{"id":6556,"date":"2010-02-08T12:22:47","date_gmt":"2010-02-08T10:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=6556"},"modified":"2010-02-08T12:27:20","modified_gmt":"2010-02-08T10:27:20","slug":"restaurant-review-hermanos-not-yet-a-whale-of-a-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/restaurant-news\/restaurant-review-hermanos-not-yet-a-whale-of-a-restaurant\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Hermanos not yet a whale of a restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Hermanos opened as a new restaurant in a revered restaurant space previously called Joubert, in Hermanus, about three months ago.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rave reviews from Whale Cottage Hermanus guests about the restaurant attracted Whale Cottage Hermanus Manager Carole and I to try it 10 days ago.\u00a0\u00a0 Our expectations were high.<\/p>\n

The co-owner and chef Wayne Spencer came to our table when we arrived early at 18h30, and gave us a friendly greeting.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He told us his background, and then went off to the kitchen , where he cooks almost on his own, with the help of only two staff.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Hermanos” is the Spanish word for brother, and symbolises the relationship between Wayne and his brother, who is a financial partner in the business but does not live in Hermanus.\u00a0\u00a0 Wayne trained at the Silwood School of Cooking, and has worked at the Phinda Game Reserve, Birkenhead House in Hermanus and La Residence in Franschhoek, and ‘The Mandarin’ at the Port Palace Hotel, a one star Michelin restaurant in Monaco.\u00a0\u00a0 The menu is relatively small, and Wayne closes bookings at 50 persons, even if the space could accommodate more clients.\u00a0\u00a0 He believes in “local is lekker” in supporting local wine estates and suppliers, and recognises that his two house wines do not meet this stated belief.<\/p>\n

While the interior of the restaurant has not changed much, it is whiter and cleaner than Joubert was just before closing down.\u00a0 We could not sit outside in the fairylit courtyard, due to the rain, which is the best spot, it is said.\u00a0\u00a0 Our table for two was small, and at one stage\u00a0we had to put the bread basket on the floor, as we ran out of space.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We were disappointed with our waiter, whom we\u00a0lost early on when we talked wines – the La Couronne Menage a Trois and Brandvlei house wines were not to our liking, and we were disappointed that there was no other choice.\u00a0 Also, for a winelist\u00a0that prides itself on Walker Bay wines for wines, the non-Hermanus wines-by-the-glass were an oddity.\u00a0\u00a0 We then had to order a full bottle, and this is where the waiter showed that he was not trained on the wine side – everything we asked for he had to communicate to a colleague who was running the bar, just three steps behind our table.\u00a0 He would then communicate back to us, all\u00a0via the third person, who never came to our table for a direct conversation.\u00a0\u00a0 The waiter did not know what the word “vintage” meant.\u00a0\u00a0 We settled on the Raka Biography, and declined it when we were brought a 2008.\u00a0 Miraculously a 2007 vintage was found, and we could be served the wine, after a long delay on this alone.\u00a0 By this time we had lost confidence in our waiter, even though he seemed to exude self-confidence, and so we asked the waitress to take over.<\/p>\n

The restaurant filled up quickly, and Carole recognised many of the diners as locals, which will ensure that Hermanos survives the winter months.<\/p>\n

The menu has 5 starters, including the flagship tiger prawn and avo stack (R52), asparagus and parmesan risotto (R45), Halloumi salad and fish koftas\u00a0(both R42) and Carpaccio (R 48).\u00a0\u00a0 The prawn and avo stack looked attractive, and was served with melba toast slices in-between.\u00a0 It was a little hard to eat, as the melba toast does not cut well, and the stack soon collapses.\u00a0\u00a0 The avo was sliced too thinly for my liking, and Carole did not like the knife shape digging into her palm while using it to eat.\u00a0\u00a0 The 8 main course choices are beef fillet hot rock\u00a0(R 120), signature rib-eye steak (R 112), Karoo lamb rump (R 98), pork loin (R 94), Chicken Ballantine (R 82), linefish (R 90), Norwegian Salmon (R 125), and Crespella di Verdura, a tasty sounding dish\u00a0of slices of\u00a0crepe filled with butternut and spinach.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0The rib-eye steak and pork loin could not be faulted, except that the steak was a touch too rare for the “medium rare” ordered.<\/p>\n

The dessert choice is creme brulee (R 38), vanilla bean ice cream (R 32), chocolate tart (R 42) and a cheese board at R 62.\u00a0 Carole enjoyed the creme brulee, and I my cappuccino.\u00a0\u00a0 While the service from the waitress was better than that of her colleague, she made no effort to really connect, and just asked the standard “is everything ok?” question, without making one\u00a0feel that she was really listening or interested.<\/p>\n

Hermanos stocks a wide\u00a0selection of wine varietals, with about three brands per variety, and offers a good spread of Hermanus and Hemel-en-Aarde Valley\u00a0wines.\u00a0\u00a0So, for example, the Shirazes are Wildekrans (R 135), Raka Biography (R 165)\u00a0and Sumaridge (R 225). The Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Benguela Cove (R 185), and from Jakob’s Vineyard and Raka, both costing R 175.\u00a0 Chardonnay comes from Bouchard Finlayson (R 160), Domaine des Dieux (R 160) and Ataraxia (R 267).\u00a0\u00a0 The Sauvignon Blancs come from Jackson (R90), Hermanuspietersfontein (R 120) and Southern Right (R 137).\u00a0\u00a0 Methode Cap Classique bubbly is stocked, from Wildekrans (R 160) and Domaine Des Dieux (R 215).<\/p>\n

There was no music to create atmosphere.\u00a0 There was no relationship formed between diner and staff, to make one look forward to coming back, except for the short interaction we had with Wayne on our arrival.\u00a0 When I first wrote about Hermanos, without having visited, Wayne said that he wanted to come out of the kitchen and connect with his clients, but he is so thinly-staffed in the kitchen that he is unable to do so.\u00a0 The waitress does not seem senior enough to guide and manage the seemingly untrained colleagues, which could be\u00a0the downfall\u00a0of Hermanos.<\/p>\n

Hermanos has great potential if it gets its wine-by-the-glass choice and staff quality\u00a0right, appoints a manager, and opens over lunch.\u00a0 The food is of a high standard, in a\u00a0town that\u00a0is not blessed with any outstanding restaurants.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hermanos<\/strong>, 3 High Street, Hermanus.\u00a0 Tel (028) 313-1916, www.hermanos.co.za<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0(menu not up to date)\u00a0\u00a0 Tuesday – Saturday evenings.<\/p>\n

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

Hermanos opened as a new restaurant in a revered restaurant space previously called Joubert, in Hermanus, about three months ago.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rave reviews from Whale Cottage Hermanus guests about the restaurant attracted Whale Cottage Hermanus Manager Carole and I to try it 10 days ago.\u00a0\u00a0 Our expectations were high. The co-owner and chef Wayne Spencer came to […]<\/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":[124,75,20,21],"tags":[3430,394,3437,2549,2506,3429,425,2524,2501,2547,32377,3438,2523,1637,3428,576,1066,651,3432,3434,3435,422,3436,3431,457,2509,3433,3427,2245,3426,162,2671,3404],"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