{"id":65972,"date":"2015-02-04T00:29:33","date_gmt":"2015-02-03T22:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=65972"},"modified":"2015-02-04T01:25:07","modified_gmt":"2015-02-03T23:25:07","slug":"cafe-chic-reopens-with-slick-service-excellent-cuisine-hands-on-but-controversial-chef-conrad-gallagher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/wine-news\/cafe-chic-reopens-with-slick-service-excellent-cuisine-hands-on-but-controversial-chef-conrad-gallagher\/","title":{"rendered":"Caf\u00e9 Chic reopens with slick service, excellent cuisine, hands-on but controversial Chef Conrad Gallagher!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cafe<\/a>Caf\u00e9 Chic opened in Gardens in 1999<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, a Victorian building with a chic interior created by French owner Francoise Queyroi. \u00a0A year ago the restaurant was closed and placed on the market, but has not yet found a buyer. It was a surprise that Chef Conrad Gallagher has taken over the building, renting it lock, stock and barrel, including its cutlery (by Helcometals from Egypt\/France), crockery, glassware, table cloths, and serviettes, with a view to buying it in future. \u00a0Given Chef Conrad’s reputation related to a \"Cafe<\/a>previous era of owning restaurants in Cape Town, it is brave of him to return!<\/p>\n

Chef Conrad had opened Geisha in 2007 in the building alongside Newport Deli in Mouille Point, spending R3,5\u00a0million on its interior, when he received an eviction order, being informed that the building was to be demolished, to make way for a new building. \u00a0He moved to the Cape Royale Luxury Hotel, opening Geisha Wok & Noodle Bar, now out-of-pocket due to the additional decor costs. \u00a0At the same time he had been appointed as a consultant to bring feet to The Rockwell ground floor, anchor tenants being Bouillabaisse and Crepe Suzette, owned by Camil and Ingrid Haas. \u00a0Surrounding them were to be organic shops, selling breads, wines, ice creams, meats, and other foods. \u00a0The project collapsed, and the deposits for these businesses appear to have been held by Gallagher, who left Cape Town in 2009<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, with unpaid bills for his restaurant, and unpaid staff. He was declared bankrupt by two suppliers in Cape Town. \u00a0He returned to Dublin, his home base, where he opened three restaurants, two of them owned by a company of which Chef Conrad was a director, contrary to Irish law. He has owned Peacock Alley and Lloyds, each a one Michelin-star restaurant. He then opened PoshBurger Bistro in Las Vegas, closing it after three months when he could not get a liquor license! Disturbing is to note that the restaurant Facebook posts claim him to be a Michelin chef, when he no longer owns a Michelin star restaurant!<\/p>\n

\"Cafe<\/a>Why Chef Conrad has returned to Cape Town after such a tumultuous past in Cape Town is unclear. \u00a0Suppliers appear to have been paid, but the situation on staff wages is uncertain. \u00a0He has a South African wife Candice Coetzee, once a Miss Port Elizabeth finalist, who greets arriving guests. \u00a0They met when Chef Conrad consulted to Sun International. \u00a0Was it a lifestyle change, allowing him to enjoy more time with his wife and children, and to drive the children to school? \u00a0He now defines ‘success’<\/em> as having time off with his family, and having complete control over the food prepared in his restaurant. \u00a0Was it because he has client consulting projects (including the Kove\"Cafe<\/a> Collection, and the Table Bay hotel), which he attends to with his Manager David Tullpan during the daytime, and then is hands-on in the kitchen in his restaurant on Mondays to Saturday evenings, only opening for lunch on Fridays. \u00a0 He advertises pop-up chef’ courses in New York, Chicago, and Boston, in shared kitchens.<\/p>\n

I was invited by his PR company Celebrity Services Africa to try the restaurant in December, and accepted, to meet this controversial chef. He was absolutely charming, meeting me in the bar, and instructing David to pour a glass of Mo\u00ebt et Chandon, rather than a local sparkling wine, unfortunately poured into a glass with a small chip. \u00a0He told me that he has a small kitchen team in a small kitchen space, wanting to develop local kitchen staff, which will discipline him to be at the restaurant all the time, he said.<\/p>\n

He is well-connected with the Irish clique in Cape Town, having been brought to Cape Town by Cormac Keane, who owned Portofino (in the previous Showroom restaurant space, which had earned the late Chef Bruce Robertson an Eat Out<\/strong> Top 10 Restaurant accolade). \u00a0He name-dropped Chef Liam Tomlin of Chef’s Warehouse & Canteen<\/a>, <\/strong><\/span>and clearly was close to controversial Cape Royale Luxury Hotel owner Pascal Phelan. Oddly he did not seem to know Clare and Eamon McLoughlin, notorious Irish Spill PR company owners! \u00a0Dave came to chat regularly where I sat on my own in the Boutique room, allowing the lights to be turned up for the photographs. David was previously at Bungalow, Constantia Glen, Harbour House, The Ambassador hotel, and Crystal Towers.<\/p>\n

The restaurant still has separate rooms, the main restaurant section for the a la carte menu, and the Boutique room for the Tasting Menu, which costs R610\/R910 for seven courses without\/with wines, and R800\/R1100 for 9 courses. There is a tiny room for two behind the bar room. It was quiet on the week night when I ate there, but Chef Conrad said that business was picking up. \u00a0Great is parking on the property in the evenings, shared with a neighbouring design company, as well as across the road behind the FNB building.<\/p>\n

