{"id":5537,"date":"2009-12-07T10:29:06","date_gmt":"2009-12-07T08:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=5537"},"modified":"2011-04-15T15:09:19","modified_gmt":"2011-04-15T13:09:19","slug":"restaurant-review-rust-vrede-almost-faultless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/wine-news\/restaurant-review-rust-vrede-almost-faultless\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Rust en Vrede almost faultless"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>One of South Africa’s Top 10 restaurants, Rust en Vrede,\u00a0did a special dad’s 94th birthday celebration proud on a weekday night\u00a02 weeks ago, just four days after\u00a0it was announced as 3rd place winner on the Top 10 list, as winner of the Service Excellence Award in the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards, and a week after it was named the best Restaurant in the winelands in the world, by the Great Wine Capitals Network.<\/p>\n

A terrible drive due to after-hours roadworks near the airport made the journey from Cape Town doubly long.\u00a0\u00a0 The arrival at the wine estate wiped away the frustration, it being dark already, and the lighting romantically showing off ancient oak trees and a beautiful garden.<\/p>\n

A staff member stood outside the door to welcome us, and we were taken to the rest of the party, having a drink\u00a0on the terrace outside.\u00a0 Our table for 6 was set apart from the rest of the restaurant, in its own alcove, two sides filled with wines on glass shelves.\u00a0\u00a0 This gave a feeling of privacy, yet one felt to be part of the restaurant.<\/p>\n

The menu and winelist covers were\u00a0one of the few\u00a0aspects to criticise, looking like plastic “mock-croc”.\u00a0\u00a0 The menu is informative, with a foreword by Jean Engelbrecht, the owner of the wine estate, David Higgs the chef, and Neil Grant, the sommelier.\u00a0\u00a0 The menu is simple – one has two choices – 4 courses at R 400, or 6 courses at R 550 without paired wine, or R\u00a0800 with wine paired per course.\u00a0\u00a0 The only catch is that all persons in the party must have either the 4- or 6-course meal.<\/p>\n

As the 4-course meal allows one an option of three choices per course, our party chose this option.\u00a0 A first course choice offered was a scallop “gazpacho” that was not a soup at all, foie gras and cherries, and sweet onion soup.\u00a0 The second course choice consisted of a salmon trout, organic chicken, and fennel and creme fraiche risotto.\u00a0\u00a0 The third course offered tuna, loin of lamb and springbok.\u00a0\u00a0 The 4 th course choice was between goat’s cheese and melon, strawberry and nut parfait with marzipan, and baked apple and pastry with cream cheese ice cream.<\/p>\n

The 6-course meal starts with tuna, followed by scallop, rabbit, Chalmar beef, Tetede Moine and ends with Chocolate Marquis.\u00a0 No options are provided within each of the 6 courses.<\/p>\n

The menu also contains the supplier information, looking a little like an add-on to the otherwise slick menu.\u00a0\u00a0 Beef and venison come from the estate’s Kalahari farm, herbs come from the estate’s herb garden, Magic Steve supplies the vegetables, The Wild Peacock supplies ingredients, duck and rabbit, Neil Jewel the chacuteries, and Wayne Rademeyer from Wellington the Buffalo Mozzarella.\u00a0\u00a0 Reubens is the only other known restaurant which states its suppliers\u00a0in its menus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The meal was preceded by an amuse bouche of scallop.\u00a0\u00a0 As each dish is brought to the table per course, the waitress reminds one of the choice one ordered, pointing out what is on the plate.\u00a0\u00a0 She explained everything so well and efficiently, that everything seemed to taste even better.<\/p>\n

The winelist reflects about 270 wines on 28 pages, and a neat index at the start of the winelist categorises the wines on offer, and an easy reference to the page.\u00a0 An oddity is the fact that only Champagne is served, and that South African Cap Classiques\u00a0are not available.\u00a0 This is justified in the menu on the grounds of David and Neil being fanatical about the Champagne region in France!\u00a0\u00a0 The winelist has 24 Champagnes, ranging from R 500 for a Mailly to R 1 800 for a Laurent Perrier.\u00a0\u00a0 Wines by the glass are available, at R 30 for a Cederberg Chenin Blanc to R 50 for a Fryer’s Cove.<\/p>\n

