{"id":10670,"date":"2010-07-28T11:26:45","date_gmt":"2010-07-28T09:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=10670"},"modified":"2011-04-28T14:02:16","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T12:02:16","slug":"restaurant-review-chez-dor-is-a-carstens-compromise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/franschhoek\/restaurant-review-chez-dor-is-a-carstens-compromise\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Chez d’Or is a Carstens compromise!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I decided to try the new Chez d’Or restaurant on the main road in Franschhoek for lunch, after the 60th birthday concert on Sunday of well-known potter David Walters in the NG Church, diagonally across the road.\u00a0 I\u00a0had read\u00a0in the local rag ‘The<\/strong> Franschhoek Month’ <\/strong>that six-time Eat Out Top 10 chef Richard Carstens had opened the restaurant, which led me to believe that he was the new owner of the restaurant.\u00a0\u00a0 It was a massive disappointment and let-down.<\/p>\n

Previously low key Cafe Rouge, which was set back in Bijoux Square, making it hard to see, the new restaurant has been brought forward and expanded in this Square, in the space in which the optometrist was previously located.\u00a0\u00a0 Owner Jason de Jongh\u00a0has re-invented the restaurant completely, with the larger space, more upmarket interior design, changing the\u00a0restaurant name\u00a0to bring it in line with his guest house name (Val d’Or), and bringing Carstens in on a three-month consultancy contract only (not mentioned in\u00a0the article).\u00a0\u00a0 Carstens is the South African ueber-chef, who indulges in foams,\u00a0is a good trainer of staff, and is good at helping set up new restaurants, but has had little staying-power (except at Lynton Hall, where he worked for five years).\u00a0\u00a0Jason explained that he wanted to create a Bistro-style restaurant, with Carstens’ input, but without the type of cuisine Carstens has become known for, so as to not create a huge difference in the quality of the food served after\u00a0Carstens leaves the restaurant\u00a0in September.\u00a0\u00a0 Carstens is quoted in the article as saying about the restaurant: “Its a classic yet contemporary bistro with Asian influences”.\u00a0 The red and white tablecloths with white overlays create the Bistro look.\u00a0 The cutlery is neatly wrapped inside the serviette, probably a Carstens’ touch.<\/p>\n

The problem with the restaurant and Carstens’ connection was immediately evident when the hardboard menu started with a list of sandwiches!\u00a0 These are served between 11h00 – 17h00, and are quite expensive, in ranging from R 45 for an aubergine, mushroom, pepper, coriander pesto and gruyere sandwich, to R58 for a ribeye and aioli or\u00a0smoked salmon sandwich, and a\u00a0beef burger.\u00a0\u00a0A further problem was that Carstens explained some of the menu items but not all – the Carstens touch shows when he described the Soup of the Day (the waitress just called it a Butternut Soup).\u00a0\u00a0 Carstens described it as a Butternut Soup served with almonds and snoek, changing its nature completely, snoek not being to\u00a0everyone’s taste.\u00a0 The spiced tomato, coconut, lime and chilli sorbet soup sounded delicious too.\u00a0 The wholewheat bread did not look home-baked, and in fact seemed to show its age with first signs of mould, so we did not eat it.\u00a0 The butter was untidily cut and presented.\u00a0\u00a0 Other starter choices are spiced calamari (R58), duck liver pate (R52), smoked rainbow trout (R65), chicken spring roll (R47), and a mushroom and artichoke salad (R45).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pork belly (R85)\u00a0was served on a tiny portion of mash with butternut, the black eggplant puree looking unattractive in the brown (with green oily bits) mustard sauce.\u00a0 Overall, the\u00a0plate of food looked unattractive, and the pork had an odd taste.\u00a0 My son’s Ribeye steak(R98)\u00a0was ordered medium rare, but was prepared more to the medium side.\u00a0It was tender, but the chip portion was tiny, so the waitress brought more, without extra charge.\u00a0\u00a0 The spinach was tender and tasty.\u00a0 The Tempura linefish (R80)\u00a0was kingklip.\u00a0 Other main courses are Duck leg (R85), Asian braised lamb shank (R98), and Beetroot and aubergine curry (R70).<\/p>\n

