Doolhof throws a wine and food extravaganza to showcase their new releases

This was held at La Mouette restaurant in Sea Point on Friday. Media and wine trade people had a lovely day inside at long tables warmed by the fireplace tasting through the wines and eating a delicious 5 course meal paired with them.

A warm welcome in the bar with a glass of the 2015 Cape Crane Chenin Blanc served with La Mouette’s signature truffle croquettes and a roasted garlic aioli. L to R Neil Proudfoot of Wine Concepts, Broadcaster Guy McDonald, Luvo Ntezo, Sommelier at The One and Only Hotel, Blogger Julian Richfield and Lynne

Two warm rooms set up for lunch and the tasting

The wines to be served

The Doolhof presence

Broadcaster Guy McDonald, Johané Nielson from Tuis/Home magazine and Cathy Marsden of WSET

Taking our seats

General Manager Johan Fourie tells us what is happening on Doolhof and about the 10 new wines they are about to release, which represent the three tiers of Doolhof’s wine portfolio, The Signature range, The Doolhof Legends of the Labyrinth range, as well as the Cape Series range

New winemaker Gielie Beukes, who is, to quote from the press pack "an exceptional winemaker with local and international winemaking experience, (who) says the wines speak of nature and man working respectfully together in harmony." He has been in the wine industry for 13 years and has worked in Paarl, Franschhoek, Stellenbosch , the Overberg and also spent several years overseas, most notably in Bordeaux

The menu

The first course (of 5) before....

...the soup is added. Celeriac soup, soft baked celeriac, apple slivers, and king mushrooms with a truffle dressing. Absolutely perfect, a creamy velouté with lovely added accents and the perfect match for the 2015 Sauvignon Blanc. We found it fought a bit with the crisp 2015 Chardonnay

The second course from wizard chef Henry Vigar: House cured duck ham and duck liver parfait served with a rhubarb, pistachio and port syrup. The dish was topped with long pieces of melba toast. It was very rich and satisfying and delightful with both the fruity 2012 Signatures Malbec and the savoury 2012 Single Vineyard Cabernet Franc

The 3rd course was a smoky mash, on top of a small portion of rich concentrated beef shin marmalade with charred onion slices. It was like the deepest savoury stew you have ever eaten, very comforting food. It was served with a beef consommé poured on the dish at the table. This came with the Signatures 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, soft and sweet on the nose, more grippy tannins on the cassis palate; and the elegant Lady in Red 2009 Bordeaux blend full of violets, cassis, chocolate and mulberries with lots of dark wood on the end

Making notes as Johan talks about the wine pairing

The other table enjoying their lunch and wine

Swirling glasses, reading the notes, tasting and making notes too

Tasting portions of two wines - we only taste, we do not get through a lot of wine at these lunches, as many have to drive afterwards

The 4th course, the main one was Crispy lamb shoulder and some perfectly cooked fillet. Lynne thought it was a portion too large to contemplate but is disappeared. It was served with some pickled turnips, blackened wild garlic, buffalo fromage blanc, a watercress puree and some puffed barley which added a nice crunch of texture. The paired wines were the 2011 Legend of the Labyrinth Theseus - amaretto cherries on the nose, rhubarb fruit with dark wood on the palate. And the 2013 Single Vineyard Pinotage. Herbaceous and meaty on the nose made it a great match with the lamb

Journalists Graham Howe and Maryna Strachan in deep discussion

5th and last course was almost the bridge too far: Warm oozy sticky chocolate brownies with smoked caramel, rich coffee cream, a hazelnut ice cream and amaretto jelly. Paired with the Legend of the 2013 Labyrinth Dark Lady, a coffee chocolate Pinotage, with sweet fruit and a long aftertaste

Johan and Gielie with Pearl Oliver, Sommelier at the Mount Nelson Hotel

The tasting organising team: Winemaker Gielie Beukes, PRO Nicolette Waterford, Tasting room manager Susan Smit & General Manager Johan Fourie

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
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This Week's MENU - Glen Carlou, Big Green Egg, Baleia Wines, Dinners at Dash & Burrata, Pea & Ham Soup, July events

A stormy winter Sea Point sea

In this week’s MENU:

