Tag Archives: Rossouw’s Restaurants

Restaurant Review: Pizza Club fastest pizzas in Cape Town

The best value for money and fastest pizzas served in Cape Town must be those from the Pizza Club in Hout Bay, which are 30 cm in size and have a very thin base.  One is offered the unusual ability to order a “duo” or a “trio” pizza, with two or three topping combinations out of the list of 23 choices offered.

Celebrating its first anniversary in Hout Bay, the Pizza Club formerly traded in the south-west of France.  Wife Tracy from the United Kingdom and Italian husband Massimo Orione met in an internet chatroom, Tracy tells us and laughs.   Both worked in the UK at that time 12 years ago, and they fell in love, moved to France to start the Pizza Club there, and moved to South Africa after a life-changing holiday.  

The Pizza Club is next door to the Spar at the Oakhurst Farm Park, and for those who have not been there before, the entrance is not easy to find.  We walked past the restaurant, expecting the entrance to be at the back end of the building.  Tracy saw us taking the wrong turn, and called us to guide us.   We sat outside on a lovely Cape summer evening, next to the kids’ jungle gym, overlooking the mountain.   The kids’ screeching was irritating initially, but they were mercifully taken home soon thereafter. 

The menu and winelist is printed on brown paper, to give a pizza look, and is laminated.  It is immediately evident that the PizzaClub is a no-nonsense pizza place with “two non-celebrity pizza designers”, as tweeted by Massimo recently.   The 23 pizza choices include two sweet ones, banana and ricotta cheese, and one served with chocolate spread.   A basic Margarita pizza costs R 44, and the most expensive R 79.  A board advertised four further special topping combinations at R 89 each.   A daily salad costs R24 as a side serving, and the salad of the day was a butternut, spring onion and soy honey sauce one.  Two “bulk” deals are offered: the Pizza Festival offers 6 persons or more an unlimited pizza and side salad for R 98 per person, while the full Italian Experience at R 140 per head for a minimum of 10 persons offers antipasti, unlimited pizza, side salad, dessert and lemoncello.

The menu welcomes one “in our home, and we’ll treat you as such”.  It lays a few ground rules: no doggy bags for their Pizza Festival or Italian Experience, and one is not allowed to bring one’s own food or beverages.

Unbelievably the pizzas were served within 5 minutes of placing our order, and such generosity of ingredients on the pizza has never been seen before – one could not see the pizza base at all, only on the outer edge.  The pizzas are large, larger than a dinner plate.  The pizzas cooled quickly, being so large, so that the last bitefuls are cold by the time one gets to them.  

The dessert choice costs R 32, and was a chocolate mousse and tiramisu, and the latter was made the real Italian way, and pronounced delicious.  Generously Massimo brought a glass each of lemoncello and chocolate liqueur served in a chocolate cup once he had identified the writer as a fellow Twitterer!    Kim Maxwell, a food writer and winetaster, was also at the restaurant.  On its menu the Pizza Club proudly refers to its good reviews on Rossouws’ Restaurants, Eat Out and Relax with Dax websites, and requests patrons to add comments to these websites if they are happy, or to feed back to the owners any dissatisfaction.   The website also reflects the good feedback the Pizza Club has received, and cleverly gives the Italian feel on its homepage, with basil, mozarella and tomatoes representing the colours of the Italian flag. 

The winelist offers Bianco, Roso and Rossato at an unbelievably economical R 18 by the glass.  White wines start at R 65 (Welgemoed Sauvignon Blanc and Perdeberg Chenin Blanc) and the Jordan Chardonnay is the most expensive at R 165.   The price range for the red wines is from R 65 (Rietvallei John Cabernet Sauvignon/Tinta Barrocca) to R 170 for the Warwick Three Cape Ladies.   Three sparkling wines are on the winelist, and range from R 70 for an unknown Vendaye to R 180 for the Steenberg 1682 Brut.

Pizza Club, Oakhurst Farm Park, off Main Road, Hout Bay.  Open Wednesdays – Sundays, from 17h30 onwards.  Tel 021 790 7906, or sms the word “pizza” to 073 390 1373 so that they can return your call. www.pizzaclub.co.za  Twitter: @pizzaclub_hb

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

Restaurant Review: Christophe passionate restaurateur at Restaurant Christophe

Christophe Dehosse is a passionate owner of his new Restaurant Christophe in the ‘Skuinshuis’ on Van Reyneveld Street in Stellenbosch, adding further weight to the prediction that Stellenbosch will soon wear the crown of the gourmet centre of South Africa  His restaurant joins an illustrious collection  of restaurants in this Winelands town, which includes Rust en Vrede, Overture, and Delaire Graff. The restaurant opened a month ago.

