{"id":19290,"date":"2011-04-13T10:42:49","date_gmt":"2011-04-13T08:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=19290"},"modified":"2011-09-25T21:37:02","modified_gmt":"2011-09-25T19:37:02","slug":"restaurant-review-dinner-at-queen-victorias-dash-is-dashing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/restaurant-review-dinner-at-queen-victorias-dash-is-dashing\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Dinner at Queen Victoria Hotel’s Dash is dashing!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I was invited to try out the 34-seater Dash restaurant in the Queen Victoria Hotel, which only opened in the Waterfront on Saturday, last night.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chef Steven Tempelton is\u00a0the leader of a creative team at Dash,\u00a0whose food not only was visually appealing, but excellent too, and was responsible for a most dashing dinner.\u00a0 Dash is one of the best fine-dining restaurants in Cape Town, and an Eat Out<\/strong> Top 10 Restaurant coontender\u00a0for 2012.<\/p>\n

The 35-bedroom Queen Victoria Hotel, previously the V&A Waterfront company head office, cost R53 million to transform into 5-star luxury, and the interior decor was done by master ‘craftsman’ Francois du Plessis, who has also just done <\/a>Dear Me<\/a> <\/strong> restaurant.\u00a0 Cleverly, Newmark Hotels MD Neil Markovitz has arranged for the nearby Everard Read gallery to hang some if its artists’ works in the hotel, benefiting both parties.\u00a0Dash has been honoured by\u00a0a dominant work by Beezy Bailey.\u00a0 The work is called “The Storm has passed”, and reflects the style of food created at Dash.\u00a0 The back of the painting has a poem by Bailey:\u00a0 “As the storm cleared\/The dove escaped the cat’s claws\/While the blueberry elephants passed by.\/As God’s tears hit the sky,\/they turned into\u00a0flowers”.<\/p>\n

I was welcomed on arrival\u00a0in the lobby, in which the 30-year old bonsai imported from China holds centre court,\u00a0by Food & Beverage Manager Alton van Biljon, whom I had already seen in action last week, when I popped in for a tour around the hotel, led by Markovitz and the hotel’s\u00a0PR consultant Ian Manley.\u00a0 Alton has always been a most charming host when he worked at Balducci in the past four years, and has impressed with his knowledge of and passion for wine.\u00a0 He started his career in retail.\u00a0He moved into hospitality, and worked at Belthazar and Poplars before managing Balducci.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Chef Stephen Templeton grew up in Somerset West, and has been the Executive Chef at Sun City and the Mount Nelson Hotel.\u00a0 He also was head of a team of 47 chefs at Harrods, the largest Food & Beverage operation in Europe, he said.\u00a0 After a four year period in running Four Oaks guest house and restaurant\u00a0in Montagu, he had an opportunity to sell it, and move back to Cape Town. It was in this time that he was approached by Newmark Hotels to become Group Chef, mainly responsible for their restaurants at the V&A Hotel, Dock House and Queen Victoria Hotel, all in the V&A.\u00a0 Chef Stephen says that he was hands-on in the development of Dash, in sourcing its crockery, cutlery and glassware, in developing a fine winelist, and creating the unique menu.\u00a0\u00a0 The name for the restaurant was the result of a five hour brainstorm with the hotel’s executive team, and it was Ronan Jackson from the design agency that suggested the name, after\u00a0Queen Victoria’s\u00a0spaniel.\u00a0 Chef Stephen and Francois du Plessis worked together to create a ‘New York sexy’\u00a0interior and menu that complement each other, and Du Plessis has said that\u00a0it is\u00a0the first time that his decor has been so well matched by a menu.\u00a0 Chef Stephen is aiming at presenting ‘sophisticated, stylish, contemporary yet simple food’ at Dash, which he more than achieves.\u00a0 He wants the food’s personality to shine through, not that of the chef.\u00a0\u00a0Chef Stephen has an interesting team of nine chefs in the kitchen, with an average age of 24 years.\u00a0\u00a0 We laughed when we discovered that there is a Chef Jamie and a Chef Oliver in the kitchen.\u00a0 I met Chef Oliver Cattermole, who created the ‘Alice in Wonderland garden’ of vegetables that is served with the beef fillet.\u00a0 He worked at one-Michelin-star Novelli, and at The Ivy in London.\u00a0 All staff have been taught to make coffee, and have tested the menu, to allow everyone to assist guests, as if one were in a guest house and not in a hotel, Chef Stephen said.\u00a0 The waitress looking after me was Coral, and was honest in saying that she has just finished studying, and that\u00a0Dash is her first job.\u00a0 She was sweet, willing to execute every request,\u00a0but still lacked some knowledge on how the magic is created in the kitchen.\u00a0 She went to ask the kitchen all my questions.\u00a0The staff wear a white shirt with the Queen Victoria Hotel logo on it, black pants and a white Dash-branded apron.<\/p>\n

