Tag Archives: The Ultimate Braaimaster

Restaurant Review: There is no master chef at The Red Table Restaurant at Nederburg!

The Red Table Restaurant at Nederburg opened last week, and is the first restaurant to operate on this historic wine estate.  As Nederburg is synonymous with MasterChef SA, it was a surprise that the restaurant interior, service, and food are so far removed from what the reality TV series epitomises, and the quality positioning of the award-winning Nederburg wine brand.

The decor was done by Espresso, “an interior design consultancy specialising in contemporary furniture for kitchens, bedrooms and living spaces from leading Italian furniture brands including Euromobil™, Zalf™, Silenia™, Desiree™ and Tonon™. The latest Italian functionality, practicality and style is brought to life by our award winning design team. We have showrooms in London and Cape Town” its website states.  No signs of this were to be seen in the restaurant, which consists of the main room and the side room (in which classic concerts were held) in the Manor House.

One notices the red signage for the restaurant as one arrives, odd looking small signs giving one a temporary feel, directing one to the restaurant at short intervals.  In the parking area, an overturned table holds the signage, and square exterior tiles have been painted red, as if to resemble a red carpet, to indicate the path one is to follow.  One is led to the front of the Manor House, shown the many tables outside, and enters the restaurant here, and no longer at its back entrance.  Pot plant holders have been painted red, and one took strain from the terrible southeaster blowing a gale at the wine estate on Friday. The tables look like they were original antiques from the Manor House, their tops having been given a red lacquer treatment, but I was assured that they were newly made. So too the chairs, with riempie seats, were painted white with one red backrest.  The 212 year old manor house has retained its beautiful wooden ceiling, and its brass lamps, but red splashes of colour are carried throughout both the rooms, with red ice buckets, red plant holders, red edging on weird shelves that look like tables ‘growing’ out of the wall, and red print on the menu.

I could not help but feel that the decor was amateurish, forced, someone having chosen a colour and creating a faux interior, clashing with the historic interior of the building.  Burrata’s use of its colour red is sophisticated and classy by comparison. Green touches are everywhere, with a ‘portrait’ of succulents over the fireplace in the second room, and hanging plants in the main room. The grand piano serves as a display surface, with bell jars containing stacked cups and saucers, books, and music scores. A children’s collection consists of a drum, a Children’s Britannica set, marbles, dinosaurs, Scrabble, sports cups, and more.  The fireplace is stacked with almost perfectly shaped logs. There are no curtains or drapes anymore, making the previous concert room echo.  The Persian carpets have been retained.  Books form part of the decor display.  No red serviettes have been used to carry through the colour theme.  The bathroom decor is untouched, with heavy drapes, a contradiction to the design of the restaurant rooms next door!  Sarah explained that the design is meant to be ‘colourful, vibey, aimed at modernising the brand, and attracting a broader group of people‘.

Cutlery was an ordinary looking Forum.  The table had tiny bowls with coarse salt and crushed black pepper. The orange pincushion protea in the vase on the table did not match the red colour scheme. The restaurant brochure (incorrectly) waxes lyrical about the restaurant: “Picture a novel (pardon the pun!) configuration of red tables meandering (sic) through the heritage building Manor House and into the gorgeous gardens (one enters FROM the garden into the building!) with lots of fun activities for both young and old, like croquet, giant Jenga games, skittles, reading spots and other fun options“!

I happened to walk in at the same time as did Sarah Proudfoot, the Restaurant Consultant working with Dish Food & Social, which operates the restaurant.  We talked about MasterChef SA, and she said that M-Net is working on a new set design for the second season of the TV show, everything used for season one having been removed.  The venue will be used for events after the second season has come to an end, meaning that a third season seems unlikely.  Sarah bent over backwards to find information, and to keep things running as smoothly as possible.  Dish Foods & Social has been contracted to operate the restaurant, a further shock, given the high standard and quality one associates with Nederburg and its wines. The contract caterer runs SideDish, the restaurant at The Theatre on the Bay, and does catering for functions and events. All staff have been brought in by Dish Foods & Social, and wear black pants and shirts, with a red branded The Red Table Restaurant apron.  Waitress Elmarie addressed me in German immediately, which would have been a sweet touch had I been a tourist.  She told me that she had grown up in Paarl, and recently returned from Germany after living there for 15 years! The more I replied in English, the more she spoke back in German, whereas the other tables with German tourists did not benefit from her language proficiency.  The Chef is called Mr X, as most of the staff cannot remember or say his name, being Nqobani Mlagisi, who was a member of one of The Ultimate Braaimaster teams.  It was here that Oscar Foulkes, husband of Dish Foods & Social owner Andrea and also a participant in the Braai competition, had met Nqobani.

