice since writing the review earlier this week, having the scrambled egg and salmon breakfast dish, as well as the most wonderful roast chicken with cherries, rocket cream, and marzipan and dried apricot stuffing.

POSTSCRIPT 13/4:  I went to look at the dinner at Hemelhuijs last night (only open on Wednesdays), but had to wait until 19h00 for it to open, so went to Keenwä, the Peruvian restaurant close by first, as they open at 18h30.  I ordered what sounded like a nice watercress and poached egg salad, at R55 – it was half a boiled egg on a side-plate full of hard-to-eat watrecress with some pine kernels.  I felt more than ripped off, especillay when the manager did not flinch nor ask a question in presenting the bill in full, after I left the plateful of watercress minus the egg!

POSTSCRIPT 10/5: Today I had lunch at Hemelhuijs with interior curator Neil Stemmet, also owner of award-winning Le Must in Upington, at which Hemelhuijs owner Jacques started his cheffing career, and with chef and cookbook writer Sonia Cobano.  I had a most unusual and very tasty combination of pork and chicken liver terrine, served with orange preserve and toasted rye bread.

POSTSCRIPT 16/5:  This evening Hemelhuijs was opened especially to cater for the persons invited to the opening of the ‘Openness to Explore’ exhibition at the Freeworld Design Centre next door.  The menu at Hemelhuijs was changed yesterday, and prices are creeping dangerously close to R100 – they had used the lunch menu and not their Wednesday evening menu.   While delicious, the three ‘frikadelle’ on a lick of mash accompanied with a sprinkling of tomato and onion was expensive at R95, but it was delicious.

Hemelhuijs Restaurant, 71 Waterkant Street, Cape Town. Tel (021)  418-2042.  No website.  Monday – Friday 8h00 – 15h00.  Saturday 9h00 – 15h00.   Wednesday evenings from 19h00.

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

Restaurant Review: Towerbosch at Knorhoek is a magical feast!

Even though Towerbosch Earth Kitchen on the Knorhoek wine estate has been open for a year, it has suddenly become en vogue, with media coverage creating awareness.  When we were told that our lunch stop on the Eco Wine Tour would be at Towerbosch, I was delighted, as what I had read about the restaurant sounded good.

Towerbosch means ‘magic bush’, and it is a unique restaurant setting with a neat lawn, a pond from which you imagine fairies arise at night, and an unusually shaped thatch-roof building.  Inside, the large restaurant room has an interesting structure on the ceiling, made from white-painted woven branches from the farm, from which hang the lights, and an interesting collection of cups, saucers, family trinkets, and cutlery, a modern take on the chandeliers of Pierneef a La Motte.  The interior decorator is Neil Stemmet, who also did the decor of Cuvee at Simonsig.  Interesting too is the collection of tables and chairs, most of them completely different, some with wooden tops, others with white tops, and the chairs linked to each table also differ vastly.  Everywhere there are collections of farm food, e.g. a table with two pumpkins, another containing a bowl of lemons, and a lovely vase with proteas on the table near the entrance, on which the Knorhoek wine range is displayed.   A wall contains a collection of plates, as one would have in mom’s home.  A lounge/library corner with a couch and bookshelves adds to the homely feel.   Stemmet says of his decor: “My inspiration came from my carefree inner child and love for natural artistry.  I decided to steer clear of artificial, modern luxury to make room for an unassuming, homely eat-out destination where the senses are transported to a faraway, enchanting fairytale, almost back to one’s childhood, while indulging in a languid, home-cooked meal”.   The music is a mix, and very South African, including “Suikerbossie”, but a jazzed up version of it.   There is a large fireplace, but is not large enough to adequately heat up the restaurant on a cold wintry day.  Blankets are available to warm one up, and heaters were brought to tables that needed more heat.

A display blackboard lists the menu for the day, which changes daily to reflect the availability of supplies.  As we were a group of nine, we were served a “feast table”, an unusual but clever homely presentation of the food in bowls from which one helps oneself, rather than a plateful being dished up for each person, just as one would eat this “boerekos” as a family at home.  To start, the most wonderful warm home-baked bread with fresh farm butter, and ‘konfyt’ was served, to get the appetite stimulated and to soak up the wine we had tasted in the morning on the tour.   Our main course was brought to the table, and consisted of smoorsnoek, chicken pie, a massive platter of to-die-for pork with crackling and the most wonderful roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, a bean and potato mix, a Greek salad with the most generously big chunks of feta and fresh fresh greens, and a tomato salad.  We could not help thinking that this meal was like “Ma se kos”, a typical South African Sunday lunch in the middle of the week.  We could have had melktert or malva pudding as a dessert, but declined due to the magnificent feast.  In keeping with the Boerekos theme, there is no cappuccino machine, but ‘moerkoffie’ in a plunger is served.  

On Sundays Towerbosch serves something different – an Asado Argentinian meal, consisting of their lovely farm bread and butter, empanadas, soup or smoorsnoek, two or three meats from the barbeque, and dessert, at the cost of R165 per head.

We drank a bottle of Knorhoek Shiraz 2005, a lovely smooth wine.  We laughed when we saw a metal bucket brought to another table, serving as an ice bucket!   The Knorhoek wine estate is a member of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative.  Only Knorhoek wines are available at Towerbosch, and include Two Cubs White Rosé, and Red, and Knorhoek Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinotage, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Reserve and Pantere.   Prices look very reasonable, and only a small add-on relative to the cellar price makes them affordable.

Whilst we did not get to meet them, the chef couple are Carmen van der Merwe and Wesley Muller, who previously worked at Terroir and Beluga.  The chefs’ focus is on slow cooked and simple “traditional family meals”, with ‘heritage fare’ served on big platters.

The choice of this restaurant for lunch for the Eco Wine Tour is motivated by the use of the recycled tables and chairs in the restaurant, the growing of their own herbs (with vegetables to follow), and their wonderful home cooked meals.  Even though we all loved the four wine estates we visited, the highlight of the Eco Wine Tour was the magical lunch at Towerbosch.   A definite for a repeat visit.

Towerbosch Earth Kitchen, Knorhoek wine estate, Knorhoek Road, Stellenbosch. Tel (021) 865-2114 www.knorhoek.co.za. Open for lunch Wednesdays – Sundays, and for dinner on request for a minimum of 15 guests.   On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route.

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