\"Cafe<\/a>The bread plate impressed, with warm freshly baked Guinness bread, curry and apricot bread, rye and caraway bread (my favourite, a childhood memory), and tomato and basil bread. Chef Conrad decided which dishes to send out on his ‘surprise\u00a0menu<\/em>‘. The pea and mint cappuccino\"Cafe<\/a> with poached lobster amuse bouche was a highlight, perfectly balanced, and not over-salted. \u00a0This was followed by a Knysna oyster served with a pickled pea and pickled ginger, served with a soy sauce reduction, set on red pepper corns.<\/p>\n

\"Cafe<\/a>Course number three was a creamy buttery shiitake risotto served with melt-in-your-mouth scallops imported from Ireland, a slightly more salty dish, but within an acceptable salt limit. \u00a0For the fish course a fish knife was brought to the\"Cafe<\/a> table. \u00a0Seared tuna was placed on top of green peas and rosti, to which was added a butter beurre blanc sauce, topped with sweet peas. \u00a0The crispy rosti texture matched that of the tuna.<\/p>\n

\"Cafe<\/a>Next up was confit duck leg as well as pan-seared duck, served with an unusual grated green apple and butternut pur\u00e9e, a foie gras and walnut lollipop, topped with a sunnyside-up quail egg. \u00a0I did not like the taste of the walnut in the lollipop, spoiling the foie gras taste. \u00a0On seeing that Chef Conrad serves foie\"Cafe<\/a> gras, Grass Consumer Action Group (which regularly lambastes\u00a0Woolworths for its misleading packaging claims about its dairy, egg, and meat products) entered into a debate with Chef Conrad, which led him to remove the dish from his menu immediately, winning him brownie points.<\/p>\n

\"Cafe<\/a>Course 6 was seared scallops served with remoulade, celeriac pur\u00e9e, and foie gras, a delicious treat. \u00a0When I tried the Swiss-style raclette cheese with green fig preserve, Chef Conrad came to sit down. \u00a0He told me that his staff is salaried, \"Cafe<\/a>not working for tips. \u00a0He told me that he sources many of his ingredients from Wild Peacock, and meats from Ryan Booth. \u00a0For him protein is the king of the plate (we must have been talking about Banting then, when he told me that he lost a lot of weight on the eating plan!). \u00a0The final course was a \"Cafe<\/a>chocolate fondant, a chocolate brownie, served with chocolate ice cream.<\/p>\n

The a la carte menu main course prices range from R160 for organic chicken to R280 for Cape lobster. \u00a0Other options are beef fillet, yellowfin tuna, salmon, seared scallops, duck, and kingklip. \u00a0Starters cost \u00a0R65 – R95, but 6 oysters cost R120. \u00a0Desserts are pricey, at around R90.<\/p>\n

David is the sommelier, and suggests the pairings for each of the courses. \u00a0The winelist is ‘Proudly South African<\/em>‘. \u00a0No vintage information is provided. \u00a0Graham Beck Brut (R80\/R300) and Brut Ros\u00e9 (R90\/R350) are the only two local sparkling wines on the winelist. \u00a0Ten of 18 white wines are offered by the glass, and the offering is dominated by Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. \u00a0Only four of 21 red wines are available by the glass, and the prices range from R58\/R220 for Warwick The First Lady Cabernet Sauvignon, to R1500 for Waterford Estates The Gem. Vin de Constance costs R850.<\/p>\n

Irritating, and a PR no-no, was a call about two weeks ago, from the PR executive, who tried to find out if, and when, I would write about my visit to the restaurant. I could not help but think that this was client Chef Conrad pushing his PR agency. I was grappling with the ethics of having accepted the invitation, and writing about Chef Conrad’s past in Cape Town. \u00a0We have tried to declare what we know about this background, to provide a balanced background. \u00a0We have not heard anything controversial since Chef Conrad’s return to Cape Town, keeping a low profile, but he Tweets and Facebooks regularly, unfortunately rarely with photographs of his dishes. \u00a0 Interesting is that they encourage one to have an early pre-theatre dinner, available from 16h30. \u00a0Chef Conrad now offers cooking classes on Saturday mornings.<\/p>\n

The food by Chef Conrad is excellent, and the service by David very attentive. \u00a0Chef Conrad’s past is baggage that will haunt him for many years to come!<\/p>\n

Caf\u00e9 Chic,<\/strong> Breda Street, Gardens. Tel (021) 465-7218. www.cafechicsa.com<\/strong><\/span><\/a> \u00a0Twitter: @CafeChicChic \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Monday – Saturday Dinner, Friday Lunch.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio:\u00a0www.whalecottage.com<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 Tel (021) 433-2100, Twitter:@WhaleCottage \u00a0Facebook: \u00a0<\/strong>click here<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caf\u00e9 Chic opened in Gardens in 1999, a Victorian building with a chic interior created by French owner Francoise Queyroi. \u00a0A year ago the restaurant was closed and placed on the market, but has not yet found a buyer. It was a surprise that Chef Conrad Gallagher has taken over the building, renting it lock, […]<\/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":[26463,124,266,20,22,21,19],"tags":[32411,315,484,645,2842,2640,29810,1903,32366,24085,24263,29804,32378,6717,2067,2059,471,12597,29812,3905,3067,2381,2843,2314,21722,29806,226,29815,29805,21004,3769,29809,651,29811,4735,775,2968,29814,29808,29813,2294,29807,29816,21552,1168,111,12596,473,1392,3598,408,32373,14183,171],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\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\n\t\t