The welcome was warm, with Alton taking me through to the lounge, where I was invited to have\u00a0a drink.\u00a0 I chose a coffee.\u00a0 Chef Stephen was happy to hear that I had starved during the day, in anticipation of the dinner.\u00a0 Vegetable crisps were brought to the table as a snack.\u00a0 I asked Chef Stephen what would happen if the 34-seater would run out of space in the 35-room hotel, and he assured me that they would pass the business on to the other Newmark Hotel restaurants in the Waterfront.\u00a0Chef Stephen sees Dash operating in the league of The Roundhouse, The Test Kitchen<\/span> <\/a><\/strong> and Aubergine<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The restaurant has a black tile floor, an impressive black marble surround fireplace dividing the lounge\/bar area from the restaurant, beautiful silver curtains, and a wonderful view onto Table Mountain.\u00a0\u00a0 The Beezy Bailey is the only colour splash in the room.\u00a0 The tables are black metal, made by ‘in’ designer Gregor Jenkin I was told by Francois du Plessis,\u00a0with white leather chairs.\u00a0 There are no table cloths, but a\u00a0good quality serviette, with very heavy and solid Sambonet cutlery imported from Germany, the first time I have seen this locally.\u00a0 The glassware is excellent.\u00a0 There is a little candle, and rather ordinary tiny white salt and pepper\u00a0cellars, probably superfluous anyway, given the excellent food, not requiring seasoning.\u00a0\u00a0The only criticism I shared with Alton was the music selection, being heavy jazz initially, and sounding hotel-like generally.\u00a0 I reminded him of the great music one hears at Belthazar and Balducci.\u00a0 The bar is lit with purple lighting at night, and bounces off the bar chairs, creating an interesting visual affect as one enters the bar area.\u00a0\u00a0The colour of the lighting changes throughout the day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I chose a starter of confit of crayfish on a cucumber sockle with a coriander and paw paw salad (R145).\u00a0 The impressive part of its presentation was the paw paw crisp, creating a centerpiece to the starter, and tasting sweet and crispy.\u00a0 Chef Stephen explained that paw paw is liquidised, then glycerine is added, it is baked for nine hours, and then thin slices are cut to create the crisp.\u00a0 The cucumber was as fresh as could be, as was the salad, the paw paw in it echoing the crisp.\u00a0 Sorrel foam completed the presentation.\u00a0\u00a0No sauces got in the way of the natural fresh taste of the elements of the dish.\u00a0No fish knife was served with this starter.\u00a0 Other starter choices, ranging in price from R55 – R145,\u00a0include beetroot cured salmon, oysters served on seaweed, wild mushroom rago\u00fbt, Ceasar salad, seared foie gras, and caviar (SQ).\u00a0 The surprise was the most amazing sorbets that were served, and I was allowed three: I chose the Tomato Granite, to which Coral added vodka; a most refreshing Lime & Lemon; and the most amazing Rose, complete with its own rose petals dipped in egg white and crystallised.\u00a0 The sorbets cost R25 for a choice of three.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The main course choice of Grilled fillet of beef with herb mash and spinach pur\u00e9e with vegetables and port jus (R140)\u00a0has created a stir.\u00a0 This menu description does not do justice to the amazing creation that arrived – three slices of fillet on mash, but it was the presentation of the vegetables that created the ‘wow’ response, dubbed by the staff as the ‘Alice in Wonderland garden’, an amazing symphony of carrot, tomato, mushrooms, orange-coloured\u00a0mini corn-cob, baby radish, baby aubergine, baby turnip, sheets of cauliflower stalk, and tomadillo (tasting of tomato with the texture of aubergine, looking like a green gooseberry), so beautifully presented.\u00a0 Chef Oliver called it ‘psychedelic vegetables’, and told me that he sources them from the Magic Man in the Karoo.\u00a0 Main courses are reasonably priced, some being cheaper than the starters, and range from R95 to R145 for\u00a0roasted sea bass, lobster tortellini, venison, tomato and beetroot tart, scallops, lamb noisette, and duck confit risotto. \u00a0\"\"<\/a>The dessert list consists of four options, ranging from R50 – R70, in addition to a Cape cheeseboard (R115), and I chose the Pimms jelly, mint bavois and strawberry sauce, beautifully presented with a long elegant spoon, and well paired with a glass of Silverthorn The Green Man sparkling wine (made by Steenberg GM John Loubser in his private capacity).\u00a0Other dessert options are chocolate fondant, coconut panacotta, and liquorice macaroons. \u00a0Coral brought a cappuccino made with Origin coffee\u00a0to have with the dessert, and a sweet touch was a jug of extra froth, showing that Alton must have read a Tweet of mine a few days ago about the extra froth a waiter had brought me at Salt Deli, also a Newmark Hotel property.<\/p>\n