 Glen Carlou Media Lunch

 Big Green Egg Cookoff at the Food Barn

 Baleia Wines launch dinner at The Twelve Apostles Hotel

 Dinner at Dash

 Supper at Burrata

 Le Quartier Français

 Pea and Ham soup

 Coming events

 Learn about wine and cooking

We write about our experiences in MENU, not only to entertain you, but to encourage you to visit the places and events that we do. We know you will enjoy them and we try to make each write up as graphic as we can, so you get a good picture of what is on offer at each place, restaurant, wine farm, festival we visit. To get the whole story with photographs, please click on “Read on.....” at the end of each paragraph, which will lead you to the related blog, with pictures and more words. At the end of each blog, click on RETURN TO MENU to come back to the blog version of MENU.

As we write this, our house is filled with the wonderful aromas of thick Pea and Ham soup cooking on the stove. And the air is filled with huge gusts of wind. Cape Town has had one of its monumental winter gales for the last couple of days and last night was quite hairy as the gusts of wind sounded like express trains heading for the house, which sometimes shook so badly that we wondered if windows would implode or if we would be moved centimetres down our high hill. The sea was like whipped meringue, so white with foam and, today, we see people on roofs inspecting and replacing missing tiles. Our koi pond swimming pool is full of table tops, our Weber lid, and other windblown detritus for John to remove before it sinks beneath the water weed. Hopefully the ships in the bay have held fast to their anchors.

It has been a week filled with eating and no doubt we have gained several kilos in weight. But as always, it has been enjoyable and sometimes a lot of fun.

Glen Carlou Media Lunch      Glen Carlou, whose wines we know and love, have a new Winter Menu and they wanted the media to come and taste it. So, last Wednesday, we were transported to the lovely farm on the Simondium Road for a great day. They have a really good restaurant, should you need somewhere to eat when in that area of the winelands, with a very talented Executive Chef, Johan Stander, and the food is expertly paired with the food. They change the menu with the seasons. With beautiful views out towards Agter Paarl, we would encourage you to visit. They also have the art gallery containing the Hess Art Collection. See what great food and wine we had....

Big Green Egg Cookoff at the Food Barn      Wow, how much fun is it being invited to a Masterchef type cook-off using a mystery box of food and what is, to us, a completely new piece of equipment, The Big Green Egg - a mix of a ceramic pizza oven and a kettle braai. Its heat can be controlled if you know how, there is even a temperature gauge on the outside, but it was a huge learning experience - and we did get some help with its operation the previous weekend, at Bastille Day in Franschhoek. Our judges were Abigail Donnelly of Eat Out Magazine, Chef Reuben Riffel and Chef Patron at the Food Barn, Frank Dangereux. What did we cook? How did we do? Read On.....

Baleia Wines launch dinner at The Twelve Apostles Hotel      Baleia Winery in Riversdale wanted to introduce their new wine labels, designed by renowned Graphic Artist Anthony Lane, to the trade and Media. They did it at a celebration dinner at the 12 Apostles Hotel on Friday evening. It was another really stormy night, but most of the invited made it despite the deluge and a great evening was had by all. Read On.....

Dinner at Dash      We were invited to visit and sample the elegance and fine dining menu at Dash restaurant this week and it was great to have a drink and a chat in the bar on Saturday night with Neil Markovitz, Managing Director of Newmark Hotels, before we went through to our table in the restaurant. It's in the Five Star Queen Victoria Hotel, not quite in the Waterfront, but on a hill above, where it overlooks the Craft Market and the dock and you approach it from Portside Road. Read on.....

Supper at Burrata      We don't often visit Woodstock these days, but decided to book at Burrata at the Old Biscuit Mill for supper with friends this week. One friend is a huge fan of mozzarella cheese, especially the really creamy burrata, and she had not yet experienced this version of the creamy and beautifully made cheese which they serve and from which they take their name. Read on.....

Interesting news     We thought you might be interested to know that Le Quartier Français Hotel and Restaurant in Franschhoek has been sold to the Leeu Collection, owned by Analjit Singh and his family, This latest acquisition forms part of Leeu Collection, as Singh (aka BAS) looks to offer a range of sophisticated escapes and unique wine land experiences. Leeu Collection comprises, in the first phase: Leeu Estates, a 21-room, five-star luxurious boutique hotel and winery in the Franschhoek valley; and Leeu House, an exclusive and private five-star, 12-room boutique hotel in the Franschhoek village, set for a phased opening from the last quarter of 2015. And yes, Chef Margot Janse will remain in charge of the restaurant.

