Tag Archives: tapas

Restaurant Review: Act Restaurant at Baxter does not have its act together yet!

It was a surprise earlier this week to discover that the buffet-style dinners at the Baxter Theatre have been discontinued, to be replaced with a fine-dining style restaurant called Act, and owned by The Forum, a catering company from Johannesburg, I was told.  I went twice this week, preceding the Beethoven Piano Concerto Festival performances.

On my first visit only six tables were available for service, those deeper in the restaurant not laid as there were construction workers working on the bathrooms.  Luckily they did so without one hearing them.  One must pre-book a table, and I did so for the second concert.  The manager found a small table for me for the first (unbooked) dinner.  The second evening was almost fully booked when I arrived, and my booked table could not be found.  I was taken deep into the restaurant, not as attractive looking as the entrance section.   A table was found for me there.   The tables have a yellow table cloth and serviette, a vase with a pink dahlia (an old-fashioned flower type not often seen, yet so pretty), a little candle, and  small containers with coarse salt and ground black pepper, one with a spoon, and the other without.  The modern cutlery is by Fortis Hotelware, and beautifully new and shiny.  The glassware is of an excellent quality.  This is where the quality ends.

With so many more tables to serve on my second visit, the service was even worse than it was on my first visit.   I quickly saw that one should only order one item from the menu to have any chance of seeing one’s show on time, even if one arrives an hour or longer before the start of a concert or show.  The service is inconsistent – on the first visit I received a basket with bread presented in a serviette, but not on my second visit. The menu is in a good quality leather holder, and easy to read.  Surprising was that the winelist was not offered on both occasions, and that I had to ask for it.

To try out the restaurant on the first visit, and due to less time available, I only ordered a green pea, spinach and watercress soup, sprinkled with bits of feta (R36).  This symphony in green was nice and thick, filling, the feta was a good marriage with the mix of three greens, and offered good value.  On my second visit I ordered organic trout on potato rosti, with vodka cream cheese, black caviar and chives (R72) – the dish sounded promising, and looked beautiful, and there were two slices of trout, in between two slices of very thin rosti, sprinkled with a little caviar.  The rest of the dish I struggled with, not tasting the chives, nor the vodka in the cream cheese.  The rosti was very dry, and the cream cheese was just a drizzle, not adding enough moisture to the rosti to make it pleasant to eat.  I felt it to be overpromised and overcharged for what one gets.  The port and peppercorn chicken liver paté (R48) was more successful, served with bruschetta, yet I could not detect the peppercorns nor the port in the taste nor the texture!  This order caused a service let-down.  When I explained that I wanted to take the paté home with me, due to a time shortage, the supervisor said they do not do take-aways. I asked him to bring me the starter, wanting to photograph it anyway, and then I would ask for a doggy bag.  I was surprised when I received the take-away container with the paté, and had to request that they plate it for the photograph, and then put it back in the container! Other starters include beetroot and apple soup (R32) and mussel pot (R55).  Main courses range from R65 for “fish and fat chips” to R145 for loin of lamb wrapped in potato rosti.  One can also order fillet; lamb shank; spinach and feta cannelloni; Thai green calamari; and chicken stuffed with truffled mushroom and Gruyere cheese.  Desserts cost around R45, and include Amarula crème brûlée, yoghurt Amaretto panna cotta, twice baked goats’ cheese and red wine pear soufflé, and chocolate fudge torte.

The serving of the two starters took an hour, but I did manage to get a weak cappuccino (R13) organised from my waitress.  Her initial response was to point upstairs, meaning that I should get it in the upstairs bar.  I asked her to oblige, which she did!  Payment by credit card was done at the table, but took time to organise. The bill was presented with a “commenting” card, the waitress asking me to provide my feedback.  I have not received a response from the restaurant to my feedback.  One of the biggest service issues is that the entrance to the restaurant, leading from the steps down to the theatre entrances, is not manned by any staff, to deal with new ‘arrivals’, mainly being Baxter ticket holders who are inquisitive about the new restaurant, distracting the staff from serving the guests who are eating there.

As an alternative, one can go upstairs to the Play Bar, have a drink and order tapas, which come from the same kitchen, probably causing some of the service issues experienced.  The tapas menu is a tiny laminated list consisting of five options: olive plate, mezze, chicken and mushroom, savouries, and cheese, ranging from R46 – R68 for two persons.   By day the Play Bar is a coffee bar, serving sandwiches and other light meals, on Mondays to Fridays, until 17h00.