The menu is an odd collection of loose slim pages, only two for the food, and seven pages dedicated to beverages, all wines being from Nederburg, clipped to a wooden board.  Strangely one page is dedicated to Dish Food & Social, but none to the history of Nederburg or a description of its wines and its awards overall. The menu is introduced as follows: “One of life’s delights is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy (who writes copy like this!?), there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends”!

Rolls were brought to the table on a wooden board, with soft butter.  The waitron staff take the order via iPad, but on my visit this hi-tech tool was not foolproof!  I ordered the Chilled gazpacho with roasted tomato and cucumber salad served with crispy parmesan chards (R45), a thick chunky refreshing portion brought to the table within minutes of placing the order, the only fast service I experienced. Other starter options are Salad Lyonnaise (with lettuce, bacon, croutons and poached egg), available as a starter or a main (R40/R60); a Brie, roasted wild mushroom and caramelised onion tart (R50); Confit duck, roast beetroot, orange and baby spinach salad, served both as a starter and main course (R60/R90); and a twice-baked cheese soufflé (R50). For the main course I ordered Kingklip with a pesto soufflé, crispy new potatoes, and peperonata (R115) from the blackboard. A staff member came back to tell me that the kingklip was sold out.  Sarah returned and apologised, saying that mine was the last portion of kingklip.  It was the most disappointing kingklip I have ever eaten, being over-complicated with the pesto ‘soufflé’, and the pesto clashing with the ice cold peperonata and the lemon aioli. The potatoes were not an ideal combination with the fish either.  The menu main course options are very restricted, and not particularly attractive: a venison, avocado, and caramelised onion burger (R95), Mozzarella roulade filled with aubergines, peppers, grana padano cheese, and basil pesto (R65); chicken and mushroom pot pies (R65); and free-range sirloin steak with fries and salad (R95).  Children can order a sirloin steak roll, a thin-based pizza, or sticky chicken skewers, at R40 – R50.

For dessert there are only four options ranging in price from R35 – R45, of which two are brûléed, being a lemon tart with mini strawberry milkshake, and an espresso brûlée.  I ordered the yoghurt panacotta with a refreshing strawberry and mint salad, and a cappuccino with it (requested as dry, with coffee and foam, but what came to the table was undrinkable). What followed was a case of broken telephone, the iPad no longer being used.  I was asked what I wanted for dessert, and I said that I had already ordered.  Sarah returned, saying that the staff said that I had said that I had already paid.  I explained to her that I had said that I had already ordered the dessert.  She returned to the kitchen, but they clearly could not find the order, and so she had to return to ask what I had ordered.  Sarah comped the dessert, as an apology for the dessert disaster, which cost almost an hour of waiting time.  One can also order a chocolate fondant with ice cream, or a cheese and preserves platter (R65).

The Nederburg wines are very reasonably priced, and many are available by the glass. The Première Cuvèe Brut costs R22/R69; 56Hundred Chenin Blanc 2012 R16/R55 and Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 R18/R60; Winemaster’s Reserve ranges from R18/R57 – R27/R87; Baronne 2011 R62; Manor House Shiraz 2009 R43/R125, Sauvignon Blanc 2011 R115, and Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 R125; the Heritage Heroes R39/R105 – R43/R120; Ingenuity at R175; and II Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon costs R245.

The only classy red touch in all the redness of The Red Table Restaurant at Nederburg was the bill brought to the table in a red envelope!  Odd was the choice of a Friday lunchtime for a major construction project at the entrance to the wine estate, meaning that one had to drive on a grass verge without any warning or guidance.

Originally the restaurant was meant to be a pop-up one until the end of April, but it has since been decided to continue running it through the winter.  I must commend Sarah for her calmness in trying to deal with the staff problems, given that the restaurant had only been open for three days, although they had ‘practised’ on Nederburg staff before opening.  I found it a shame that the lovely Nederburg Manor House, a national monument, has been cheapened with such a faux interior, such a poor menu, such poor food quality, and such poor service!  I would find it hard to give it a second try unless there is a radical improvement and change.  Poor Johann Graue, one of the earlier owners of the building, must be turning in his grave!