Alton indulged my love for Shiraz, and poured a glass of Quoin Rock 2006 (R208 per bottle), with violet notes.\u00a0\u00a0Coral brought tap water with an ice bucket and slices of lemon.\u00a0\u00a0The winelist is impressive, bound in grey leather, with the hotel logo on it.\u00a0 Champagnes and MCC sparkling wines are at the back of the winelist, normally found at the front.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each wine variety is described, and the origin and vintage of each wine is presented, as are the tasting notes for each wine, generated from\u00a0a tasting panel’s evaluation of each of the about 100 wines listed.\u00a0 This is a future Diner’s Club Diamond Award winelist candidate.\u00a0 The champagnes start at R 940 for Guy Charbaut Select Brut NV, going\u00a0up to R3500 for Dom Perignon Vintage.\u00a0Veuve Cliquot Ros\u00e9, Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve, and Pol Roger Brut Reserve are also available.\u00a0 MCC’s start at R200 for Moreson Solitaire, with High Constantia Clos Andre costing R445.\u00a0 Shiraz choices start at R 205 for Raka Biography, up to R 1390 for Saxenburg SSS Shiraz 2005. The wine-by-the glass policy is interesting – there are no prices for these, but one can order any wine on the list by the glass,\u00a0within reason, and then Alton and his staff will try to sell the rest of the bottle to other guests.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>If there is one taste at Dash that I will never forget it is that of the Rose sorbet – a taste I have never experienced before.\u00a0 Dash is excellent, and perfect, and I know that the music selection will be addressed, as will the waiters’ food knowledge evolve.\u00a0 They are so many items on the menu to return to, to try out.\u00a0 From photographs of the other\u00a0menu items\u00a0it is evident that each dish is a work of art in presentation alone. The kitchen closes at about 22h30, but one can pop in at the 24-hour Dash bar for a drink, a coffee or even a dessert, ordered from the room service menu, after the kitchen has closed.\u00a0 After being a loyal V&A Waterfront shopper for twenty years, it is refreshing to have such an excellent quality restaurant so close by, yet away from the hustle and bustle of the commercial Waterfront area.\u00a0 I salute Newmark Hotels’ MD Neil Markovitz and his team\u00a0in creating such an exceptional restaurant.<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 14\/4<\/strong>: I went back to Dash for a quick coffee and more sorbet, and to show my colleague the Queen Victoria Hotel and Dash restaurant.\u00a0 Restaurant Manager Darren looked after us, and organised the extra cappuccino foam on the side, from reading this review.\u00a0 The hotel is almost booked out with delegates from Brazil attending a Tupperware conference.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>POSTSCRIPT 8\/5<\/strong>: Staying over at the invitation of the Queen Victoria Hotel presented an opportunity for me to introduce my son to Dash, which he was very impressed by.\u00a0 Food & Beverage Manager Alton van Biljon\u00a0was most generous in offering us a bottle of Hartenberg The Stork Shiraz 2005, knowing my love for an old-style shiraz.\u00a0 The chef sent out two complimentary dishes to those we had ordered: the appetizer was a tomato, basil, and mushroom dust, served on a heavy slate plate, reminding me of the work of Eric Bulpitt, previously of Jardine<\/a><\/strong><\/span>and now at The Round House.\u00a0 We both ordered a filling starter of wonderful wild mushroom ragout in puff pastry, served with green beans and bearnaise (R65).\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>Alex had the beef fillet with the ‘Alice in Wonderland vegetable garden’, while I ordered\u00a0Springbok loin, carrot pur\u00e9e and turnip gratin (R135).\u00a0\u00a0 We shared a trio of Rose, Lemon and lime, and Orange and citrus sorbets (R25).\u00a0\u00a0 The chef sent out a \"\"<\/a>complimentary pannacotta and lemon sorbet for usto share.\u00a0\u00a0 A wonderful evening, once again with an excellent meal, and charming and highly-impressive service by Alton.<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 15\/5<\/strong>: I returned to Dash with Carole, my colleague in Hermanus, and we were well looked after by Restaurant Manager Darren and Chef Oliver Cattermole.\u00a0 I tried the Duck Confit Risotto with citrus and herb potpourri, the potpourri containing tea, dried duck (tasting like biltong) and herbs, and served in a separate bowl, which I sprinkled over the risotto.\u00a0 Carole had the Beef fillet and the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ vegetable garden.\u00a0 For dessert we had the Chocolate Fondant, which oozed Valrhona chocolate sauce \"\"<\/a>when we opened it, with orange ice cream, a beautiful presentation.\u00a0 I had my cappuccino with a jug of extra foam, always a nice touch!\"\"<\/a> It was great to meet One&Only Cape Town Hotel Executive Chef Jason Millar, who was celebrating his anniversary at Dash, and to hear a chef’s reaction to the food of another chef – he was most complimentary.\u00a0 Chef Oliver Cattermole is the driving force in the Dash kitchen, in my opinion, and has\u00a0created a vegetable and herb\u00a0garden on the roof of Newmark Hotels’ V&A Hotel, from which he will harvest for his kitchen in future.\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 25\/5:<\/strong> Another lovely lunch with excellent service at Dash today, spoiling my friend Jenny to a birthday lunch.\u00a0 She was surprised to receive a birthday card from the hotel, and a surprise chocolate fondant dessert with her cappuccino.\u00a0 Jenny’s Beetroot cured salmon with horseradish apple slaw was beautifully presented.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>POSTSCRIPT 1\/7<\/strong>: Today I took Trevor Jordaan for a birthday lunch at Dash.\u00a0 I ordered a Cape Malay butternut velout\u00e9, while Trevor had a chicory and pickled pear salad, both beautifully presented.\u00a0 Happy to hear how well the restaurant is doing, and has appointed an Assistant Manager Andrea.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 3\/8<\/strong>: Sadly, Restaurant Manager Darren Morgan left the hotel on Monday.\u00a0 F&B Manager Alton van Biljon has taken a leave of absence, and his return date is uncertain, if he returns at all.\u00a0 Andrea confirmed this evening that lunch will not be served at Dash for the time being.<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 12\/8<\/strong>: I had the Mushroom Ragout again this evening, and the pastry casing was tough, and the size of the dish has definitely shrunk.\u00a0 No Andreas Shiraz was available, which I had tried at Dash for the first time a month ago, when Michael McKenzie and I popped in.\u00a0The waiter asked how I enjoyed the dish.\u00a0 I said I didn’t, due to the shrunk size and tough pastry, to which he confidently retorted that the perfect pastry casing is tough! Chef\u00a0Jamie was in the kitchen this evening. I shared the problem with Hostess Connie, and she apologised.\u00a0 The waiter told me that the kitchen was sending out a second Ragout, but Connie arrived with the bill, having taken the Ragout off it, saying that the waiter had told her I didn’t want the replacement Ragout.\u00a0 I got up and left in disbelief at this comedy of errors, the first evening of serious dissatisfaction at Dash.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>POSTSCRIPT 25\/9:<\/strong> We had a ‘last supper’ at Dash this evening, one of the last nights that Chef Oliver Cattermole will be in the Queen Victoria Hotel kitchen, before he starts at What’s On Eatery on Saturday. \u00a0I chose the Foie gras with apple, excellent, but pricey as a starter at R140. \u00a0My son enjoyed his Duck risotto (R125). \u00a0The Rose sorbet no longer is dark pink, as photographed above, and doesn’t taste as amazing as I remember it. Service efficient but functional, and the personal touch has gone. Excellent Andreas Shiraz 2008 now my favourite Shiraz. \u00a0Sad to see us being only one of two tables. \u00a0Despite being told in early days that all wines on the winelist are available by the glass, the limit is that only bottles under R300 may be opened for wines by the glass.<\/p>\n

