{"id":52331,"date":"2013-12-19T10:45:06","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T08:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=52331"},"modified":"2013-12-19T14:56:18","modified_gmt":"2013-12-19T12:56:18","slug":"azure-at-12-apostles-hotel-sparkles-with-flavourful-food-and-summer-spoiling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/azure-at-12-apostles-hotel-sparkles-with-flavourful-food-and-summer-spoiling\/","title":{"rendered":"Azure at 12 Apostles Hotel sparkles with flavourful food and summer spoiling!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"12<\/a>Yesterday was a picture perfect day to try out the new Summer menu of new Executive Chef Christo Pretorius at Azure restaurant at the 12 Apostles Hotel, at the invitation of its GM Horst Frehse. \u00a0 The amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean is brought into the restaurant and reflects in the menu too.<\/p>\n

Chef Christo was promoted when Chef Henrico Grobbelaar left the hotel to head up the kitchen at Equus restaurant at Cavalli Estate<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in Stellenbosch a few months ago. \u00a0 He had previously worked at De Huguenot (no longer operating) with Chef Tanja Kruger, and at the Cape Royale before joining the 12 Apostles. \u00a0He travels overseas every year, to experience international cuisine. He acknowledged that he is nothing without his team, and that he delegates to his staff, mentors and trains them. \"12<\/a>Chef Christo focuses on ingredients that are seasonal, and sources them as locally as he can, the game coming from Uitenhage and Oudtshoorn. \u00a0Only green-listed SASSI fish is served. \u00a0He has a good relationship with his suppliers, and knows that they will assist him when he has urgent requests. \u00a0His focus at Azure is on ‘flavourful food<\/em>‘. \u00a0Horst shared that they have had very good feedback about Chef Christo’s menu, and that the chef comes out of the kitchen as much as he can, to meet the guests and to obtain their feedback.<\/p>\n

At our table was guest Gerda Kl\u00fcver, a hotel housekeeping and openings consultant, with a wealth of experience that made Horst and I determined to write a book about the industry with her. \u00a0She has opened The Palace and Sun City (with a staff complement of 4000!), the Table Bay hotel, the Arabella,\u00a0and many more hotels, still consulting on turning hotels around. \u00a0The stories she told about working in Nigeria were frightening, having to be escorted by two security staff with machine guns just to leave the building! \u00a0 The country clearly is not a tourist destination, only visited by businesspersons. \u00a0Jill Wagner, handling marketing for the three Red Carnation hotels in South Africa (Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and The Oyster Box too) and Deputy GM Michael Nel joined our table too (he has been at the Red Carnation group for ten years already, having spent the last seven years at the 12 Apostles), leading to a very extended lunch with lots of laughter, excellent food and wines, and good service. \u00a0Each staff member wears a red carnation, an unusual touch, to link to the corporate company ownership. \u00a0As one steps into the hotel reception, a beautifully decorated table for Christmas attracts attention, done with class and style. \u00a0A large\u00a0Hexenhaus welcomes one in Azure, with a Christmas tree set up too, and Christmas music is piped throughout the hotel. \u00a0The azure blue exterior is brought into the Azure restaurant through the beautiful shell underplate, blue water glasses, as well as other marine touches such as a silver seaweed sculpture on the fireplace, and a collection of framed marine-themed drawings.<\/p>\n

We enjoyed a glass of Krone Ros\u00e9 Brut Sparkling on the terrace, where it was wind-free, after a windy start to the day. \u00a0 The location is amazing, and the hotel focuses on the activities they offer their guests to maximise their enjoyment, such as mountain picnics. \u00a0Horst had selected a wine per course, to pair with Chef Christo’s dishes.<\/p>\n

