Monday, April 17, 2023

In MENU this issue – De Warenmarkt, Péter-Louis van Dijk birthday concert, Silk restaurant



In this issue of MENU, we tell about two restaurant experiences and a very special concert – special to us because of close friendships with the people associated with the event. To see the full stories, click on the headlines and photographs and Read on…

Pre-concert early supper at De Warenmarkt, Stellenbosch

We decided to treat ourselves to an early dinner before the concert we would be attending at Stellenbosch University's Endler Auditorium. Because of Graduation at the University, many places were booked out. We ended up at a venue we are familiar with, De Warenmarkt, and could only have a table for two there by promising to be out by 6.30. Read on…

70th Birthday Concert for Péter-Louis van Dijk in the Endler Auditorium, Stellenbosch University

If you live in Cape Town and go to an evening concert in Stellenbosch, perhaps at the famous Endler Auditorium, you want to be there on time and perhaps stay the night afterwards so that you don’t have to drive home on the motorway in the dark.

We had a very special concert to go to; a celebration of the 70th Birthday of an old friend, composer Péter Louis van Dijk, conducted by his son Xandi van Dijk. Lynne was best friends with Péter's first wife, Susi Waldmann. They met at Girl Guides and she came to know Peter and the boys better when she returned to South Africa from England in 1993. Sadly, Susi died in 2000.

Peter has since remarried, to Junita, whom we have both come to know. They live in Port Elizabeth so we haven’t seen each other for too long. We tried to find affordable accommodation in Stellenbosch, but it was Graduation time at Stellenbosch University and the city was full. Read on…

Oriental tapas supper at Silk restaurant, Cape Town

It is Restaurant Week again but, actually, it’s Restaurant Month, as it will last for the whole of April. There are some really interesting restaurants, some very new restaurants and some impossibly expensive restaurants offering “specials" that we still can’t afford. Have a look, we are still considering where to go next.

Our first venture was to Silk restaurant, now part of the grouping of restaurants run by Faisal Khakoo and Anna Rascola, his  Catalonian wife, and Christophe and Sabrina Durand. Faisal and Anna own La Bohème and La Bruixa (the Witch) in Sea Point. Christophe and Sabrina own Bouchon in the premises of their Dorrance winery, in the same Heritage Square building. In partnership with Faisal, they serve excellent French style tapas there.

Silk is on the corner of Buitengracht and Shortmarket Street in what used to be the Africa Cafe ground floor premises. Parking is available in the square, but be aware that the area is now filled with very popular restaurants and it can be very crowded, especially on the weekend. Read on…

All the stories we have published can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in your email


Posted by MENU at 11:24 am 0 comments

Sunday, April 16, 2023

70th Birthday Concert for Péter-Louis van Dijk in the Endler Auditorium, Stellenbosch University

If you live in Cape Town and go to an evening concert in Stellenbosch, perhaps at the famous Endler Auditorium, you want to be there on time and perhaps stay the night afterwards so that you don’t have to drive home on the motorway in the dark

We had a very special concert to go to; a celebration of the 70th Birthday of an old friend, composer Péter Louis van Dijk, conducted by his son Xandi van Dijk. Lynne was best friends with Péter's first wife, Susi Waldmann. They met at Girl Guides and she came to know Peter and the boys better when she returned to South Africa from England in 1993. Sadly, Susi died in 2000

Peter has since remarried, to Junita, whom we have both come to know. They live in Port Elizabeth so we haven’t seen each other for too long. We tried to find affordable accommodation in Stellenbosch, but it was Graduation time at Stellenbosch University and the city was full

The Ender Auditorium, which has excellent acoustics

Gathering in the foyer, we met a couple of people we know and another who recognised us!