This week’s recipe is the said Pea and Ham soup     It is a very simple recipe, it just needs a bit of vegetable chopping. If you don't eat pork or meat, leave it out. You could perhaps try making it with some smoked beef or pastrami? It works well as a nice thick vegetable soup. If you want the smoky flavour, you could add some smoked paprika. Add some croutons for texture when serving.

1 T olive oil -1 large onion - 2 celery stalks - 2 peeled carrots - 1 leek - 1 turnip - -1 cup of green split peas - 1 smoked ham hock - 3 litres of water or chicken or vegetable stock. - salt and freshly ground black pepper - 1 small dried chilli (optional) for some heat

Finely dice all the vegetables and, starting with the onion, sweat them off in your large soup pot (Lynne uses her pressure cooker, but not under pressure) for about 10 minutes. Then add the peas, water or stock and the ham hock. Cover and simmer for several hours until the peas have disintegrated and the meat is falling off the bone. Remove it and take off the skin and the fat and put the meat back into the pot. You may have to top up the water during cooking, and do stir regularly to stop it sticking on the bottom. Taste, season and serve topped with croutons. This will make several servings; you can freeze some for another cold night.

Coming Events:

Friday, 24th July at 19h00  Italian Dinner at Ottimo Cibo. Nikki Booth spends many weeks a year at her home in Orvieto, understands Italian cooking deeply and passionately, and put Caroline Rillema and her together at one table and you have a veritable feast of food and wine. One long table in Nikki’s magnificent home setting in Bishopscourt sets the scene for a 4-course meal served with (all top end single-vineyard) Gavi, Barbaresco, Barolo; then Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and the most sublime Moscato d’Asti you can imagine. R900 p/p all included. At 15 Winchester Avenue, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town. To book, please fill in the booking form.

Saturday 25th July   Winelands Chocolate Festival at Lourensford Wine Estate. A culinary celebration of the best in the South African Chocolate Industry.The Winelands Chocolate Festival exhibitors list is growing daily, check back regularly to find out who’s exhibiting and what confections and cocoa concoctions will be on display. Book your tickets. View detailed flyer HERE (PDF)

Saturday, 25th July, 10h30 until 16h00  Mini Port Festival at Muratie Estate, in conjunction with Juvenal Corks. Cost: R100 per person including a tasting glass. Due to limited space, visitors are advised to book in advance. Telephone: 021 865 2330 or Email: info@muratie.co.za

Wednesday, 29th July 6.30pm for 7pm   “Christmas In July” Meet the Winemaker Dinner with Jordan Wines at Southey's. To book a table, email info@southeysbistro.co.za or call 021 851 6060.

Wednesday, 29th July AROUND THE WORLD WITH INGREDIENTS at Durbanville Hills. Beat the winter chill with an interactive food- and wine-pairing evening with ingredients from around the world, led by chef, Louisa Greeff, and Durbanville Hills winemakers. A sausage-making demonstration will be followed by snacks and a three-course meal which includes a variety of sausages from chorizo to bratwurst and fleischwurst and even chocolate salami, paired with a selection of wines from Durbanville Hills’ three wine ranges. The cost is R395 per person for the interactive demonstration, snacks, three course meal, wine and coffee. Booking is essential as seats are limited. To book or for more information, contact Simone Brown on 021 558 1300 or send an email to sibrown@durbanvillehills.co.za. 

Wednesday, 29th July, 17h00 to 21h00     Caroline's Annual Red Wine Review  at the Table Bay Hotel @ R200 p/p which includes a crystal tasting glass & programme. Bookings open at Computicket now (no bookings through shop)

Thursday, 30th and Friday, 31st July, 17h00 to 21h00 FNB Free State Wine Show at Emoya Hotel and Conference Centre, 7 Kleynhans Avenue, Groenvlei, Bloemfontein. www.freestatewineshow.co.za for a full list of exhibitors from end of June. Ticket Price: R150 (includes unlimited tastings and wine tasting glass); no under 18s, nor babies and prams. A complimentary show guide includes producer information and informative notes on wine variety characteristics, food matching and serving temperatures. Tickets can be purchased via www.computicket.com, Money Market counters in Shoprite Checkers stores and at the door, subject to availability. Enquiries:   011 482 5936/5/4

