It would appear that 2009 is a “comet vintage”, a bounty from Bacchus, an amazing year for South African wines. This is also the year that South Africa celebrated 350 years making wine at the southern tip of Africa, according to Neil Pendock.
Neil Pendock is South Africa’s leading wine writer and commentator, full stop.
His blog [...]
This desert delivers maximum impact for very little effort.
When I was growing up this desert was considered the height of chic and then it fell out of favour like sherry trifle, and beef stronganoff but these naff classics are making their way back.
I just love Baked Alaska. The craggy peaks of meringue hiding a core [...]
Q: Where were you born?
A: I was born in Athlone in Cape Town
Q: How long have you been in your present job?
A: I’ve been here for seven months now – since May this year.
Q: What is your favourite dish to cook?
A: Slow Braised pork belly
Q: What is your favourite dish to eat?
A: Confit Duck, caramelized [...]
Antonino Allegra is a chocolatier, he was born in Sicily and is now based in Cape Town.
He’s got big plans for chocolate eaters in this country,’ my aim’ he tells me’ is to sell one piece of chocolate to each woman in this country and make them happy, that is my goal.’
To this end, he [...]
One of my favourite cookbooks recently was ’Harvest, Recipes from an Organic Farm’ by Christine Stevens. Check out that review here.
So imagine my delight to see another book from Christine hitting the shelves.
It’s called, ‘Harvest Diaries, A Year of Food and Wine on an Organic Farm. This book reveals the month by month ups and [...]
“If you’re fond of sand dunes and salt sea air……….” The notes of this song song swam through my mind as I ate at Sotano.
The experience is a combination of the interior design (White, light woods, clean lines) and the view of blue sky and sea, which is across the road from the entrance.
Experienced restaurateur, Brendon [...]
Posted in Restaurants 
Tags: brendon crew, la splendida hotel, newport deli, societi bistro, sotano, stefan marais 
4 Comments read more »
‘Coffee should never taste bitter and sour’.
Renato Correia owns the Espresso Lab located in the Biscuit Mill in Woodstock. He comes from Portugal and to say he is knowledgeable about coffee is an understatement.
He’s a walking library on the subject and much more he is passionate about this brown liquid. His love for coffee which [...]
Serves 4
This is such an easy dish to make. It’s a one pot job and it’s a bit exotic.
I just want to make a few comments on the ingredients.
I love cooking with Karoo lamb because it’s so good. I like to only use the free range meat.
A word on the rice Tastic nature do a [...]
Fleur du Cap Noble Late Harvest was awarded the honour of being named the Best White Wine of the year in Platter’s 2011 guide.
Then, last night, Fleur du Cap was named as the South African Producer of the year at the IWSC (International Wine and Spirit Competition) in London.
Talk about the Midas Touch!
It got me thinking about [...]
It was a lovely surprise to get a box of food and a bottle of wine dropped off to my home yesterday.
The instructions said you have two days to cook this food.
The food and the wine where meant to be the perfect match.
So all I had to do was cook the food and open the [...]
Summer is here, finally, I think, I hope……
So it’s a good opportunity to hook up with Mike Bampfield-Duggan from Wine Concepts in Newlands and Kloof Street.
This month we look at Rose wines.
I am told that rose wines used to be really diabolical in South Africa very sweet and artificially coloured.
More rose than white is drunk [...]
Posted in Wines of The Week Tags: cederburg, de grendel, delaire, Diemersdal, grangehurst, kloof street, lanzerac, nederburg, Newlands, rose wine, ross gower, Wine Concepts 4 Comments read more »
I think Down South has put its finger on what a lot of diners want from restaurants.
High quality food, great value for money, great service, in a relaxed and informal setting.
They are going through a “soft” opening at the moment, and I ate there the other night to see how things were coming along.
I’ll start by [...]
Posted in Restaurants Tags: down south, down south long street, jack black's, long street, prawns, ribs, southern comfort 10 Comments read more »
Stephen Templeton is the kind of guy you feel you trust the minute you meet him. He’s got that kind of rugged charisma that you’d expect from a ships captain, a top rugby coach, or in this case, the new Executive Chef of the Newmark Hotel’s Waterfront properties.
Newmark encompasses a number of properties in Cape Town, [...]
Posted in Chef's Chat Tags: Dock House, Newmark Hotels, Queen Victoria, Stephen Templeton, v&a 7 Comments read more »
Ok, the weather is getting warmer and my mind is turning to salads, eating out of doors and berries because of course they are now in season.
This salad makes a great starter for entertaining, it’s different and looks great. I love the use of a blueberry dressing and the colour of the lime lettuce and [...]
It’s a daunting task to be the first person to taste Luke Dale Roberts food at his new venture, The Test Kitchen, and then to write a review.
But here goes; Semi cured Franschhoek trout fillet, liquorice braised beetroot, fennel, lime pure and fromage blanc. Simple, earthy, exquisite.
Cold beetroot, mousse green apple, lime zest, puff pastry [...]
Posted in Restaurants Tags: luke dale roberts, review, the biscuit mill, the test kitchen, woodstock 12 Comments read more »
Here’s an interesting story.
A young hospitality industry executive spots what he sees as an interesting gap in the market for wine and goes for it.
He notices that there are thousands of litres of fairly good quality wine lying around and reckons that drinkers need to be experiencing them. He approaches some wineries and an Elgin producer [...]
Erica Platter moved from the Western Cape to Kwa Zulu Natal some time ago and has undergone a road to Damascus transformation regarding that areas food and cuisine.
The rich heritage of different traditions of food from Chinese, to Indian to Zulu to Mauritian impressed her so much that she declared, with hindsight, that Western Cape [...]
Now that the Somerset West roadworks are finally finished the 50 minute drive to Paul Cluver’s estate is a pleasure.
I drove out on Sunday and had lunch at Fresh, which is not really a restaurant in the traditional sense. Chef Joan Lancefield comes out and tells you what’s on that day. You are really in her [...]
Can I begin by saying that I really like Melissa’s Coffee Shops and Delis.
I like their look, their locations, their interior design and the overall concept. I can see why the first outlet in Tamboerskloof took Cape Town by storm.
I like to go there and occasionally have breakfast, or lunch, or meet friends for coffee.
But [...]
Sometimes I like to drink a glass of unwooded wine. Tell me I am wrong, but I like to think that unwooded wine is a real test of the winemakers skill. You get to taste what they have really achieved, without the influence of oaking.
I love this Kloovenburg. It is a lovely uncomplicated wine, with [...]
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