Time to take our seats and, fortuitously, Lynne had booked seats very close to where Péter was sitting in his wheelchair

The Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra "was founded by Prof Eric Rycroft in 1981
The aim of the orchestra is to provide music students with first-hand training for their profession,
as well as offer talented musicians studying other courses, experience in symphonic orchestral playing

They have an impressive organ, useful for the Saint-Saëns organ concerto (one of Lynne’s favourites)
All links to musical pieces are by kind permission of Xandi van Dijk

The programme


Conductor Xandi van Dijk about to conduct the first piece, About Nothing, which has an unusual choral beginning

He didn’t use a baton to conduct, just his whole body, full of rhythm and music

Xandi getting ready to play the piece his father wrote for him, Sarabande for Strings, on his viola
It brought so many happy memories and some very sad ones for Lynne; she had tears streaming down her face

If you want to hear some of the beautiful music, click on the links from Xandi van Dijk's Facebook page
The Mozart Adagio from Clarinet Concerto in A Major solo by family member Heidri Faber,
who now plays in an orchestra in Oslo, was sublime

The orchestra was supported by the Vox Chamber Choir for the performance of San Gloria
Huge applause for this piece and for the Brahms where the first movement was rather rumbunctious
and the last, and most familiar movement; the orchestra played like angels

It was time for some fun

Renowned composer Peter Louis van Dijk at 70

Matthijs van Dijk joins his brother Xandi to perform a narration for the finale of Musicians of Bremen


A much-performed piece, written by Péter Louis van Dijk many years ago when the boys were young
and the audience was asked to join in with the choir for part of a song in the programme
The performance was very lively

The joy of singing continued as we all joined in to sing Happy Birthday to Peter


A celebratory birthday hug and kiss for his father
after a splendid performance by Conductor Xandi van Dijk and the orchestra and choir

A hug from son Matthijs

The pleasure of receiving some gifts

Peter very happy with his present of some wine

and a hug and kiss from Peter's wife Junita

Xandi with his young son, who reminds Lynne very much of her friend Susi

All the stories we have published can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in your email

Posted by MENU at 5:28 pm 0 comments

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Pre-concert early supper at De Warenmarkt, Stellenbosch

We decided to treat ourselves to an early dinner before the concert we would be attending
at Stellenbosch University's Endler Auditorium
Because of Graduation at the University, many places were booked out
We ended up at a venue we are familiar with, De Warenmarkt,
and could only have a table for two there by promising to be out by 6.30

The last time we were there was for a function at which you could  find a place to sit and eat 
and choose dishes from different stalls. It now appears to be a conventional restaurant 
It has a good wine list featuring Stellenbosch wines

It has an interesting, if slightly limited, menu
so we were extremely conservative in what we ordered, given the time constraint
A dish of crisp fried baby calamari with a Vietnamese Nuoc Nam sauce, chips and a tartare sauce on the side
The calamari tubes were tender; the tentacles were crisp and so were the wedge potatoes
But, for some reason, they were covered in a very sweet sticky sauce and no sight of the Nuoc Nam?
A bit disconcerting and Lynne did query it with the very helpful and busy Manager
It was their version of Nuoc Nam, which is actually Vietnamese Fish sauce
Could the chef have meant it to be a Nuoc Cham dipping sauce,
which is made of  fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, palm sugar, lemon grass, chilli and garlic?
We were offered a new dish, but time was upon us and Lynne had eaten half of the dish so we declined

John ordered their famous Hamburger and was very happy with it ....

... one of the best he has had lately.  Lynne had a glass of Zevenwacht Sauvignon blanc
and John a Devil's Peak King's Blockhouse IPA and the bill came to R480 with service



All the stories we have published can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in your email

Posted by MENU at 1:45 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Oriental tapas supper at Silk restaurant, Cape Town