The winelist is on the reverse side of the menu, and will not feature on the Diner’s Club Winelist of the Year awards list.\u00a0 It is simply divided into “Methode Cap Classique Sparkling”, White Wine, Rose Wine, Red Wine and Dessert Wine\/Port and is commendably Proudly-Franschhoek in its wine selection, with the exception of the Landskroon and Quinta Do Sul Vintage Reserve ports.\u00a0 Each wine is described in brief,\u00a0but no vintages are listed.\u00a0 The wine-by-the glass prices are so low (R18 for Porcupine Ridge Viognier\/Grenache, Haut Espoir Sauvignon Blanc R20, Eikehof Cabernet Sauvignon R18) that one wonders how young they are, and whether they are drinkable.\u00a0 The Haute Cabriere Pinot Noir\u00a0is the most expensive wine on the list, at R250, but most wines are under R200, making the wine choice affordable.<\/p>\n

We skipped the starter to leave space for Carstens’ signature dessert, which is not on the menu – frozen dark chocolate mousse served with saffron ice cream on biscuit crumbs, with mint sauce.\u00a0\u00a0 The dessert sounded better than the real thing, which were four unequally cut blocks of frozen chocolate mousse.\u00a0 The saffron ice cream and mint sauce were delicious.\u00a0\u00a0 Other options are an interesting sounding Gin and lemon tart (R40); Poached banana ice cream (R38); Vanilla creme (R38); Chocolate tart, cardamom ice cream with pear (R50); and a Cheese board (R65).<\/p>\n

We left Chez d’Or bitterly disappointed, in having expected Richard Carstens’ quality but getting a most unsatisfactory meal, even though he was in the kitchen!\u00a0\u00a0 Anyone who would think of coming to eat at the restaurant, on the basis of Carstens’ association with it until September, should not eat here.\u00a0\u00a0 I felt cheated, as I could not sense Carstens’ hand here at all.<\/p>\n

Carstens is rumoured to be taking over the Tokara restaurant when his consultancy contract at Chez d’Or comes\u00a0to an end\u00a0in September, but Tokara is denying this.<\/p>\n

Chez d’Or<\/strong>, Bijoux Square,\u00a060 Huguenot Road, Franschhoek.\u00a0 Tel (021) 876-4197. www.chezdor.co.za<\/a>\u00a0 (The website is disappointing, with\u00a0only a Home page, giving contact details and a restaurant interior shot, no menu or winelist).\u00a0 Monday – Sunday. \u00a0Lunch and Dinner.<\/p>\n

POSTCRIPT 30\/7<\/strong>: It has been confirmed that Richard Carstens will be the Executive Chef of Tokara Restaurant<\/a>, in conjunction with Jardine’s Wilhelm Kuehn, from October.<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 1\/8:<\/strong> I have been informed by Wilhelm Kuehn, the new operator of the Tokara restaurant, that Richard Carstens has left Chez d’Or.\u00a0\u00a0The Chez d’Or staff confirm that he left\u00a0on Wednesday, the day of our review, and that he left ahead of the end of his contract.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We were clearly told by the owner that he would be at the restaurant\u00a0until September.<\/p>\n

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

I decided to try the new Chez d’Or restaurant on the main road in Franschhoek for lunch, after the 60th birthday concert on Sunday of well-known potter David Walters in the NG Church, diagonally across the road.\u00a0 I\u00a0had read\u00a0in the local rag ‘The Franschhoek Month’ that six-time Eat Out Top 10 chef Richard Carstens had […]<\/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":[124,14,20,21],"tags":[4716,6160,6166,6159,5717,32378,6163,1034,6157,6167,6158,6171,6165,32369,1929,6172,6170,6161,5500,158,1066,575,6169,1543,6168,252,3625,62,1142,3285,6164,6162,3440,32373,3847,2127],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\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