 

Dehosse first started cooking at Chamonix in Franschhoek, then was the chef at Au Jardin in the Vineyard Hotel, and moved to Joostenberg Deli nine years ago to join the Myburgh family he has married into, running a good value for money lunchtime restaurant there.  While he was very low key at Joostenberg, JP Rossouw of Rossouws’ Restaurants awarded the restaurant his highest rating of 3 stars, awarded to such greats as Reubens, La Colombe, and Rust en Vrede.  Le Quartier Francais did not even make his 3-star grade.  Christophe speaks with a delightful French accent, and epitomises the French chef.   What reflected his passion was that he spent more time with the patrons, after having done all the main courses, chatting at length at their tables, something rarely seen in restaurants these days.  He even takes the bookings during the day.   Chef Dane Newton of Allee Bleue also understands the art of connecting with his clients.

 

While his wife continues at Joostenberg, Christophe has set up in the building which also houses a coffee shop, and a decor shop.  The transformation of the part of the building that he uses is almost unbelievable.   It is a two-room restaurant, the entrance section having three tables and the other section almost three times in size, giving the restaurant the choice of where to seat the guests.  Christophe proudly compliments interior designer Liesel Rossouw for the understated yet chic interior.  The subtle green walls, tastefully decorated with beautiful works of art which can be bought, and shocking pink and orange chairs (with 5 colour variations) made from wine barrels especially made for the restaurant to give patrons a comfortable seat during the meal.   The lamps are unusual too – they are made from woven laminated ads, creating an unusual effect.  A simple metal structure serves as the desk at the entrance – slick and simply designed.

 

It having been a 42C day, and still hot at mid-30C in the evening, all patrons chose to sit outside.   The tables were beautifully laid with white tablecloths, silverware, and glassware, and each table had a fresh rose on it.   A lovely flower arrangement, in white and pink flowers, was the first statement the restaurant made on arrival.  A single palm tree towers above the courtyard, and an almost wild bougainvilla hedge in shocking pink complements the pink and orange chairs.  

 

Darren is the Manager, and he was very friendly in welcoming us, and patiently answered all the questions.   He is from Birmingham, and last worked at Umami in Stellenbosch.   He served all the tables.

 

The menu is very simply typed on a piece of paper, and looks unpretentious, and almost contradicts the lovely interior and special food served.   It is short, offering four starter choices: quail salad (R 65), seafood salad (R 65), foie gras with Noble Late aspic (R130), and marinated vegetables and goat’s cheese (R 50).  The foie gras was outstanding, and a surprise was the complimentary glass of Joostenberg Nobel Late Harvest, served well-chilled with it.

 

Five main courses were Cape Salmon (R 95), yellowtail (R 95), Bouillabaisse (R 110), beef fillet (R 135), and roast duck jambonette (R 110).  The steak was pronounced to be excellent, while the duck was disappointing, probably due to a duck lover’s experience of  ˜roasted’ being different to that served.   The dessert choice costs R 45, and was apricot and almond tart, chocolate biscuit, and chilled fresh fruit soup, which would have been ideal for such a hot evening, but space did not allow it.  A cheese selection is available at R 60.   The fruit soup was a berry berry nice lunch the following day.  The menu changes every two weeks.

 

The winelist is equally printed on white paper, and is unlikely to win a mention in the Diner’s Club winelist awards as far as presentation is concerned.   It is very understated, yet offers a good selection of South African and even some French wines.   A full page is devoted to sparkling wines, Graham Beck supplying the least and most expensive bottles, at R 150 – R 290.   It can also be ordered by the glass, in a price range of R 22 – R 35.  The Joostenberg wines appear in almost every category, as does a brand not commonly known, called MAN, named after three Myburgh ladies: Marie, Annette and Nicky.  Jose Conde’s wines also feature on the wine list, as do Thelema (R 600 for Cabernet Sauvignon) , Klein Constantia, Kanonkop (Pinotage at R 480), Veenwouden (Merlot at R 420), Hartenberg (Shiraz at R 490), Hamilton Russell (Chardonnay at R 350), Paul Cluver,  Simonsig and Villiera.

