{"id":61338,"date":"2014-09-11T00:12:45","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T22:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=61338"},"modified":"2014-09-13T18:10:17","modified_gmt":"2014-09-13T16:10:17","slug":"chefs-who-share-reaches-for-the-michelin-stars-at-lanzerac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/chefs-who-share-reaches-for-the-michelin-stars-at-lanzerac\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Chefs who Share’ reaches for the (Michelin) stars at Lanzerac!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chefs<\/a>It was a unique experience to meet seven chefs who have worked or are currently working at Michelin star restaurants (10 Michelin stars awarded in total) in Austria and Germany for breakfast at the Lanzerac on Tuesday. \u00a0While it was an early morning start, it was energizing being in the company of the ever-bubbly Barbara Lenhard and Florian Gast of Opulent Living<\/strong>, who had extended the invitation to a number of writers.<\/p>\n

We were seated at one long table intermingled with the chefs, and a half way swopping of seats was clever too, so that we could get to chat to at least three of the seven chefs for a longer period of time. \u00a0Opulent Living,<\/strong> organisers of the charity Gala Dinner ‘Chefs who Share<\/em>‘ in the City Hall this evening, \u00a0\"Chefs<\/a><\/span>welcomed the seven chefs, who had all flown in from Europe to Cape Town on Monday.<\/p>\n

Tonight seven teams of two local chefs each, a local sommelier, and one of the German-speaking chefs, will prepare a four course dinner for 36 guests who have paid R3000 each to attend, a total of 250 guests not only eating delectable food, but also drinking excellent local wines, and interacting with the three chefs looking after their tables. \u00a0Last year Opulent Living<\/strong> raised R1,2\u00a0million through the charity Gala Dinner, and decided to raise the bar this year by flying in the seven German-speaking chefs, hoping to raise R2 million tonight.<\/p>\n

The chef pairings for tonight’s \u2018Chefs who Share<\/em>\u2018 dinner are Chefs George Jardine of Jardine at Jordan, PJ Vadas, who has left Camphors at Vergelegen to open his own (yet to open) The Hog House restaurant, and Gerd Kastenmeier from Germany; Chefs Marthinus Ferreira from DW Eleven\u201313, Christo Pretorius from Azure at the Twelve Apostles, and Alfred Miller from Austria; Chefs Christiaan Campbell from Delaire Graff, Chantel Dartnall from Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient, and Andreas Mayer from Germany; \u00a0Chefs Rudi Liebenberg from The Planet at Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel, Michelle Theron from Pierneef\u00a0\u00e0 La Motte, with Christoph Geschwendtner from Austria; Chefs Malika van Reenen from Signal at the Cape Grace, Chris Erasmus from Foliage, and Bernhard Reiser from Germany; Chefs Jackie Cameron from the Jackie Cameron School of Food and Wine, J\u00fcrgen Schneider from Springfontein Eats, and Christian Grainer from Germany; and Chefs Darren Badenhorst from Grande Provence<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, Chef Franck Dangereux from The Food Barn, and Chef Anton Schmaus from Germany .<\/p>\n

\"Chefs<\/a>I sat next to Chef Gerd Kastenmeier, of Kastenmeiers in Dresden, who told me that he has visited the Cape annually for his holiday in the past five years, his friend J\u00fcrgen Kirchner owning Druk my Niet in Paarl, with excellent wines, which Chef Gerd has on his winelist.\u00a0 They make a special collaboration ‘Africa meets Germany’<\/em> wine, a blend of Chenin Blanc with 10% Riesling from the Weingut Pfaffmann in the Pfalz. \u00a0He stocks Wilderer grappa and port, and a red wine from Iona, six of the 350 wines on his winelist being from our country. \u00a0Twenty years ago he moved from Bavaria to Dresden, loving the 200 meter green belt on both sides of the Elbe running through the city. \u00a0His speciality is fish, and he soon discovered that there was no good fish restaurant, and he has stayed in the city ever since, specialising in fish and shellfish. \u00a0Despite this being one of the busiest months in his restaurant and cooking school, with 5000 customers per month in his 130 pax restaurant, it was too good an opportunity to miss out on, he said. He has long-standing staff that makes it possible for him to be away. He will be preparing the starter of tuna tartare, with wasabi mayonnaise and a poached egg. \u00a0Wine is his hobby, he said. \u00a0He does not really have a menu, his restaurant patrons entering the restaurant via the kitchen, where he shows them what he is cooking that evening. \u00a0Up to 80% of his patrons are regulars, and they trust the choice of what he will serve that day. He forages for mushrooms in the morning. \u00a0He said proudly that he only offers what he likes to eat and drink. \u00a0His restaurant is open 24\/7, and only closes three days a year. \u00a0His restaurant hosts an annual charity dinner, at which the patrons do the work, making the food, doing the flowers, and serving the wines, at which they have raised more than R120000 annually for a charity in aid of research for children suffering from cancer.<\/p>\n

