{"id":10526,"date":"2010-08-10T09:25:02","date_gmt":"2010-08-10T07:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=10526"},"modified":"2010-10-17T12:55:27","modified_gmt":"2010-10-17T10:55:27","slug":"restaurant-review-indochine-at-delaire-graff-a-fine-high-note-after-flat-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/restaurant-news\/restaurant-review-indochine-at-delaire-graff-a-fine-high-note-after-flat-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Indochine at Delaire Graff a fine high note, after flat start"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It is not often that an evening that starts as a disaster ends off on such a high note.\u00a0 Our evening at the two month old Indochine at Delaire Graff could have gone horribly wrong, but the service recovery from the Duty Manager Sabrina D’Agrossi, chef Jonathan Heath and waiter Nick all combined to rescue the evening, pulling out all the stops to ensure that we were made to feel very special, and to enjoy the outstanding unique and special Asian-fusion menu.<\/p>\n

I had booked a table for\u00a0a Thursday evening two days earlier, and confirmed that I had pronounced the name of the new restaurant correctly, so there was no mistaking at which of the two restaurants on the estate I wanted to book.\u00a0\u00a0 We drove through the open gates at the security entrance,\u00a0passed the Delaire restaurant, looking for the\u00a0new Hotel, designed by French architect Pierre Bories, but there was\u00a0no signage yet for the hotel, and the security guard we asked in the parking area had never heard of Indochine, nor had the person he asked\u00a0via his walkie-talkie!\u00a0 I then Googled the telephone number on my phone, and had the luck that Sabrina answered the phone.\u00a0 She gave me the news that the restaurant was closed as they had no bookings!\u00a0\u00a0 I told her about my booking, and she told me where to find the hotel, through the gates, ‘guarded’ by the two Dylan Lewis cheetahs.\u00a0 Nick met us outside, and walked us into the restaurant, showing us the tiny cinema, and we noticed the outstanding artwork inside the generous hotel reception area.\u00a0\u00a0The chef was called and he came to the restaurant from Stellenbosch, to prepare our meal, with such graciousness that you could have sworn that it was a pleasure for him to be called away from home.<\/p>\n

The owner Laurence Graff (owner of Graff Diamonds International Ltd, victim of one of the biggest jewellery robberies in London last year) is known as an art collector from the original Delaire restaurant, and he has invested in\u00a0four further Dylan Lewis cheetahs on the lawn outside the restaurant, each costing R 250000, we were told.\u00a0 He has also focused on father Anton and son Lionel Smit, with sculptures and paintings by the Smits, especially the latter featuring strongly.<\/p>\n

The restaurant is a large open plan one, with the bar at the entrance, and two comfortable chairs if one wants to sit at the fireplace.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0interior design has been done by London-based David Collins, who did the Delaire restaurant and wine centre too. \u00a0If the Delaire restaurant leans to the orange side in terms of its decor, Indochine is definitely blue – blue leather chairs (strangely low, indirectly admitted by Sabrina as\u00a0not intended\u00a0to have been so low), and small blue leather couches with round dining tables,\u00a0one could say\u00a0“cut-up” and small versions of the large orange couches in the\u00a0Delaire restaurant.\u00a0The tables have a copper top, the colour a warm decor touch, but with a wooden bar underneath the tables facing one, which means that\u00a0one can bump one’s knees against it, and\u00a0one therefore\u00a0has to put\u00a0one’s legs on each side of it, an uncomfortable position.\u00a0There is little art inside the restaurant, and it is understated relative to the sister Delaire restaurant.\u00a0 The view must be magnificent by day, onto Stellenbosch.\u00a0 The glassware\u00a0probably is from\u00a0Riedel, the cutlery is the most modern chic Italian, and a wooden board on the table\u00a0holds a lantern with a candle.\u00a0 The music is reasonably soft Eastern style.\u00a0\u00a0 The Hotel building only houses the spa and restaurant, and guests are accommodated in 10 “lodges” outside the hotel, with Cape Dutch style gables (the cost for one night starts at R8000).\u00a0\u00a0Graff has so much faith in his team, that he has supervised the building work via DVD, the staff tell us, and he has yet to see his new hotel and restaurant.<\/p>\n

We were presented the blue-cover menu and winelist, and were served a glass of Delaire Sauvignon Blanc (initially the Chardonnay was brought to the table in error) for my guest, and a Red Blend 2006 for myself (the Delaire Shiraz was a 2009, so I declined), expensive I felt at R50 and R60, respectively.\u00a0 Only the Delaire wines are served by the glass.\u00a0 Nick told us that they had not intended to serve wines by the glass, but have realised that there is a demand for it, so\u00a0they will be added to the winelist.\u00a0\u00a0 Nick struggled to get away from serving us bottled water, when I asked for fresh Stellenbosch water.\u00a0\u00a0 The Delaire wine labels are beautifully designed. The winelist is interesting, in being only two pages (not likely to win the Diner’s Club Winelist Award), and offering a very restricted choice of no more than four\/five brands, but in many cases only one or two per varietal.\u00a0 Only the champagne (Billecart-Salmon Rose, Laurent-Perrier and Louis Roederer Cristal), and six other wines are imported (the Chateau Pichon Lalande 2005 costing R 5500, Hospices De Beaune 2002 R 1950), and Delaire Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Rose’,\u00a0and the Red Blend are offered.\u00a0\u00a0 Vintages are\u00a0specified\u00a0on the winelist, but no wine descriptions are provided.<\/p>\n