The winelist is a tiny unlaminated piece of paper, almost looking like an after-thought, and its selection of four white and three red wines is far too small to match the ‘fine-dining’-style of the restaurant, and its typing errors are unforgivable.  White wines offered are Pecan Stream (R85), Remhoogte Chenin Blanc (R20/R88), Villiera Sauvignon Blanc (R25/R90) and Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc (R140).   The Beyerskloof Pinotage was unprofessionally crossed off the red wine list, leaving only a Remhoogte Aigle Noir (R20/R90) and a “Roupert & Rothchilds” (ouch, with a double typo!) Classique (R150).

Act needs a lot of hard work to improve its act, its service performance being unsatisfactory – all the staff are understandably new, but unforgivabley untrained.  The manager seemed nice, but was running in and out of the kitchen with dishes, not managing what was going on in the restaurant on both evenings.  The design of the restaurant, being a long ‘rectangular’ shaped open space, seperated by the bar in part, means that staff at the back end of the restaurant have no idea of what is happening in the front section.  Act is not cheap, and the time limit one has before the show is likely to cause service issues for its customers.  Ideally one should phone through one’s order when making the booking, especially if one is planning to order more than one course!  I am not sure if such a service exists.

POSTSCRIPT 11/4/11: I was impressed to receive the following e-mail from Glynis Hyslop, MD of The Forum, today: “Thank you for taking the time to review our new, as yet unopened restaurant. Based as I am in Johannesburg I am delighted to have a Mystery shopper who delivers such comprehensive reports! In particular thank you for your comments on the quality of the table appointments. As you correctly point out, the kitchen services both the restaurant and the tapas bar upstairs which can be difficult if both are busy. To mitigate this you will have noticed the extensive open cooking area within the restaurant. Unfortunately until this weekend this was not in use.  During our renovations we discovered that the previous restaurant’s gas installations were both illegal and leaking.  As I am sure you are aware the current regulations call for submission of plans to council and approval before new gas points are installed.   On Friday morning we received permission from the Baxter   for a further temporary installation of   gas to the front kitchen whilst we wait for council approval.  Even though this is a soft opening it has been very difficult to operate, with only 1/3 of the kitchen, but we hope to be fully operational as soon as this approval is forthcoming. We have noted the comments on the food and have changed the rosti, they will be future be made thicker which will hopefully ensure that they are not dry. Thank you for the comments re the service.   This is an issue that we are working on. I am however very perturbed to find that your comment card has not made its way to either the Exec chef, the manager of the restaurants division, or myself. The forum is committed to world class food and service and you clearly experienced neither.  I would be delighted if you could let me know when you will next be at the Baxter so that I can organize a complimentary meal for you to experience the forum as it should be.  I would also be delighted   if you could attend the opening on Thursday evening the 14th. We will be forwarding you an invitation tomorrow.”

POSTSCRIPT 12/4/11: Kim Roberts, the GM of the Restaurant Division of The Forum, has written today: “I am aware that our MD has been in contact with on receiving the review you gave our soon to be opened new restaurant at the Baxter Theatre Centre, feedback is always greatly appreciated as it keeps us on our toes and ensures that we are continually working to achieve on the goals we set out.  Attached is your comment card and am in agreement with regards to the service issues not being to standard.  We are currently training staff daily to ensure better communication from our staff to our patrons.  We run a custom touch points program for all our service staff and believe once they have completed this that service levels will be where they are.  I know that you are aware that we have had limited gas supply and with the front kitchen being incomplete, the espresso machine only going in there  last Friday and staff running up and down service stairs to get a patrons coffee order has certainly compounded our service delivery.  The theatre going crowd is time poor with show starting times, but wanting a nibble, meal or a beverage before a show, we made a call to serve under not so perfect circumstances while building construction was going on,  will so I do hope you will return in a more settled time.  I am on route to Cape Town today for the re-opening of the Baxter Hospitality facilities on Thursday and am looking forward to meeting you then.  In the interim, I am now following you on twitter to see what else you are up to! “

POSTSCRIPT 14/4/11: My colleague and I attended the official opening by David Kramer of Act Restaurant and Play Bar.  I met both Kim Roberts and Glynis Hyslop from The Forum.  A proper winelist has now been compiled, I was told.

