{"id":7944,"date":"2010-05-10T10:33:16","date_gmt":"2010-05-10T08:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=7944"},"modified":"2010-10-17T12:10:59","modified_gmt":"2010-10-17T10:10:59","slug":"restaurant-review-overture-needs-no-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/restaurant-news\/restaurant-review-overture-needs-no-introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Overture needs no introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>“Overture” is a musical term, meaning introduction to a musical piece.\u00a0\u00a0 As a restaurant, Overture has been operating on the Hidden Valley wine estate outside Stellenbosch\u00a0for 2,5 years, and no longer needs to be introduced.\u00a0\u00a0 With its owner and chef Bertus Basson, it has established itself as a most professional and passionate restaurant, which has made it on the Eat Out Top 10 restaurant list for the last two years.<\/p>\n

To receive an invitation to a lunch at Overture is a treat – to spend 2,5 hours hours with Bertus Basson\u00a0enjoying his restaurant’s lunch with him was an absolute privilege.\u00a0\u00a0 It was my fourth visit to Overture, having enjoyed each of our lunches in the past.<\/p>\n

As I drove to the Hidden Valley Estate, well hidden at the end of a road that takes one past Ernie Els wines outside Stellenbosch, not far from another Eat Out Top 10 restaurant, Rust en Vrede, I had to think back how negative Rossouw’s Restaurants was about\u00a0the road to Overture when\u00a0JP Rossouw\u00a0first reviewed it.\u00a0 It is no problem to drive at all, unless JP has a fear of heights. \u00a0All is forgiven, Rossouw has been back, and now he has included Overture as one of his select top-rated 3-star restaurants.<\/p>\n

Bertus and I started talking about the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards, which placed Overture and Le Quartier Francais’ Tasting Room at joint 10th position, an unprecedented occurrence in the history of the Eat Out awards, and which attracted a huge degree of criticism.\u00a0\u00a0 Basson admits that he was extremely angry, using an unrepeatable word.\u00a0 He consoled himself by saying that at least he was in good company with Le Quartier Francais’ chef Margot Janse.\u00a0 Whilst he said he did not need to rethink his restaurant as a result of this ranking, he did make one immediate change – that was to start buying imported products, e.g. scallops, salmon, truffles, and foie gras,\u00a0 because the imported products offered a better range, and the service delivery from the importers suited his needs better, says Basson.\u00a0 Prior to this Basson had\u00a0been ‘proudly South African’ in terms of sourcing his\u00a0ingredients.\u00a0 Recently Basson has thrown out the clipboard menu holder, and changed to a beautiful brown leather holder for\u00a0each of the winelist, and the daily menu, the latter which changes daily.<\/p>\n

Bertus Basson is a character – for years he sported a Mohican, but he has grown his hair, and now hides it underneath a grey ‘Andy Capp’ cap.\u00a0\u00a0 He had stopped smoking earlier in the week, and\u00a0was really chuffed about this victory.\u00a0\u00a0 The restaurant has added new round tables, for tables for two, and added beautiful white table cloths and serviettes.\u00a0\u00a0 Bertus talks and talks, and he reflects confidence in his product and his staff, without ever sounding like he is bragging.\u00a0\u00a0 He has found his niche, yet he never takes his restaurant’s success for granted.\u00a0 He often arrives at work, he says, and radically changes something about it – the winelist, a dish is added or removed, constantly reinventing the restaurant, believing that evolution is necessary for all restaurants.<\/p>\n

We discuss the plethora of food blogs and restaurant websites, and he is critical of some, and complimentary of most.\u00a0 He says he reads Eat Out, Food24, JamieWho, Kim Maxwell, Tony Jackman, Michael Olivier\u00a0and WhaleTales regularly, to stay up to date about what is being written about restaurants.\u00a0 While he wants to make sure that any mentions of Overture are positive, and he wants to learn more about his restaurant colleagues through\u00a0these websites, he says that he does not care about reviews, because the success of his restaurant is purely measured by his bookings book.\u00a0 The summer season has been very good, mostly sold out, and so far the ‘green season’ has been better than last year.<\/p>\n

One of his favourite restaurants is Restaurant Christophe\u00a0(its foie gras in particular – read our review<\/a><\/span><\/strong>), and he raves about George Jardine’s new restaurant at Jordan, both in Stellenbosch.<\/p>\n