 

Restaurant Christophe, Skuinshuis side entrance, Van Reyneveld Street, between Nook Eatery and the synagogue, Stellenbosch,  tel 021 886-8763.  On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route.

 

POSTSCRIPT 23/9: Restaurant Christophe has been named a Top 20 Eat Out Restaurant Awards finalist.

 

POSTSCRIPT 1/6:  It was sad to receive the fillowing e-mail from Chef Christophe today, announcing the restaurant’s closure later this month:  “It is with regret that I wish to inform you that due to insufficient trading in the last 18 months, I have made the decision to close down Restaurant Christophe as of the 25th of June 2011.  I want to take the opportunity to thank long time and new clients as well as friends who have supported me in the last 18 months. I will again be based full time at Joostenberg from the beginning of August. Hope to see you there in the future.”

 

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

Rossouw’s Restaurants’ top restaurants rocks (the boat)!

The 2010 edition of Rossouw’s Restaurants, an independent restaurant guide that judges restaurants informally from 1 – 3 stars, has just been launched.   It includes a few surprises in its inclusions, and more importantly exclusions, in its 3-star top restaurant list, coming just 13 days before the announcement of the 2010 Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards.

The biggest shock is the exclusion of Le Quartier Francais’ Tasting Room in the 3-star restaurant category, but is designated as “bubbling under” by the author JP Rossouw.   Other “bubbling under” restaurants include Terroir, a long-standing Eat Out Top 10 restaurant, new restaurant The Roundhouse (on the Eat Out Top 10 shortlist), Belthazar in the V&A Waterfront, The Greenhouse at the Cellars Hohenhort (on the top 20 shortlist for the Eat Out Top 10), and Mosaic (on the Eat Out Top 10 shortlist).

In total 14 restaurants have been awarded 3-stars by Rossouw, of which 8 are in the Cape Town and Winelands areas:   Aubergine, Bizerca, Jardine, Joostenberg Bistro (a surprise!), La Colombe, Overture, Reuben’s, and Rust en Vrede.   (All of these restaurants, with the exception of the Joostenberg Bistro, are on the Eat Out Top 10 shortlist).   The remaining 3-star winners are Ile de Pain and Zachary’s in Knysna (the latter is Eat Out Top 10 shortlisted), Mariana’s in Stanford, Ritrovo in Pretoria and The Butcher Shop & Grill and Thomas Maxwell Bistro in Johannesburg.

Rossouw defines a 3-star restaurant as one that “shines in its price point and offers a truly special food experience…. it’s the all-round feeling of pleasure that’s created by a lovely space, warm hospitality, good service, and crackerjack food.  Track record is also important : three star restaurants should consistently deliver on their promise”.

Rossouw has dropped the controversial 2009 3-star Magica Roma from the 3-star list in his latest guide, for which he received much criticism.   Comments left on Rossouw’s website are critical of his treatment of Le Quartier Francais, given that it is a Top 50 restaurant in the world, but Rossouw was prepared for the question: “The Tasting Room’s move from three stars in 2009 to two stars in 2010 was not a decision easily made, but it was certainly not influenced by what other reviews/guides/Top 50’s say”.  Rossouw adds that he is guided by customer reviews he receives, but the final score is his.   See full details here.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portoflio http://www.whalecottage.com

Top 13 Rossouw Restaurants

Jean-Pierre Rossouw, compiler of  ‘Rossouw’s Restaurants’ guide, has just published his 2009 edition, and awarded 3-stars, his top rating, to 13 restaurants in the country.

The Cape-based 3-star restaurants, according to the Weekend Argus, are Aubergine, Bosman’s, Ile de Pain, Jardine, La Colombe, Magica Roma, Mariana’s, The Tasting Room , Rust & Vrede and Zachary’s.   Other 3-star restaurants are Butcher Shop & Grill and Thomas Maxwell Bistro in Sandton, and Ritrovo in Pretoria.

Interesting omissions are Overture, the scenic restaurant of Bertus Basson on the Hidden Valley Estate and close to Rust & Vrede, and Terroir, outside Stellenbosch, both restaurants being on the Top Ten Eat Out list.   In his previous edition, Rossouw was demeaning to Overture about its driveway being very steep, which is absolute nonsense, and should not have clouded his judgement of the restaurant!