POSTSCRIPT 4/4/12: The Cape Times reported yesterday that the ACT restaurant and PLAY bar vacated the Baxter Theatre overnight last weekend, not having paid their rent for three months.  It was predictable that the restaurant and bar would not survive, their service being so exceptionally poor!

Act Restaurant, Baxter Theatre, Main Road, Rondebosch.  Tel (021) 685-3888.  www.theforum.co.za (The website has only a short reference to Act restaurant and Play Bar, and shows photographs of the renovations, as well as sketches of the new interior design. The site refers to its ‘gourmet a la carte menu’, but none is provided. The Forum positions itself boldly as follows: “The Forum company team is dedicated to delivering world-class services”!   The website also refers to Act’s ‘extensive winelist’.   I did not see any of this at Act restaurant this week).  The Forum has other projects in Johannesburg, and a second project is underway in Cape Town, but the staff could not tell me where it is.  Monday – Saturday evenings.

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: Seasons Restaurant at Diemersfontein functional, no Woolworths!

I cannot help but associate Diemersfontein with Woolworths, which creates a very high expectation.  Max Sonnenberg first bought Diemersfontein in 1943 as a fruit farm outside Wellington, and it now is run by his grandson David.  Max Sonnenberg was the founder of Woolworths in 1931, and is South Africa’s leading retail outlet,  synonymous with quality and innovation.   I did not find any such “Woolworths” quality at Diemersfontein and its restaurant Seasons when I had lunch there last Sunday, on my weekend visit to the Wellington Wine Route.  

It starts when you drive in, and the entrance wall states that Diemersfontein is a ‘residential wine estate’, which seems to be more focused on the residential side of things.  As one drives to the restaurant, one does not see any vineyards, just dry dusty land.   The view from the restaurant is onto the Paarl Mountain in the far distance, and onto a very dusty and dry field below, with some horses on it, as well as a dam.  Again, one has no sense of being on a wine estate at all. 

The Seasons restaurant and wine tasting building is a functional one, and the two sections are linked by a courtyard, with shading provided, given the Wellington heat.   There is no Seasons branding on the restaurant building, and if I had not seen guests eating outside, I would not have known where to go.  I had expected the restaurant to be the old manor house, which I had visited many years ago, but that has become guest accommodation, and serves as an office for Mr Sonnenberg, I was told.  For the quality of the wines, the Diemersfontein reputation, and the Sonnenberg ownership, I was shocked at the restaurant interior, with garden furniture inside, and a gap in one section, with no tables at all.   There is no attractive reception counter, or any redeeming feature to make this restaurant look attractive, and it is purely function-driven.  My heart sank, and I feared the worst.    I chose to sit outside, also on garden furniture, which was more appropriate.   Plants have been planted in old wine vats, but looked sadly neglected and probably take a beating from the south-easter and heat, and were more functional looking, to fill a vat, rather than to look attractive or to add colour to the courtyard. 

I was ignored when I arrived, and there did not seem to be a Restaurant Manager on duty at all. I had to ask the waitress Denisia, who walked past me, if she could seat me.  She wanted to know for how many persons the booking was, so that she could find my booking.  She was not interested in my name, as the number of persons booked would identify which table I should be seated at!  My heart sank further when Denisia could not tell the surname of the chef, and she told me immediately that he was not on duty anyway!   Edward Maqegu took over from Chef Johan van Schalkwyk, who now runs The Stone Kitchen on the Dunstone Boutique Winery  on the Bovlei Road in Wellington.   Chef Johan still does the catering for events at Diemersfontein.   Denisia redeemed herself, and was very attentive throughout the rest of my visit, and brought me a massive jug of lemon and ice water.  

The tables have a good quality white table cloth with a burgundy material serviette.  The cutlery is average, certainly not purchased from Woolworths!   Each table has a small Cape Herb and Spice Company salt and pepper grinder, which could have been bought at Woolworths.  The black plastic covered menu has untidy plastic pockets for each menu page, and an introduction promises: “Fresh local ingredients, beautifully presented”.  The latter certainly is an overpromise.  The menu also asks one to tell the waitress if one is rushed for time, something I have not seen before.  The menu has a Tapas list of ten items, which serves as the starters, Denisia said, and then lists main courses (none above R110, which is for venison) and desserts (R35 – R40).   The menu has a Diemersfontein wine recommendation for every item on the menu, including each Tapas item. 