I noticed references to chilli, pepper and curry in the menu, and did not want to order anything that was too hot.\u00a0\u00a0 The chef came to the table, and explained the menu to us (what a great touch, given that the menu creation is his “baby”, so who better to describe it?).\u00a0 I had not heard of Chef Jonathan Heath before, and most of his\u00a0experience after he started his apprenticeship at the Lord\u00a0Charles Hotel in Somerset West was at Southern Sun Hotels both domestically and in Africa, his last stop having been the opening of a Southern Sun in Nigeria.\u00a0\u00a0 He loves Asian-fusion food, and is therefore in his element.\u00a0\u00a0 Mr Graff does too, and that is why such a style of restaurant was selected for the hotel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It also contrasts the cuisine of the\u00a0Delaire restaurant, is healthier in that the food is only steamed and poached, and is light.\u00a0\u00a0 Chef Jonathan is a big fan of Heston Blumenthal, and is into foams and froths,\u00a0and molecular gastronomy, he says.\u00a0 He also sources organic produce where he possibly can.<\/p>\n

Sabrina came to the table with a customer feedback form, so that the problems experienced can be addressed by the management, as well as a media pack.\u00a0 She also brought a gift pack with a bottle of Delaire Shiraz, to express her apology.\u00a0 She offered me her card, so that I could book directly with her in future.<\/p>\n

The menu offers 2 courses for R 225, 3 courses for R290, 4 courses for R385, and 5 courses for R 470.\u00a0 Like Overture, one may choose the dishes from any of the sections on the menu.\u00a0\u00a0 The Chef quickly sent an amuse bouche of duck liver parfait and a home-made paneer cheese, with a strong lingering aftertaste.\u00a0\u00a0Chef Jonathan\u00a0impressed us by bringing each of the dishes to the table, and explaining the ingredients to us.\u00a0 My guest’s Tikka Duck Marsala was served with curried lentils, coriander, cumin, spring onion and red pepper, garnished with pea shoots, and had a wonderful cucumber and cumin riatta.\u00a0 My duck springroll was made from rice paper and was steamed, Chef Jonathan saying that it has close to zero calories, with julienned carrots and beans, and served with pickled cucumber and daikon radish, a bamboo shoot salad and dipping sauces.\u00a0\u00a0 Other starters are marinated beef salad, tuna loin, poached tiger prawns, and wild mushroom salad.\u00a0 This was followed by a wildberry and litchi sorbet.<\/p>\n

My guest had the salmon trout, topped with squid and caviar, with tomato and chilli broth poured over it by the Chef at the table.\u00a0 My four 7-Thai-spice braised pork belly slices also had caviar on them.\u00a0 We ordered a bowl of Jasmine rice and a butternut salad with the main course (one is allowed one side dish each). \u00a0 Other mains offered are seared scallops, steamed line fish, duck breast, and Green tea poached Quail Breast.\u00a0 We did not order dessert, but were served a trio of treats with our cappuccino – pistachio mousse, a chocolate amaretto cycle, and a macadamia nut spear.\u00a0\u00a0 Dessert choices are de-molded chai brulee, butternut sponge, citrus baked cheesecake, 5-spice malva pudding, and passion fruit panna cotta.<\/p>\n

Chef Jonathan impressed us with his ability to interact with his guests,\u00a0with his creativity\u00a0in food preparation and presentation, and the generosity of what was sent out of the kitchen (a 2-course meal had an added amuse bouche, sorbet and sweet treats).\u00a0\u00a0 He comes to greet and chats with guests as a matter of course.\u00a0 One hopes\u00a0it stays this way.\u00a0 But none of this would have been possible without the calm and efficient way in which the Duty Manager Sabrina dealt with the problem, and had turned it into a wonderful evening.\u00a0 The restaurant is one of the finest in Stellenbosch, its addition strengthening our call for Stellenbosch to be given the Gourmet Capital crown, and to develop a Restaurant Route.\u00a0 Another fan of foams and froths, Richard Carstens, opens across the road at Tokara in October.<\/p>\n

Indochine, <\/strong>Delaire Graff Lodges & Spa, Helshoogte Pass, Stellenbosch. Tel (021) 885-8160 (Ask for Sabrina to book). www.delaire.co.za<\/a>.\u00a0 On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is not often that an evening that starts as a disaster ends off on such a high note.\u00a0 Our evening at the two month old Indochine at Delaire Graff could have gone horribly wrong, but the service recovery from the Duty Manager Sabrina D’Agrossi, chef Jonathan Heath and waiter Nick all combined to rescue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[124,20,31,21],"tags":[3848,6205,6204,6220,6214,6207,6215,32378,6206,1745,6217,6197,6226,6212,6210,6211,6213,6201,6165,6536,6221,6200,6537,6203,1688,994,6216,146,5246,6098,6202,221,6209,6218,4918,6222,6223,33,6224,6199,3625,62,6208,6198,32398,6219,32376,6086,6225,59,32373,2730,2127],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t