The\"12<\/a> menu was professionally presented in a 12 Apostles folder, and Gerda and I were greeted by name on the menu page. \u00a0Chef Christo came to the table, and explained that he had selected some of his favourites from the menu, for us to try. \u00a0A generous bread basket was brought to the table, with bread rolls (including my favourite poppy seed), seed loaf, ciabatta and rye bread. \u00a0Snoek pat\u00e9 and butter are on the table to enjoy \"12<\/a>with the bread. \u00a0An amuse bouche of salmon three ways, served as tartare, mousse, and cured, was an excellent start, served with Jordan The Real McCoy Riesling 2013. \u00a0The Prawn Dhal was an interesting collection of flavours created through pickled cauliflower, coriander yoghurt, sultanas, mango chutney and cauliflower, with chips of poppadoms. \u00a0\"12<\/a>This is one of their best selling dishes.<\/p>\n

The quail risotto was attractively plated, rich in yellow and orange from the butternut and cinnamon pur\u00e9e, to which had been added quail confit leg as well as breast, sage butter, macadamia crumbs, and a quail jus. This course was paired with Backsberg Chardonnay 2011. \u00a0A dramatic intermediary course was juniper-infused cocoa butter sorbet,\"12<\/a> with smoke when water was poured over the dry ice container. \u00a0Horst loves the Farmed Cob dish, and said that he could have it for all three meals of the day, it coming from Port Elizabeth and is supplied by Wild Peacock. \u00a0It was served with the last white \"12<\/a>asparagus of the season, \u00a0smoked potato, succotash pea pur\u00e9e, a citrus gel with lime, lemon and orange, and lime crumble. \u00a0This course was paired with Lomond Sauvignon Blanc 2013.<\/p>\n

The main course was Springbok Loin, also a guest favourite, served with a shank and potato pave, cabbage and prune pur\u00e9e, baby beetroot cubed, smoked and pur\u00e9ed, caramelised pearl onion, and a juniper jus. \u00a0The Bouchard Finlayson Hannibal\u00a02011 was\"12<\/a> outstanding, a seven variant blend from the wine estate owned by the group too.<\/p>\n

\"12<\/a>Horst then told the table that he knew it is my birthday tomorrow (Facebook is a give-away), but that in German custom it is bad luck to congratulate one ahead of time. \u00a0The kitchen had wanted to bake a birthday cake, but Horst’s wife Barbara had told him that it would not be the right thing to do. \u00a0The dessert was created by pastry chef Nathan, being a Lime Cremeux, served with lime sponge and curd, and plum salad and sorbet, with meringue and deep fried basil. \u00a0It was paired with Perdeberg Winery Weisser Riesling Reserve 2011.<\/p>\n

As if we had not been spoilt enough already, a platter of petit fours was brought to the table, \"12<\/a>served with our \"12<\/a>coffees. \u00a0We laughed when the whale bell rang, signalling a whale sighting, as we had just been speaking about a whale spotting whine writer!<\/p>\n

We had enjoyed a lovely afternoon in good company, with excellent food and wines, and felt as if we were far removed from the hustle and bustle that is Cape Town in this busy time of the year.<\/p>\n

Azure,<\/strong> 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa, Victoria Road, Camps Bay. \u00a0Tel (21) 437-9000. www.12apostleshotel.com<\/a> \u00a0Twitter: @12_Apostles<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio:\u00a0www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n

Request<\/strong>:\u00a0If you like our blog, please would you\u00a0vote for it for the SA Blog Awards?<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was a picture perfect day to try out the new Summer menu of new Executive Chef Christo Pretorius at Azure restaurant at the 12 Apostles Hotel, at the invitation of its GM Horst Frehse. \u00a0 The amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean is brought into the restaurant and reflects in the menu too. Chef […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[7,15,3,124,266,20,22,21,19],"tags":[22995,22986,5961,847,11629,3160,2506,20353,5019,22774,22988,32378,12426,22989,3459,22992,51,22987,395,227,57,22990,4989,3321,2129,22357,7531,105,111,9182,11633,22991,32373,22993,22994,14183],"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