I had ordered the duck liver paté, and it arrived soon after the order was placed, three generous triangular slices, a steal at R20.  I had asked for it to be served with toast, but the bread arrived untoasted, and was quickly returned toasted.  It was functionally presented on a sideplate with a sprig of parsley, not passing the ‘beautiful’ test. I took half of the paté home.   Other Tapas options include Bobotie Wontons, salmon and asparagus, and prawn cocktail, ranging in price from R20 – R38.  One can also order light meals such as burgers and a prego steak roll, and there is a choice of four salads.  The kingklip (R95) was fantastic, to my surprise, just simply grilled, with no hard crust as I had experienced at Mange Tout last week,  two very generous pieces, with crushed new potatoes and a green vegetable mix of beans (slightly undercooked), broccoli and courgettes.  Out of place, and not really adding to the ‘beauty’ of the dish, was a very dangerous-looking orange aioli made with roasted peppers and mayonnaise.   I was served a fish knife for it.  Other main course choices include fillet, lamb cutlets, chicken Malay curry, prawns, and venison.  Had I stayed for dessert, I could have ordered Créme Bruleé, chocolate mousse, milk tart, lemon cheese cake and chocolate and pecan nut tart.

The winelist is in a similar plastic cover, and will not win any Diner’s Club Winelist awards.  It is a very restricted winelist, and consists mainly of Diemersfontein wines and is proudly-Wellington in the choice of the rest, and the prices are exceptionally reasonable.  What is a shame is that the Thokozani (Zulu word for ‘let’s celebrate’) brand is not explained on the winelist, as being an empowerment project at Diemersfontein.  Two sparkling wines are offered: Thokozani (R18/R105) and Villiera Tradition Brut (R150).   The Thokozani “CVV” (a chardonnay, chenin blanc and viognier blend) costs R16/R54. The Thokozani Rosé  costs R12/R39.  The Shiraz options are both from the estate – Diemersfontein Shiraz costs R23/R78 and Carpe Diem R34/R120.

Seasons also serves breakfast from 8h00 – 11h00, costing R55 for Boland Eggs Benedict, and the other egg options cost less.  A fruit platter with yoghurt and muesli seems expensive at R55.  I would go back to Seasons Restaurant for the kingklip alone, but the restaurant is in need of a major interior and management overhaul, and must live up to its ‘beautiful’ plating promise.  Seasons has such amazing potential, with a captive audience of home owners on the estate, and its proximity to the traffic flow in and out of Wellington.  Given that the town is in dire need of good quality restaurants, it is missing a golden business opportunity. 

Seasons Restaurant, Diemersfontein, Jan van Riebeeck Drive, Wellington.   Tel (021) 864-5050.     www.diemersfontein.co.za  (The website dedicates only one page to the restaurant, and has no photographs of the food.  The menu is available.  It clearly has not been updated for a while, as the Thokozani wine range is not featured in the Wine section).   Monday – Sunday, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

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

Blog with passion, Food & Wine Bloggers advised

Food and wine bloggers should blog with passion, they were told by both wine blogger Dusan Jelic and food blogger Linda Harding, who addressed the first meeting of the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club of 2011 and which was held at Pigalle Restaurant.   It was the largest attendance in the nine-month history of the Bloggers’ Club, and representatives of food and wine PR companies, food bloggers, wine bloggers, wine estates, and even the author of “Pinotage’, the only book written about this wine variety, UK-based Peter May, attended.

Dusan Jelic introduced the bloggers to wines he had brought along from Wederwill (12°C  and 17°C) and Avontuur (Vintner’s Blend Rosé and their Brut).    Dusan started working as the Social  Networking and Media Manager of wine.co.za in May last year, and he embraces Facebook, blogging and Twitter for the company, spending about 9,5 hours daily with social media.  His company’s website is the most comprehensive data base of wine information in South Africa, it was said.   He gave bloggers the following tips:

1.  Always be honest in what you say and write. One’s “reputation is priceless”, he said.

2.   Wine education is important, and should be constantly improved.  Dusan praised the Cape Wine Academy, as being a top-class institution, and its courses at three levels.  He himself is currently studying for his Diploma.  