Similar to The Big Easy, a Portfolio of Wines is referred to in the winelist, and all wines from Rust en Vrede, Cirrus, Guardian Peak, Ernie Els, and Engelbrecht Els are listed separately in the winelist.\u00a0\u00a0 The Rust en Vrede wine\u00a0offering is extensive, and a separate price is quoted for each vintage.\u00a0\u00a0 So, for example, the Rust en Vrede Merlot ranges from R 200 for a 2008 to R 900 for a 1989, the shiraz from R 230 for a 2006 to R 750 for the 1992, and R 95 for a Cab blend.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Other wine brands are offered as well, and the Meerlust Rubicon costs R 350,\u00a0and the Schalk Burger costs R 700.\u00a0\u00a0 A\u00a0Pol Roger bubbly was followed by the Rust en Vrede Shiraz, and was decanted by Neil.\u00a0\u00a0So professional is the wine team that when a second bottle of the same Rust en Vrede Shiraz was opened, a new round of Riedel glasses was brought to the table.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The spacing of the serving of the four courses was just right – not too\u00a0slow nor too\u00a0fast, and one lost track of time, not necessarily a good thing on a weekday evening!\u00a0\u00a0 Service is unobtrusive, polite, reserved, and no proactive conversation is made – all communication relates purely to the meal and the\u00a0drinks.\u00a0\u00a0 An\u00a0interesting but professional looking touch is the pouring of the bottled water with a cloth, to prevent the bubbles from wetting the guest or the tablecloth.\u00a0\u00a0 This has not been seen anywhere else ever.<\/p>\n

Unusual too is the multi-gender bathrooms – one does not expect to see a gentlemen coming through the door!\u00a0 Molton Brown bathroom products are available, being of a very good quality.<\/p>\n

What was missed relative to a visit a year ago was David Higg’s regular visits to the table, after each course, to check on the guests’ satisfaction with and feedback about each course.\u00a0\u00a0 David appeared more hands-on in the open-plan kitchen\u00a0than a year ago, and would not have had the time to do so.\u00a0\u00a0 He did come to chat after the meal, and\u00a0 impresses with his modesty, charm and gentleness.\u00a0\u00a0 Even more commendable is the pride and dedication to\u00a0his restaurant – if he should be ill, or is travelling, he closes the restaurant, he said.\u00a0 He will not allow it to operate without him being present.\u00a0 This places a huge burden on him in the five nights a week that the restaurant is open, but ensures consistent service – David Higgs probably is the only chef in the country to take his craft and reputation so seriously.<\/p>\n

A small irritation, which Rust en Vrede shares with almost every restaurant in the country, is a bad habit of staff stretching past one from the left to place a knife or spoon on one’s right.\u00a0\u00a0 This was the only aspect of the service that can be faulted.\u00a0\u00a0 The music is nondescript and irritating, and sounds too canned – it\u00a0is not well-matched to the decor, and quality of the food and wine, and does not add to the ambiance.\u00a0\u00a0 Smoking is strictly forbidden on the estate, but an exception is made for cigar smoking when one is outside with no one else present, the cigars\u00a0are for sale on the menu!<\/p>\n

The 4-course meal for 6, a bottle of Pol Roger champagne,\u00a02 bottles of Rust en Vrede Shiraz, some pre-dinner drinks, cigars as well as the mandatory 10 % service charge for a table of 6 came to R 4 700.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The birthday boy received a tiny chocolate cake to take home, and each guest receives a roll wrapped up as a “gift”, an oddity, as rolls are\u00a0not served with the meal, when one leaves.<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 9\/4<\/strong>: Sommelier Neil Grant tonight telephonically denied the rumour on Twitter that David Higgs is leaving Rust & Vrede and moving to Johannesburg in June.<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 15\/4:<\/strong>\u00a0It has been announced that David Higgs has resigned<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, and is leaving Rust en Vrede mid-June.\u00a0 John Shuttleworth will step into David’s chef’s shoes.<\/p>\n

Rust en Vrede<\/strong> is open from Tuesday to Saturday evenings.\u00a0 During the day one can\u00a0enjoy only one dish – steak and chips – for lunch.\u00a0\u00a0Bookings are not taken for lunch.\u00a0 Tel 021\u00a0881 3881, www.rustenvrede.com<\/a>.\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":"

One of South Africa’s Top 10 restaurants, Rust en Vrede,\u00a0did a special dad’s 94th birthday celebration proud on a weekday night\u00a02 weeks ago, just four days after\u00a0it was announced as 3rd place winner on the Top 10 list, as winner of the Service Excellence Award in the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards, and a […]<\/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":[124,20,31,21,19],"tags":[2892,184,2881,32378,2888,139,2679,2889,2083,2882,2887,2879,2891,221,2884,1148,2890,2880,2886,2883,252,41,1231,34,1709,1072,1742,2885,32373,49],"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