At Overture a three course meal costs R 265, 4 courses R 315, 5 courses R 375, and 8 courses R 470.\u00a0\u00a0 Pairing the courses to recommended wines costs extra.\u00a0\u00a0 Each portion is roughly the same size, so that there is no differentiation between the size of a starter or a main course.\u00a0 In total, ten\u00a0menu options\u00a0are offered.\u00a0\u00a0 The wine list has a choice of reasonably priced Hidden Valley and Lands End wines, which come from the wine estate, but Overture also offers a small collection of four Cap Classiques\/champagnes, white and red wines, and dessert wines each.\u00a0\u00a0A special 4-course winter lunch menu is available at R 200, Tuesdays – Fridays.<\/p>\n

We\u00a0were spoilt by being served by the Maitre’d Kris van Zyl\u00a0and the sommelier Kris Snyman.\u00a0\u00a0 An amuse bouche was brought to the table on a wooden board, with a selection of\u00a0coppa ham, sweet cream and onion, parmesan cheese straws, garlic aioli, and caviar salt.\u00a0 An olive roll was served with this, as was\u00a0a\u00a0refreshing glass of\u00a0Graham Beck Brut Rose.\u00a0 A glass of Jordan Unwooded Chardonnay accompanied the first course, which was my favourite dish of the meal: cured salmon and kingklip terrine, a beautiful pink\/white wheel, oyster beignet, and seared scallop in a sweetcorn and vanilla sauce.\u00a0 Tagliatelle, basil pesto, buffalo ridge mozarella and smoked aubergine puree, a symphony in green,\u00a0was served with Aeternitas Blanc, a garagiste wine made by the Kanu winemaker after hours in his garage in the Strand.\u00a0\u00a0 A matured entrecote with turnips and pomme fondant was paired with the Hidden Valley Gems, a Bordeaux style blend.\u00a0\u00a0 When the dessert of chocolate torte, banana and banana sorbet was served, the sommelier brought two massive bottles of Bottega Chocolate Grappa, offering us a choice in white chocolate or dark chocolate.\u00a0 The glass bottles look less like alcoholic containers, and more like those for shampoo, and become\u00a0a talking point at the table close by, being so unusual.<\/p>\n

Our coffees were served with a collection of jugs, containing a most unusual vanilla syrup, grappa, and cardomon syrup, which one can add to one’s coffee, a nice touch.\u00a0\u00a0 The ‘real’ Bertus\u00a0came to the fore\u00a0over coffee, and he talks almost emotionally about the new ‘addition to his family’, Patat his dog.\u00a0 One can hear the love for his pet\u00a0when\u00a0he speaks.\u00a0 He emphasises that Overture is family friendly, and he and his team will gladly prepare meals suitable for young guests.<\/p>\n

I left Overture impressed with the slick operation which Bertus and his team runs.\u00a0 His staff appear happy, despite his reputation of being a tough boss, but he needs the best staff, to stay at the top.\u00a0\u00a0 He sources the best products, and he has his hand firmly on his restaurant’s pulse, and is mostly in the kitchen himself.\u00a0\u00a0 If there was anything to recommend, then it is to the Manager Kris to look a little less serious, and to smile more.\u00a0\u00a0 I also found it hard to understand him explaining the elements of each dish, but\u00a0was allowed to take the menu with me, to save me from having to write it all down.\u00a0 I know I will return to Overture regularly, and that Bertus and his team deserve better than joint 10th in this year’s Eat Out Top 10 restaurant awards list!<\/p>\n

Overture Restaurant<\/strong>, Hidden Valley Wine Estate, Annandale Road, off R 44, Stellenbosch.\u00a0 Tel 021 880-2721.\u00a0 www.dineatoverture.co.za<\/a> (the website is not very helpful, with barely any information, and an outdated menu of 12 March).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Open for lunch Tuesdays – Sundays, and for dinner on\u00a0Thursday and Friday evenings. On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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

“Overture” is a musical term, meaning introduction to a musical piece.\u00a0\u00a0 As a restaurant, Overture has been operating on the Hidden Valley wine estate outside Stellenbosch\u00a0for 2,5 years, and no longer needs to be introduced.\u00a0\u00a0 With its owner and chef Bertus Basson, it has established itself as a most professional and passionate restaurant, which has […]<\/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],"tags":[4337,64,4339,2881,32378,138,2679,2083,4328,4338,2185,226,4332,215,4331,395,2688,4330,4335,4334,4327,42,4336,1604,2788,33,252,3259,4326,1878,1358,34,1072,32388,32376,6086,4329,32373,10],"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