Friday 31st July 19h00 for 19h30  The Drift Farm Food & Wine Pairing Dinner at Azure Restaurant at The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa. R545 per person (includes wine, water, tea and coffee) Bookings are essential: contact restaurant reservations on 021 437 9029 or restaurants@12apostles.co.za

Friday, 31st July, 18h30 for 19h00. Avondale’s “Once in a Blue Moon” La Luna Dinner with Bertus Basson. A superb 6-course meal paired with Avondale’s wines. Dress: Smart. Cost: R950 per person. RSVP to Caelli on wine@avondalewine.co.za or 021 863 1976 best before 10th July

Click here for details of more exciting events

Learn about wine and cooking We receive a lot of enquiries from people who want to learn more about wine. Cathy Marston and The Cape Wine Academy both run wine education courses, some very serious and others more geared to fun. You can see details of Cathy’s WSET and other courses here and here and the CWA courses here. Karen Glanfield has taken over the UnWined wine appreciation courses from Cathy. See the details here

The Hurst Campus, an accredited school for people who want to become professional chefs, has a variety of courses. See the details here

In addition to his Sense of Taste Culinary Arts School, Chef Peter Ayub runs a four module course for keen home cooks at his Maitland complex. Details here

Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse has French cooking classes in Noordhoek and conducts cooking tours to Normandy. You can see more details here

Emma Freddi runs the Enrica Rocca cooking courses at her home in Constantia

Nicolette van Niekerk runs baking courses at La Petite Patisserie in Montague Gardens

George Jardine will be running a series of winter cooking courses and other activities at Jordan. Details here

15th July 2015

PS If a word or name is in bold type and underlined, click on it for more information

Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169

Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005

Our Adamastor & Bacchus© tailor-made Wine, Food and Photo tours take small groups (up to 6) to specialist wine producers who make the best of South Africa’s wines. Have fun while you learn more about wine and how it is made! Tours can be conducted in English, German, Norwegian and standard or Dutch-flavoured Afrikaans.

If you like the photographs you see in our publications, please look at our Adamastor Photo website for our rate card and samples from our portfolio

We apologise if MENU caused your phone to bleep in the early hours. To send to our huge list of subscribers takes a long time and many of them receive it in the middle of the night. Might we suggest that your phone should not be activated to receive messages from us or from other sources in the witching hours? If your boss needs to contact you at that time, (s)he’s intruding on your valuable personal time.

Recommendations of products and outside events are not solicited or charged for, and are made at the authors’ pleasure. All photographs, recipes and text used in these newsletters and our blogs are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are usually unsolicited. We prefer to pay for our meals and not be paid in any way by anyone. Whether we are invited or go independently, we don’t feel bad if we say we didn’t like it. Honesty is indeed our best policy. While every effort is made to avoid mistakes, we are human and they do creep in occasionally, for which we apologise. Our Avast! ^® Anti-Virus software is updated at least daily and our system is scanned continually for viruses.

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Supper at Burrata, The Old Biscuit Mill, Woodstock

We don't often visit Woodstock these days, but decided to book at Burrata at the Old Biscuit Mill for supper with friends this week. One friend is a huge fan of mozzarella cheese, especially the really creamy burrata, and she had not yet experienced this version of the creamy and beautifully made cheese which they serve and from which they take their name.

Inside, the restaurant is warm and cosy from the fire in the Pizza oven

The Menu

They told us the Pizza oven runs at 450⁰C so the Pizzas cook in just a minute and a half

We took along a bottle from our cellar of Bosman's Wine Club selection Dry Red, made from Nero d'Avola to go with the Italian style food they serve. They allow only one bottle per group and the corkage is R65. We had it decanted and it did go extremely well  with the food. We also ordered a bottle of Beaumont Chenin Blanc, another great match. Nero d'Avola was propagated by Bosmans from Sicilian cuttings. It has Wine and Spirit Board approval, but this had not been published in the Government Gazette when the wine was made in 2013, so it had to be labelled non-vintage Dry Red