Chef Alfred Miller (standing, with Chef Christian Greiner in the photograph) is from Innsbruck, originally coming from Munich. He has visited and cooked in Stockholm, Spain, Switzerland,\"Chefs<\/a> and France, and this is his first trip cooking in South Africa. \u00a0His restaurant Wirtshaus Sch\u00f6neck has one Michelin star.\u00a0 He renovated an old student pub building, loving the look of the 150 year old building. He has written a cookbook ‘F\u00fcr Freunde kochen<\/em>‘, and says that despite his age of 65 he cannot let go of cooking, focusing on Austrian and Mediterranean cuisine. \u00a0Chef Christoph Geschwendtner comes from the Burg Hotel Lech in Austria, and said he is overwhelmed with the beauty and the \"Chefs<\/a>friendliness he experienced in his first 24 hours in the Winelands. \u00a0They were entertained at Delaire Graff the afternoon and evening before, and loved the view onto the Simonsberg. \u00a0His cooking style is ‘puristic, a mix of French and Mediterranean, with little use of garnish’<\/em>. \u00a0He will be preparing a calf’s dish tonight, as well as a dessert of Swiss chocolate with coffee and banana.<\/p>\n

Chef Anton Schmaus from Restaurant Storstadt in Regensburg is the youngest in the group of seven, offering modern contemporary cuisine with a ‘pinch of Asia<\/em>‘, he explained. \u00a0His dish tonight is monkfish with a pork belly crust, Asian flavours, and Bavarian kimchi. \u00a0Chef Christian Greiner from Christians near Munich operates in a building which has been owned by his family for 572 years. He has held one Michelin star for 15 years. \u00a0Chef Andreas Mayer (right) is the co-ordinater of the visiting chefs, working at the\"Chefs<\/a> Schloss Hotel in Zell am See in Austria, and his restaurant has 2 Michelin stars. \u00a0His cooking style is ‘me’<\/em>, he said! Chef Bernhard Reiser from Restaurant W\u00fcrzburg has three restaurants and a cookery school in the town.<\/p>\n

\"Chefs<\/a>Lanzerac Chef Stephen Fraser and his team must have sweated to prepare the cooked breakfast for the chefs from the Michelin star restaurants. \u00a0He decided to cook a very traditional South African breakfast of crispy bacon, beef Boerewors, corn fritters, mushrooms, scrambled eggs, with a tomato and onion smoor. \u00a0The alternative choice was a beetroot and orange cured salmon Eggs Benedict on an English muffin, Pecorini creamed spinach, and Hollandaise sauce, which was what I chose. A selection of cold ‘slap pap’<\/em>, pickled fish, fruit, cold meats, cheeses, breads, and pastries, was available too.<\/p>\n

After the breakfast at the Lanzerac, the seven visiting chefs were whisked off in a fleet of black Mercedes-Benz cars, to the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel, where they were each given a Veggie Box, which forms part of the ‘Chefs who Share’<\/em> initiative. Tonight \"Chefs<\/a>guests at the Gala dinner can commit to sponsoring such Veggie Boxes, which will be used to cook food for disadvantaged children. At the Mount Nelson the visiting chefs cooked in Chef Rudi Liebenberg’s kitchen, which they then shared with 120 children at iThemba Labantu.<\/p>\n

Part of the proceeds of \u2018Chefs who Share\u2019<\/em>\u00a0will be raised from an\u00a0auction of artworks<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by some of our country\u2019s leading artists, including father and son artists Anton and Lionel Smit, respectively, as well as Dylan Lewis, Ingrid Bolton, and Jean Doyle. The artists were chosen as their \u2018work and ethos align with those of the event of this calibre<\/em>\u2018. \u00a0Two further Auction packages are attending the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as well as attending the Laureus World Sports Awards.<\/p>\n

\u2018Chefs who Share\u2019<\/em>\u00a0was sold out within four days of ticket sales opening! \u00a0 It promises to be an evening of fine food, fine wines, and fine art, all for a good cause! \u00a0I cannot wait for the Gala dinner this evening, and for the special chefs who will be looking after the table I will be seated at.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio:\u00a0www.whalecottage.com<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 Tel (021) 433-2100 \u00a0Twitter:@WhaleCottage \u00a0<\/strong>Facebook: \u00a0<\/strong>click here<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a unique experience to meet seven chefs who have worked or are currently working at Michelin star restaurants (10 Michelin stars awarded in total) in Austria and Germany for breakfast at the Lanzerac on Tuesday. \u00a0While it was an early morning start, it was energizing being in the company of the ever-bubbly Barbara […]<\/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":[3,124,1918,266,25,20,31,22,21,19,293],"tags":[27631,27643,27061,26938,26931,1744,6506,2472,2232,20777,25737,26940,27632,17150,110,32366,2812,20083,2552,32378,11308,27070,27634,12139,27622,1240,15662,1736,27627,21587,6825,11434,27628,20797,25604,4104,8832,2185,26936,560,140,27629,4994,27642,8887,26035,3076,27624,26942,27623,9273,27644,1748,14765,8884,1008,12106,17588,9956,32384,27626,27639,6611,8847,552,27633,27069,1612,27635,483,274,27640,27638,1072,22867,27637,1513,26244,2495,27641,27625,32373,20388,32382,27630,27636],"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