POSTSCRIPT 9/12: in reconciling my credit card slips this evening, I saw on the slip for my lunch at Nederburg that the credit card machine has been set up as ‘Dish Nederberg (sic)’.

The Red Table Restaurant at Nederburg, Nederburg Wines, Sonstraal Road, Daljosafat, Paarl.  Tel (021) 862-3104.   www.nederburg.com Twitter: @Nederburg  Wednesday – Saturday à la carte lunch, Sunday lunch buffet (R195).

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

Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant 2012 Awards: some predictions!

We have predicted the Eat Out Top restaurants in the past few years, and this year we are presenting three Eat Out Top 10 list options, based on Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly’s potential approaches to selecting the award-winning restaurants, which she had rubber-stamped by now ex-judge UK blogger Bruce Palling!

The judging criteria are clearly specified on the Eat Out website: the restaurant must have operated for 12 full months (this is why The Pot Luck Club had to be dropped off the Top 20 list!), and the same chef must have run the kitchen for the period; the owners and the chef should show an absolute passion for their business;  they should be dedicated to uplifting the industry (an odd criterion, not being clear if this is meant to be staff upliftment, or sharing with chef colleagues?);  chefs should care about sourcing quality produce; and consistency and excellence must shine through every aspect of the business.  The judging score is out of 100, of which 70%  goes to Food, its website says, but the figures don’t add up, in that 15 points go to menu composition and seasonality (defined as ‘choice, cooking techniques, dietary requirements, local ingredients, choice of fish, out-of-season ingredients‘), 15 points go to presentation (defined as ‘visual appeal, fits description, use of plate, garnishes’), and 25 points go to taste (defined as execution of dish, balanced, flavours complimentary, texture’), totalling 55 out of 70.  The missing 15 points are not clarified, but some must be the non-food aspects, as they add up to 100!  In addition, wine is evaluated out of 10 points (defined as ‘choice, other beverages offered, staff knowledge, pairing and value for money‘), Value for money scores out of 5, Service is evaluated out of 20 (defined as ‘reservation, arrival, staff attitude and knowledge, specials, wine matching, dietary requirements, extra mile, billing’), and ambiance is scored out of 10 (defined as ‘comfort level, cleanliness, cutlery, music and bathrooms‘).

To recap, the following Top 19 Restaurants are in the running for the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant list:

Cape Town:  Bistrot Bizerca, The Greenhouse, La Colombe, Planet Restaurant, The Roundhouse, The Test Kitchen

Stellenbosch: Delaire Graff, Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine, Makaron Restaurant, Overture, Rust en Vrede, Terroir, Tokara

Franschhoek:  Babel, Pierneef à La Motte, The Tasting Room

Other: DW Eleven-13, Hartford House, Restaurant Mosaic

We called our first Top 10 Restaurant list the Taste Monitor, doing a count of the number of times a Top 19 Eat Out restaurant has been featured in Taste magazine this year, of which Mrs Donnelly is the Food editor, to show which chefs she is partial to.  It is no surprise that Chef Luke Dale-Roberts wins, having been featured in every issue, and he would be the only restaurant on the Top 10 list on this basis, all other Top 19 restaurant contenders having only been featured once or twice, if at all, in the past year. Advertising for La Motte, Delaire Graff, and Makaron restaurants has appeared in the magazine this year, as well as a promotion for Delaire Graff.

Another criterion would be the Trend to Foraging, Ethical sourcing, and Vegetable and Herb Gardening, and the following restaurants would feature on this list, in no particular order, based on our knowledge and what the restaurant websites claim:  Pierneef à La Motte, Delaire Graff, Overture, Babel, The Tasting Room, The Greenhouse, Planet Restaurant, Makaron, and Hartford House.

To compile the Top 10 Restaurant List, we have had to put ourselves into Mrs Donnelly’s shoes: she will have chosen her favourites and those that she has had links to, having shown her bias in judging restaurants this year and last year.  The hardest part is to decide which of her existing Top 10 favourites will have to fall off the existing Top 10 list to make way for others. No offence is meant by any exclusions, and is purely based on speculation:

*  The Test Kitchen – there is no doubt that The Test Kitchen will be named Top Restaurant and Luke Dale-Roberts as Top Chef, on the basis of the monthly shoot at his restaurant for Taste magazine alone. 74th position on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Speaker at Eat Out Conference. Restaurant booked up to 3 months ahead. Oddly described as serving Tapas by Eat Out, maybe confusing it with The Pot Luck Club?