3.   Dusan advised social media users to ‘don’t drink and Tweet’.  He warned that it “reveals deep fears and thoughts”, and gives away more about oneself than one would have wanted to.

4.   Have integrity, because you will be found out.  Dusan quoted winemaker Abrie Bruwer of Springfield, who has not released one of his 1999 wines, because it is not ready yet.  It could have been launched and earn revenue, but the brand would have suffered.  One cannot fake passion and work ethic, Dusan said.

5.   Trust your palate – Dusan explained about the different wine evaluation methods used, including the Decanter score out of 100, and the South African score out of 20.  Platter uses stars.   He said one should respect those wine drinkers who are able to express what they can smell and taste in a wine.   As one develops one skills, one will be able to smell and taste specific fruits.  Dusan advised one to be relaxed when tasting a wine:  “wine is a living thing”, he said, and advised that it was acceptable to ‘slurp’ one’s wine when tasting it, to bring in air.

6.   Do not be a freeloader.  Freebies must be acknowledged in blogging.  Give the sponsored brand credit, but also point out its weaknesses, if relevant.

7.  Do not write monotonously, approach an evaluation positively, and present the aspects which need to be improved.

8.   However, in contrast, Dusan said that one should not be a “people pleaser” in one’s blogging, as one would not have credibility.

Dusan was asked which wine blogs he reads regularly, and his list includes Simon Back from Backsberg, and Emile Joubert from Wine Goggle, both previous speakers at Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meetings.   He said that wine tasting was the beginning, but the ultimate was the pairing of wine and food.

Linda Harding is a bubbly blogger, who only started her blog Squashed Tomato, based on the title of a book she read as a child, in May last year.  She is an intern for Eat In and Eat Out, and works in tasting rooms too.  She described herself, highlighting that it is important to read other bloggers’ blogs, to get to know them and their personality, and that will determine who one will follow on Twitter and whose blogs one will read, she said.  Linda is a Sagittarian, and her star sign defines who she is.  She describes herself as a “flexitarian” as far as her eating goes, eating anything, especially seafood, but she once was a vegetarian!   Linda only started cooking four years ago, and blogs about her recipes, which are quick and easy to do and do not need expensive ingredients.    She started off using her cellphone camera, and has ‘progressed’ to a “mik en druk”, she laughed. 

From input gleaned from other food bloggers, Linda presented a list of food trends for 2011:

1.  Food markets are increasingly the source of purchase, away from supermarkets

2.   Eating out will increasingly be for lunch on weekends

3.  Fruit-based desserts will become increasingly popular

4.  Restaurants serving all-day breakfasts are on trend

5.   Meat will increasingly be bought from butchers who have personal relationships with the farmers that supply their meat

6.  Serving tapas in restaurants is a strong trend

7.   Good value for money quality offers will be a success formula for restaurants.

8.   Meat-free Mondays will grow in support

9.   Artisan bakers will receive increasing support

10.  Greater awareness of food origin and reading of pack labels.

Linda sees Twitter as an important networking tool, and it reflects what one is passionate about.  To be re-tweeted by Spit & Swallow, with their more than 6000 followers, is first prize, she said.   Linda advised bloggers to ‘write for what you want, for what you enjoy, and not for what you think others want’.   She also advised one to read other blogs regularly, and to evaluate their layout and photographs.  To build relationships and to receive support and traffic, bloggers must give by commenting on others’ blogposts.   One should use one’s own photographs, where possible.   Images are vital, as ‘one eats with one’s eyes’.  Spelling mistakes are unforgivable, especially as most blog platforms have a spellchecker.   One should become a real person on Twitter, sharing not just business information (such as a new blog post), but allow one’s personal side to come through as well, she advised.   Keeping awareness on Twitter throughout the day is vital, due to the volume of Tweets one is exposed to, but she advised against retweeting one’s blog link more than once a day.

The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club was formed to allow food and wine bloggers to meet other more established bloggers, to learn from them but also to network with them.  There is no formal blogging course, and the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club assists in growing the body of knowledge about blogging, through the sharing of information.   It also is an opportunity to taste good wines, and to sample good restaurant food.

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