An
Alice in Wonderland moment ended Lynne's birthday lunch on Friday at La Colombe. And the second
stumble. John had booked and we were so excited to go to try out their winter
special which is R295 for 3 courses (till 30th September) We figured we would
include a bottle of wine or a couple of glasses so budgeted on R400 pp. Their
menu is normally beyond our budget and we have heard such great reports of the
food and service. It was a lovely sunny day and they gave us a great table with
a view of the back of Table Mountain and the valley below. Then we discovered
that they don't do the special on Fridays. Ooops. Oh well, the Barclaycard came
out and we had a splendid meal and a great experience, but it just cost about
two and a half times the amount than we had budgeted for. Always check your
facts!
Inside the airy and spacious
restaurant
We cannot go anywhere nowadays without
someone knowing us. Our waiter Daine and waitress Lucille came to say hello
immediately we arrived, and we know the sommelier Joseph Dafana from his time
at Dear Me
The witty starter is Tinned Tuna. A
delicious mix of seared tuna, dusted with sesame, with some tuna ceviche,
avocado, small slices of shiitake mushroom and really good ginger ponzu
dressing, served with good bread and a flavoured butter, hand churned in the
kitchen
We ordered two glasses of Constantia Uitsig
MCC to set the tone for the birthday.
Their current à la Carte menu
The food and wine pairing menu, which
we chose
The wine pairing with the next course
was the Dirty Julie Stellenbosch Verdelho from Publik
With this, John had the just-poached
oyster, served on seaweed and apple with lemon and caviar. He said it tasted of
the sea
Lynne alternative course (she can’t
eat oysters) was a gentle creamy mushroom risotto topped with a creamy, sweet
caramelised shallot, perfectly cooked iron rich spinach, a baby turnip, and pea
shoots. The risotto had the correct 'bite'
A wine from an old friend came next, Arendsig's 2014 Blok A15 Chardonnay from Lourens van der Westhuizen of Bonnievale
Its rich crispness was lovely foil for
the quail - both a pan seared breast and a confit leg, served with a quenelle
of goats’ cheese fondant and then they add a celeriac and truffle espuma sauce
to the bowl. Rich, earthy and satisfying
Next, we were served a red wine bread roll
with some spicy lardo (dripping) with anchovy sprinkled with dried flakes of
bacon crumbs. This was to accompany the next dish
The lardo
Cederberg's Bukettraube 2014
Slippery seared foie with a meaty
langoustine, roasted hazelnuts (inspired and it added great texture),and a jasmine
tea broth. The broth was slightly sweet and citrusy, as was the wine.
Underneath was a poached piece of bitter chicory, which went perfectly with the
red wine roll and the lardo, so almost two dishes in one
A rest was needed and then came the
magic. “A palate cleanser of Passion fruit and thyme”, said the menu. What
appeared was what looked like white chocolate truffles. They were set on agate
and quartz pebbles. We were instructed not to eat the pebbles but to put the
whole spheres into our mouths where they broke immediately, spilling the
beautifully refreshing passion fruit and lime sauce. A nice touch of molecular
gastronomy, an enjoyable and surprising sensation. Yes the hint of thyme was
there
Next wine pairing was the Driehoek
2012 Pinot Noir
Lynne is crazy about scallops - she
simply doesn't get enough of them here, so loves to find it on a menu. Pairing
it with pork is adventurous, but we would expect nothing more from a chef like
Scott Kirton. One perfectly seared scallop, a small square of sticky Asian
flavoured pork topped with kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage), pork scratchings,
sweetcorn purée and a lemongrass and ginger velouté. And the Pinot Noir added
so much to the dish. The only thing Lynne didn't like was the kimchi. Its
sourness took away something from the dish and from the wine.
A close up of the dish
Chef Scott Kirton changes the menu
often and uses lots of local ingredients when he finds them
Idiom's 2011 zesty Zinfandel from the
Helderberg
And when you think you cannot do
another course, they tempt you with Karoo lamb chop, a morsel of perfectly
cooked meaty tongue with a herb crust, which even John relished, a soft pillow
of rosemary gnocchi, a turnip, sprouting broccoli, a herb purée and a good lamb
rib jus
And yes, we can just manage a light
dessert. Especially when it comes with Shannon's Macushla 2012 Noble Late
Harvest Pinot Noir from Elgin. Macushla means the beat of my heart, or darling
in Gaelic and this is a darling of a sweet wine with 132 g/l residual sugar
Titled Rhubarb, Strawberry and
Elderberry, it was a tiny rhubarb topped financier cake with a strawberry purée
with cream and elderberry ice cream, the plate dusted with fruit powder
And, with coffee, some friandise: Pebbles
of caramel toffee, fruit jellies and truffles, liquid inside
Another of the great staff who really
looked after us, Lucille Lynham
And then came the Alice in wonderland
moment. As we sat gazing down the valley through the vineyard which is soon to
be, Lynne spotted the white rabbit hopping busily on his business
And when we drove out there was this
very cute black bunny munching its way through the grass
Not at all frightened by us or the
car, so obviously once a pet
And there was the white rabbit again,
joining the black bunny. Soon, if what we hear about rabbits is true, the woods
will be full of them
Our bill for the lunch. Can't wait for
next winter's special
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
Subscribe to MENU