*   Pierneef à La Motte – Chef Chris Erasmus showed that he strives for excellence in spending one month working at Noma, the world’s best restaurant, has the most fabulous vegetable and herb garden filled with unusual vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers, collegially sharing the produce with other restaurants in Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, has excellent wines on its winelist, and proudly focuses on local cuisine. Superb interior, reasonable value.  Culinary Manager Hetta Van Deventer-Terblanche is speaking at the Eat Out Conference, and La Motte has advertised in Taste magazine. Service deficiencies would lose the restaurant some points.

*   Makaron Restaurant – Chef Tanja Kruger is a member of the SA Culinary Olympic Team, spent a month working at Michelin-star L’Apèrge restaurant in Paris this year, has a vegetable and herb garden at Majeka House, and sources meat from Farmer Angus at Spier. Mrs Donnelly was a consultant to the restaurant, designing its first menu last year, and named the restaurant the inaugural winner of the Boschendal Style Award 2011, making it a model Eat Out restaurant!  Sommelier Josephine Gutentoft adds to the quality offering. Good ambiance.  Placed advertisement in Taste magazine this year.

*   Babel at Babylonstoren – Consultant Maranda Engelbrecht has created a restaurant that is booked out two months in advance, and has created a most unusual food concept of same-colour salads, consisting of fruit, vegetables and herbs, grown in their enormous French-inspired garden. Chef Simone Rossouw worked at a Dutch restaurant for a while earlier this year. Owner Karen Roos has impeccable decor taste, very less-is-more.  First wine vintage launched, and very Proudly Simonsberg wines.  Good value, service strained when busy.

* Tokara – Chef Richard Carstens deserved a Top 10 place last year, but was shockingly left off the list, perhaps because there was a fear that he would not last at the restaurant. He has proven Mrs Donnelly very wrong. One of our most creative chefs, and constantly reinventing himself and his team.  Seasonal focus.  Exceptional presentation.  Very professional service, with sommelier service.  Winner of best Winelands Restaurant in Great Wine Capitals Global Network awards second year running.

*   The Greenhouse – Chef Peter Tempelhoff is understated and low key, just getting on with what he does best. Own vegetable garden on the hotel estate, knowledgeable about wines, Chef Peter making wines with Adam Mason.  One of only two Relais & Châteaux Grand Chefs in South Africa, awarded to Chef Peter earlier this year. Named Top Eat Out Restaurant last year.  Service can be arrogant. Fun interpretation of restaurant name in dishes. Expensive. Sommelier service. Innovative 7-course Dom Perignon Tasting Menu introduced today.

*   La Colombe – Chef Scot Kirton worked with Chef Luke Dale-Roberts, and has proven that he can do it with his own team too.  Best winelist and sommelier in the country in Diner’s Club Winelist Awards this year.

*   DW Eleven-13 – we know that Bruce Palling flew to Johannesburg to judge the restaurant.

*  Delaire Graff – Chef Christiaan Campbell has strong ethical food principles, sources from Farmer Angus, his own vegetable garden, as well as from La Motte, seasonal menus, good plating, exceptional setting with its view on to the Simonsberg, outstanding service, exceptional decor with artworks by top local artists, very expensive.  Placed advertisement and ran promotion in Taste magazine this year.

*   The Tasting Room – Best placed South African restaurant on The World’s 50 Best Restaurant list, even though it slipped badly to 57th position this year, Chef Margot Janse sourcing herbs and vegetables from the La Motte garden, and meats from Farmer Angus at Spier.  Very expensive. Service and wine list is criticised.  New decor by Chef Margot’s brother. Speaker at Eat Out Conference.  Loses points for banning customers.

We have excluded Bistrot Bizerca because of its move to new premises while the 2012 Eat Out edition was being printed; Terroir, Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine, and Rust en Vrede for being under the radar; The Roundhouse, for Chef PJ Vadas leaving during the course of the year, which should have disqualified the restaurant from being on the Top 20 list;  Hartford House and Restaurant Mosaic, for judge Bruce Palling not having visited, as far as we can tell from his Tweets;  Planet Restaurant, for not yet shaking off its hotel connection and what that entails, despite Chef Rudi’s impressive sourcing of produce and their excellent sommelier; and Overture, whose Chef Bertus Basson may have been burning the candle at both ends this year with his Amazink, Die Wors-Rol, The Ultimate Braaimaster, and consulting contracts.

We look forward to the Eat Out DStv Food Network Top 10 Restaurant Awards, to be held at The Westin hotel on Sunday evening.

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