{"id":10569,"date":"2010-08-25T10:46:11","date_gmt":"2010-08-25T08:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=10569"},"modified":"2011-01-23T12:54:35","modified_gmt":"2011-01-23T10:54:35","slug":"restaurant-review-jordan-restaurant-with-george-jardine-an-outstanding-mouthful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/restaurant-news\/restaurant-review-jordan-restaurant-with-george-jardine-an-outstanding-mouthful\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: ‘Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine’ an outstanding mouthful!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>George Jardine\u00a0is a highly respected chef, and has been a regular on the Eat Out <\/strong>Top 10 Restaurant Awards list.\u00a0 His move to the Jordan Winery in Stellenbosch, to open the mouthful of a brand name ‘Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine’\u00a0in November last year probably cost him\u00a0the\u00a0Top 10 listing, but has been\u00a0a welcome lifestyle\u00a0change for him and his family.\u00a0\u00a0The new restaurant\u00a0has\u00a0added substance to the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, and to Stellenbosch taking over the Gourmet Capital crown of South Africa.<\/p>\n

The setting of the Jordan wine estate at the end of the\u00a0Stellenbosch Kloof Road is special, with lots of birdlife, and\u00a0no traffic noise.\u00a0 A huge dam in front of the winery and the restaurant attracts even more birds.\u00a0\u00a0 The parking area reflected the popularity of the restaurant, filled with cars on a Friday afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0 A compliment to the chef is that Hein Koegelenberg and his wife Hanlie (Rupert) of La Motte\u00a0had brought some of their staff for a treat (their new Pierneef a la Motte restaurant opens in the next few days),\u00a0whilst Gary Jordan (Jordan Wines owner)\u00a0also had a table of eight in the restaurant.\u00a0 I enjoyed chatting to both.<\/p>\n

When I reviewed<\/a> <\/strong>Jardine’s in Cape Town, I noted that George Jardine was not visible in that restaurant, despite marketing information which led one to believe that Jardine would be looking after his Cape Town restaurant a few days\u00a0per week.\u00a0\u00a0 This does not seem to be the case, as Jardine\u00a0is very hands-on in his restaurant at Jordan’s (one has to remain sober to get around the Jordan\/Jardine brand names)!<\/p>\n

The restaurant brand name is on the building near\u00a0its entrance door\u00a0(but not visible from the parking area), in silver lettering, adding a modern touch to a building that is not!\u00a0\u00a0It looks functionally designed and built from outside, and this perception does not change when one is inside.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The interior is a Jardine’s Cape Town deja vu – the open plan kitchen (much bigger preparation space here though), functional interior, some paintings of pomegranates and figs, very functional kitchen counter from the customer perspective, almost old-fashioned, not particularly attractive lightwooded chairs, and modern stacking glass doors. The lovely overlay over the white tablecloth reminded me of Overture’s new tablecloths.\u00a0 The glassware and cutlery is average, but I noticed David Walters’ ceramic touch in the square side plate.\u00a0 The serviette seemed superwhite, of very good quality.\u00a0 The waiters look neat in white shirts, black pants and black aprons.<\/p>\n

The waiter Andrew was perfect – not pushy, not arrogant, helpful, informative, patient in answering all my questions, just disappointing when he did not e-mail the winelist on the same day, as promised (it appears he had delegated this to Jardine’s wife, who did not attend to it until I called for it).\u00a0 He presented the menu on a black leather holder (similar to that of Overture, Majeka House and others I have seen recently).<\/p>\n

The first thing I noticed on the menu was the date with a weather description “A misty 23rd July”.\u00a0\u00a0 One has two choices on the menu – a\u00a0three-course Menu Du Jour winter special at R 180, and R220 if one\u00a0has two wines – one does not have any choices on this menu.\u00a0\u00a0 Alternatively the three-course a la carte menu allows one to choose two dishes for R 200, and 3 courses for R225, and one has up to four choices per course.\u00a0\u00a0 There is little difference in value between the two options, and therefore I\u00a0ordered from the a la carte menu.<\/p>\n

The winelist is cute and neat, a small square size, bound in a black leather cover, and each page has a quotation relating to wine on it.\u00a0 Corkage is indicated at R50, and only one bottle is allowed.\u00a0\u00a0The winelist is introduced as follows: “This is a selection of wines we enjoy. <\/span>Each bottle is full of love, passion and a story and if you listen carefully with your taste buds some part of that story may show, explaining terroir, slopes, altitude, climate and other interesting details. A wine however is not made by one person alone, much like the food you are about to enjoy. Thousands of people from farms, most of which can be seen from where you are sitting, have had an effort in making your wine \u00e2\u20ac\u201c whether that is planting, pruning, squashing or bottling it. Please enjoy our effort in presenting their effort.” <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The wine range contains a mix of Jordan and other wines, and the price band is such that it offers an affordable wine for every pocket.\u00a0 Wines-by-the-glass are surprisingly affordable, a glass of Chameleon (a Jordan brand)\u00a0Rose’ costing R25, and a glass of Jordan Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Mellifera does not cost more than R40.\u00a0 White wine bottle prices start at R90 for a Chameleon Sauvignon Blanc\/Chardonnay, peaking at R700 for a Jordan CWG Auction Reserve Chardonnay.\u00a0 De Waal Pinotage costs R85, a Jordan Sophia R963.\u00a0\u00a0 While the winelist shows vintages, it does not describe any of the wines. I ordered a glass of Jordan Syrah 2006, which was very smooth,\u00a0smoky and full-bodied, reminding me of a shiraz made the old-fashioned traditional way.<\/p>\n

