West Coast Rock Pool, with pickled squid, oyster, seaweed and radish.
Eric Bulpitt is the most exciting chef in Cape Town at the moment.
His inventive, creative and accomplished dishes have diners filling the tables at Jardine. He is cooking his socks off.
No doubt that when George Jardine decamped to Stellenbosch he left a large pair of shoes to fill. Eric has jumped right in and has clearly found his voice and he is expressing it
Celeriac Tortellini with smoked Granny Smith apples, prune puree and wood sorrel.
confidently in a menu that people are talking about.
What I love about his food is that not only does it look stunning, it tastes delicious too. Every dish bursts with flavours which are brillantly balanced. A tour of the menu takes us
Add a touch of Eric’s playful imagination and incredible creativity and you get dishes like the West Coast Rock Pool. It’s an amazing confection of pickled squid, oyster, seaweed and radish. It fires the imagination to look at it. You believe that you are looking at the contents of a rock pool somewhere near Lamberts Bay. It brought me back to my childhood, when my idea of beach fun was to splash through rockpools, bucket, spade and net in hand, as I scoured the pools for pinkeens, or small fish or crabs trapped by the retreating tide.
The Celeriac Tortellini, while not having the National Geographic glam of the Rock Pool, hides its taste credentials within its parcel of pasta which holds the winter root vegetable taste of the celeriac. Counterpoising this earthy taste are little pieces of smoked Granny Smith apples, the lemony note of weed sorrel and, just in case we missed the point, some prune puree.
Leaving the rockpool and cottage garden Eric brings us next on a tour of his farmyard. I tried “The Duck Farm”, which is a seared breast of duck, with a walnut and onion crumble and celeriac. The tastes and flavours of duck and celeriac are cut with pomegranate and cranberries, adding a lightness to the dish.
The Roasted Warthog Loin was served with quince and coffee pudding, barley and caramelised rhubarb giving that contrast that defines the taste of the meat. Now I haven’t asked Eric about it directly, but he seems to be experimenting with flavours so that the taste of the whole dish is greater than the sum of its constituent parts. One flavour heightens another flavour, adding to the overall experience of the dish.
Cheese and fig slab.
Eric seems to do be doing this by instinct, which I love. Heston Blumenthal and his buddy Ferran Adria, need a chemical laboratory to help them conclude that snails and beetroot will work together as they share the same flavour molecule.
I much prefer this instinctual style of cooking. Eric’s food fires your imagination, tinkles your tastebuds and you will be thinking about it for weeks afterwards.
Eric Bulpitt is on a roll. He is off to the World’s No.1 restaurant in August for a 6 week stage with chef Rene Redzepi in NOMA, Copenhagen
The mind boggles at the thought of how this will push his skills further, and what he’ll do to the Jardine menu when he gets back.
Go to Jardine and eat the most exciting, inventive food being cooked and dished up in Cape Town right now.
Jardine Restaurant
185 Bree Street
021 424 5640
Autumn set menu R150. A la carte 2 courses R240. 3 Courses R280. 5 Course chefs menu R400. Wine pairing R350.
Eric Bulpitt.
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Wow Clare
This article is so flattering. You have put a big smile on my boys and my face.
Thanks so much
Eric
Well done Eric! What a write up! Awesome! Having known you for so long I am very happy to see where you got to! Brilliant! Continue to shine!
Dear Clare
Experiencing your passion for cooking, restaurants and food, as well as your understanding of chefs I only wish I could eat at every place you write about.
I have not experienced Chef Eric’s menu, but certainly look forward to doing so very soon. What you describe sounds so intriguing and tantalizing.
Kind regards
Sonia
I regard your picture of the West Coast Rock Pool as the most inspiring photograph of food that I’ve seen recently. Eric, if this is what your food looks like then the care to attention and the detail of presentation can be tasted even without putting it into one’s mouth… Well done!
Clare – superbly written review! Cannot agree with you more on Jardine – currently the best restaurant in Cape Town by far with so much thought and attention to detail put into every single dish on the menu. Eric – you should be very proud. Well Done!
q
The Westcoast Rockpool tastes even better than it looks! Out of this world.
Based on your recommendation, went to Jardine last night. Was absolutely blown away. Had the winter menus at R150. This has got to be the biggest bargain in town. A mussel starter,a lamb shank main with the meat off the bone, and an apple dessert. All faultless. The portions were huge to boot. In addition, an excellent cauliflower based amuse bouche, olives and pork crackling on the table with drinks, and warm bread. Washed down with a good Burgundy, for which I was charged R50 corkage. This is the first time I have been back to Jardine for a long time, as I was put off by snotty attitude and disappointing food in the past. Last night the service was impeccable. Thanks for the wake up call. Will be telling all my foodie friends.