Dash Restaurant, <\/strong>Queen Victoria Hotel, Portswood Close, Portswood Ridge, V&A Waterfront.\u00a0\u00a0 Tel (021) 418-1466.\u00a0\u00a0 www.queenvictoriahotel.co.za<\/a> (The Dash menu and winelist are now listed on the website, but the\u00a0Image Gallery does not contain enough photographs to reflect\u00a0the amazing creativity of the Dash chefs).<\/p>\n

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

I was invited to try out the 34-seater Dash restaurant in the Queen Victoria Hotel, which only opened in the Waterfront on Saturday, last night.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chef Steven Tempelton is\u00a0the leader of a creative team at Dash,\u00a0whose food not only was visually appealing, but excellent too, and was responsible for a most dashing dinner.\u00a0 Dash is one […]<\/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":[3,124,20,21],"tags":[2746,11013,11005,3590,38,1349,8495,2221,220,11004,182,32366,11006,11000,32378,12616,10999,11024,11002,11025,11010,5217,7198,3849,11003,11001,11008,10819,11029,11009,8438,11007,11423,3012,5286,2275,40,6315,11022,11019,10405,1326,8683,3626,11014,11012,1094,11020,2883,2219,11018,8159,11023,3435,3625,11011,3062,11016,972,11026,11021,231,105,4,11015,5531,607,7518,11017,10528,3827,9397,116,32393,3211,482,32373,10524],"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