The Maitre d', Warren Dauncey, pouring our wine

Burrata is a cream filled mozzarella cheese. Here it is served with preserved figs, green olive oil and some crisp flat breads. It does also come with prosciutto (ham) crumbs if you eat meat

The first Pizzas we have had in a very long while. This was Lynne's choice - the De Mare: Prawns, squid, garlic and aioli with chilli.  Absolutely superb

Friend Ronnie ordered the simple Capperi: a tomato base with white anchovies and capers. Very intense, very southern Italy, he loved it

John had the Prosciutto e arugula. A tomato base topped with mozzarella, Parmigiano reggiano, prosciutto and fresh rocket

We rewarded ourselves with dessert.  Lynne had the Vanilla panna cotta with a hazel and chocolate dacquoise with the delicious mixed berry sorbet and roasted pear

Loraine had the white chocolate custard served with almond amaretti biscuits and a dark chocolate gelato, fresh strawberries and chocolate sand

And the boys had the decadent dark chocolate cremoso, with small caramel filled cannoli, pistachio cream and a pineapple sherbet. They were in their element

We finished a good meal with coffees and grappa, but not for the driver.  The bill came to R1110 including tip. It's a special occasion Pizza restaurant
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

Dinner at Dash - The Queen Victoria Hotel in the V&A Waterfront

We were invited to sample the elegance and the fine dining menu at Dash restaurant this week. It was great to have a drink and a chat in the bar with the Managing Director of Newmark Hotels, Neil Markovitz on Saturday night, before we went through to our table in the restaurant. It's in the five star Queen Victoria Hotel, not quite in the Waterfront, but on the hill above, where it overlooks the Craft Market and the dock. You approach it from Portswood Road, through the entrance to The Portswood complex (passing the Portswood Hotel on your left, after driving through the entrance portal). Ask the attendant at the Queen Vic to show you where to park

A Pomegranate Martini. They also have an Elderflower Martini; worth a visit just for these
The seating in the bar was quite popular with friends meeting throughout the evening

White leather seats, slate grey metal topped tables and gleaming glassware all make for understated elegance

There is a long terrace through the French doors, for summer outdoor dining

The interesting and varied wine list's selection of wines by the glass

The full 25 page wine list can be seen here

Mushroom truffle butter and lemon butter with good warm bread. We had glasses of Neil Ellis Sauvignon Blanc and, from the bar, Iona Chardonnay with our starters

First, a small amuse from the kitchen, steak with capers and orange

We did our usual thing with the starters, we ordered two; we wanted to taste and shared them. This is the light and airy, perfectly cooked, twice baked gorgonzola soufflé, accompanied by a scoop of gorgonzola cream and biltong slices. It was really complemented by the crushed hazelnuts. We should have had one each!

Our second starter was tempura prawns with pickled vegetables and a white and black sesame emulsion. The prawns were excellent, so fresh and sweet, but the batter had gone a bit soggy

Our lovely waitress for the evening was Zameka Matina, so professional, so informative and so friendly. Here she pours Lynne her wine for her main course, a Springfield Unwooded Chardonnay

Three excellent crayfish tails with more of those pickled vegetables, served with a spicy aioli on a bed of saffron orzo (rice shaped pasta.) No sharing on this course, although Lynne did give John a morsel to taste

John went traditional on his main course, the grilled and very tender fillet of beef served on mash, rather than the spinach puree mentioned on the menu, and a 'melange' of vegetables with an excellent jus. He had this with a glass of the Rupert & Rothschild Classique

After a good relaxing pause, we approached the desserts. Lynne wanted something light, so took Zameka's advice and went with the Coconut Panna Cotta topped with a toffeed slice of lime, accompanied by a really refreshing and delicious lime sorbet and a passion fruit coulis, on shavings of coconut. This was the first time we have had panna cotta made with coconut milk. It was a little like junket

John's choice was rather predictable for the chocoholic he is: A hot chocolate fondant, cooked perfectly with a good oozy centre, served with an orange ice cream and a caramel sugar disk

The food is all excellent and beautifully presented. We think this smart and elegant but relaxed restaurant is for special occasions, high days and pay days for most South Africans. Do go and investigate, we think you will enjoy it

This amazing bonsai banyan tree is in the foyer of the hotel

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
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