The bread plate was the most creative I have ever seen, refreshingly different, and reflects\u00a0that\u00a0Jardine is an ardent bread baker.\u00a0\u00a0 The square bread plate had a bowl of aoili, a block of farm butter, crisp strips\u00a0made from sweet potatoes, and a breadstick made from vetkoek dough.\u00a0\u00a0 It wasn’t just the individual items that looked amazing, but the way\u00a0in which they were presented made it look\u00a0like a course in itself.<\/p>\n

What I found interesting, having been at Jardine’s in Cape Town where\u00a0“organised chaos” seemed to dictate food presentation, is that\u00a0Jardine is very angular, his food presented in square containers.\u00a0 The starter, for example, was presented on a black slate tile (I remember slate at Jardine’s in Cape Town for the cheese platter) and this was set inside a square glass container, with a serviette neatly placed between the two containers, making its presentation look very smart.<\/p>\n

The duck liver parfait starter, with a confit duck bonbon rolled in sesame seeds, served with prune and celeriac chantilly and tiny slices of toasted brioche, was melt in the mouth (the bonbon had been left off the plate by mistake initially).\u00a0 Other starter options were Saldanha Bay mussels, pan fried west coast mackerel, and hand rolled fettuccini.\u00a0\u00a0 The main course arrived after about a 45 minute wait, which seemed long, in that I had run out of questions to ask, been to the bathroom, and read all my\u00a0Twitter updates.\u00a0 My main course intrigued me, in that it was not any old pork, but “Penny Verburg’s suckling pig roasted”, which was served with braised cavolo nero (a type of black cabbage), parsnip and gremolata.\u00a0 Penny is the wife of Botriver-based Luddite winemaker Neels Verburg, and she has a good hand with organic pig rearing, Andrew told me.\u00a0 The pork was thinly sliced, and every now and again one had\u00a0a bite of the thinnest pieces of crackling, giving good mouthfeel as well as taste.\u00a0Other starter choices were Chalmar ribeye, hake, and gnocchi.\u00a0\u00a0 I felt that I had hit the jackpot in both choices, they were so outstanding.\u00a0\u00a0 I didn’t have any dessert, but I could have chosen between chocolate souffle, an interesting sounding baked Pimm’s creme catalan (just saw\u00a0a very\u00a0similar\u00a0dessert on the La Colombe menu), or a cheese board.<\/p>\n

The Menu du Jour was Vichyssoise with a warm salad of sauteed tongue, gnocchi and gremolata; braised veal brisket; and chocolate hot pot with vanilla ice cream and praline.<\/p>\n

I will go back to Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine, on a summery day, so that I can sit outside, and try more of Jardine’s creations.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a pity that Jardine is so hands-on that he does not allow himself to leave the kitchen at all\u00a0to greet his customers, a contradiction as he is visible to all diners, but he makes no eye contact, and barely responded when I thanked him for the lovely lunch when I left.<\/p>\n

Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine<\/strong>, Jordan Winery, Stellenbosch Kloof Road, Stellenbosch.\u00a0 Tel (021) 881-3612.\u00a0 www.jordanrestaurant.co.za<\/a> (The website is not operational.\u00a0 Surprisingly, no information about the restaurant is available on the Jordan\u00a0Wines’ website www.jordanwines.com<\/a> ). Open for lunch Wednesdays – Sundays, and on Thursday and Friday evenings for dinner.\u00a0\u00a0 On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

George Jardine\u00a0is a highly respected chef, and has been a regular on the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards list.\u00a0 His move to the Jordan Winery in Stellenbosch, to open the mouthful of a brand name ‘Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine’\u00a0in November last year probably cost him\u00a0the\u00a0Top 10 listing, but has been\u00a0a welcome lifestyle\u00a0change for […]<\/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":[6247,6246,6886,6254,32378,4731,6157,2620,2679,6241,3955,2185,233,6239,4508,6240,6252,6251,6253,6243,6235,2092,39,1540,6237,3010,6045,6242,6249,6250,33,6248,6611,3625,145,32376,6238,6086,6236,3440,32373],"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