It is Restaurant Week again but, actually, it’s Restaurant Month, as it will last for the whole of April. There are some really interesting restaurants, some very new restaurants and some impossibly expensive restaurants offering “specials" that we still can’t afford. Have a look, we are still considering where to go next. Our first venture was to Silk restaurant, now part of the grouping of restaurants run by Faisal Khakoo and Anna Rascola, his  Catalonian wife, and Christophe and Sabrina Durand. Faisal and Anna own La Bohème and La Bruixa (the Witch) in Sea Point. Christophe and Sabrina own Bouchon in the premises of their Dorrance winery, in the same Heritage Square building. In partnership with Faisal, they serve excellent French style tapas there. Silk is on the corner of Buitengracht and Shortmarket Street in what used to be the Africa Cafe ground floor premises. Parking is available in the square, but be aware that the area is now filled with very popular restaurants and it can be very crowded, especially on the weekend

The entrance


We are, as you have probably gathered, rather fond of Asian food; the menu here is filled with things we love to eat
The special at the moment is three Asian tapas dishes for R255
and the servings certainly are big enough to share with your partner
All the dishes on the menu are tapas sized, Lynne was told by Christoph
and they have a good wine list and serve cocktails as well

We were given a very warm welcome by Christophe, Sabrina, Faisal and Anna


The restaurant was very busy and is obviously very popular


Attractive Asian style decor to get you in the mood

We were treated to a glass of local bubbly; we suspect, looking at the wine list, it was from Kleine Zalze
We loved the cute lamp on the table which makes menu reading much easier. 
The table is set with chopsticks and knives and forks
We liked the use of the mahjong tile as a chopstick rest

Bamboo, adding to the ambiance

Suitably inscrutable, imperious!
Relishing the food coming and really enjoying the glass of Dorrance Kama Chenin Blanc,
so French, so dry and layered in flavour and sophistication. A good serving and good glassware too

On the table was a dish of chilli oil and some fresh pickled cucumber which John enjoyed


More Asian decor

A smiling barman making sure everyone is served quickly and the glasses are polished


Page one of the menu, Oysters are extra

We stuck to the Tapas special but, on a return visit, we might add some sides like Noodles or Edamame beans

The wine list is helpful; if you are driving you only want one glass of wine

Some interesting choices, some favourites and a couple of new names

The first course to arrive was seared baby squid polpetti
with garlic, lemon and parsley and a Japanese tartare sauce. So tender, delicate with a hint of chilli
If you love squid, maybe not a dish to share.....




The next dish was perfection. Sesame crusted, just quickly flamed on the outside, Tataki tuna from the grill fire
The long fin tuna season is in full swing and this Tataki was perfectly flavoured, with exceptionally fresh pink tender tuna
If you are ever offered black tuna; refuse, it's old or bruised
The lively green apple salsa, daikon radish and the sesame oil and ponzu just lit it up




Another thing we are fans of is Soba noodles, especially as a cold salad in summer
We had asked what Christoph for a recommendation and he said to try the Steamed Fish
Lightly steamed fresh hake, falling into lovely flakes
and complimented by the subtle but present ginger, garlic and soy sauce, with lemongrass perfuming the dish
We recommend it too




There was quite a long pause between the first three dishes
The fourth was something we cannot resist on any Asian menu, dumplings
The Japanese call them Gyozo (these were called Yaki Gyozo) and were filled with pork and prawn,
very finely minced, so the prawn was a bit shy. Served with a sesame, ginger and chilli dipping sauce




Now, Bao can be contentious. In our world, they need to be light, airy, pillow soft and foldable
and able to hold the filling really well. Never stodgy and solid
These were just right, and the filling was the slightly sweet and five-spicy Char sui tender Pork belly
It  was delicious. The bao are topped with a rainbow slaw which adds texture and crunch
If sharing, we need four; sharing one could cause an argument ....


The final dish was the duck croquettes. Know that we can never resist duck on any menu
Crisply deep fried, Panko crumbed with a hint of their origin - Pekin Duck with Hoisin sauce


We could have ordered more, but, honestly, we were really replete
so we will have to come back to try some of the other items on the menu
Our bill, with service, came to R750. It’s a good offer

All the stories we have published can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in your email

Posted by MENU at 5:28 pm 0 comments
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