Graciales restaurant in the Peddlar's complex

When last we were invited to the Italian restaurant, Volare, at Peddlars & Co on the Spaanschemat River Road in Constantia, Chef Brad Ball told us that they had plans to open other restaurants in the complex. Just a month ago, they opened Graciales - the name is a blend of Gracias and Sociales and it's a tapas bar. On Friday, having accepted the invitation, we visited. Generously, they set a cab to fetch us and we had a lovely evening with great food

Peddlars by night

Graciales philosophy

Bright tiles and jam jar lights add a touch of difference

No frills on the tables, easy to clean and the cutlery comes in a tin can with paper serviettes

The sign on the wall near the bar

Craft beers on tap, wine specials, winter Glühwein and daily specials

We like the idea of the Peddlars winter specials! Especially if you finish early on a Friday

We started with a Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc, crisp and tropical

The restaurant starts filling up. We had just arrived, at 7 pm

The Tapas menu

With Tapas, you share all the dishes.Our first dish was one of the platters. Apparently it is one of Brad Ball’s specialities and customers insist it that it should be on the menu. Slow cooked lamb, accompanied by aubergine crisps, tzatziki, humus, a tomato relish with hot harissa paste and mini pita breads. You eat any combination you like, but we found everything together to be the best. De-lish-ous.

Next to share were the very tender, deep fried Calamari strips with a lemon mayo and the Asian Beef Tataki - very tender seared beef cut thin with an Asian dressing, black and white sesame seeds, spring onions and hot chillies. Basically a beef Carpaccio with Asian flavours

And finally, (sadly rather fatty) belly of pork and nicely salty edamame beans cooked in their pods. Edamame are green soya beans. We had this with some red wine. Lynne had Beau Constantia Pas de Nom and John Steenberg merlot. Someone needs to render some of that fat out, please

We shared the Petit Fours plate and had it with double espressos. One chocolate truffle and one rose turkish delight each and we halved the gooey mini lemon meringue tart. That meringue went everywhere

They have some superb aged wines in their vinoteque at quite reasonable prices for these vintages 
and these particular wines

Seating for the bar outside has a winter blind to keep out the weather

or you can enjoy bar snacks in the bar

It looks like a great place to meet friends

Cleaned down for the night as we left, having enjoyed our evening very much. The staff were great, especially our waiter, JP van Eeden. We were sad that Chef Brad was not there, but delighted to hear why. He was on his honeymoon!

The cab was waiting to take us home

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

Japanese Whisky tasting at Kyoto Garden restaurant

We have tasted Japanese whisky before, at a trade tasting, but we were very excited when we received an invitation to a tutored tasting of Nikka, the first whisky to be produced in Japan. It was held last week in the presence of The Japanese Consulate Head of Mission, His Excellency, Mr Mitsuru Murase, at Kyoto Gardens restaurant at 11 Kloof Nek Road

 In 1918, Masataka Taketsuru, whose family had been making fine sake since 1733, went to visit whisky refineries in Scotland to learn the secret of making Scotch whisky, which had captivated him. He studied at The university of Glasgow, the first Japanese ever to study the art of making whisky. He continued to work in the industry as an apprentice. He married his Scottish wife Jessie Roberta (Rita) and returned to Japan in 1920. In 1934 Masataka established Nikka Whisky, and built its first distillery in Yoichi, Hokkaido, and he eventually became a master blender

No one wants to do a whisky tasting and then drive, so we took the MyCiti Bus. The stop is at the bottom of our road. The trip, with one quick platform change in Adderley Street, took less than half an hour and it was in rush hour traffic

A pleasant street view of the far mountain from outside the restaurant; we arrived quite early

The whiskies laid out for the tasting

Kyoto Garden has whiskies from Suntory, who made the first Japanese whisky in 1924, but we didn't get to taste these

The tasting sheet for the 6 whiskies

Here they are, poured, with an accompanying glass of water to add after the first taste

Taygan Govinden with whisky presenter and writer Bernard Gutman

The amber light of whisky

Japanese beers

The line up. We started with the 2 single malts: Miyagikyo full of caramel, apricots and smoke with a soft vanilla honey perfume, pears and some salt. And the Yoichi NAS - Peat moss, herbaceous with red apple and caramel notes, a hot chilli tingle on the tongue and then toffee with cream. Both extremely pleasant and worth drinking. But not with too much water

The Japanese Consulate Head of Mission is His Excellency, Mr Mitsuru Murase, who gave the opening address

Whisky fundi Hector McBeth, a South African of Scottish descent, took us through the tasting and explained the whiskies to us, and showed us how to taste them, and how the Japanese, who are very fond of Scotch whisky, prefer to drink them. They add water and ice from a glacier, which sings in the glass. Sadly, we found that this seems to soften it a lot and, for us, it takes a lot of the flavour out of the whisky and it loses its alcohol heat, but that is the way they prefer it. The next was the Nikki Pure Malt Black - a blend of malts. Floral peaches and apricots with smoke and expensive wood notes. An oily glycerol mouthful , smoky bacon and tangerine fruit tingle that softens, with water, to peach juice. Then Nikka Coffey Grain, made with corn like a Bourbon had drum and burnt caramel and raisin on the nose, and Christmas pudding and caramel toffee on the palate. With water it turns to caramel milk chocolate like a Curly Whirly with whiffs of smoke

Japanese liqueurs and sake behind the sushi counter

Malu Copeland enjoying the tasting. The fifth whisky was the Nikka Coffey Malt; coconut and lime with herbs on the nose, silky and peaty with vanilla toffee and creamy milk chocolate on the palate . with water lactic caramel cream with a background of grapes and fruit

The final whisky was the Nikka from the Barrel, a blended whisky with 51.4% alcohol. This needed the glacial ice. Its nose was like prunes wrapped in bacon with smoky caramel. On the palate, red hot chilli caramel toffee and more prunes and bacon. With water, softer & more prunes and caramel

The sushi chef, Koshi Koyama, who has been with Scott Wood for 20 years, is a consummate expert at what he does

Saidi and his team in the kitchen, very important people

Some sashimi to cleanse our palates after the tasting, served with a clear sake, which had anise notes, rather like a pastis

and some sushi

The outside of the restaurant

The tasting notes. We enjoyed the tasting very much indeed and urge you all to try Japanese whisky when you have the opportunity. We did not find it to be like Scotch, but it is an excellent product in its own right. The water debate is up to you, it's entirely personal. Disclosure: We both have Scottish ancestry and have become familiar with it throughout our lives

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

This Week's MENU - Aegean Odyssey Part 4, Athens & Diakofto, Simonsig Vertical, Fork, Pears in red wine with choc ganache

Trees on the shore of the Gulf of Corinth

In this week’s MENU:

 Aegean Odyssey. Day 13: Athens to Diakofto

 Aegean Odyssey. Day 14: Diakofto

 To Simonsig to try on Tiaras       

 Ed Saunders’ Fork restaurant has been refurbished

 Pears in Red Wine with a Chocolate sauce

 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.

How are you coping with winter and the power cuts? The temptation is to hunker down in front of a fire or just stay in bed and eat comfort food. But out we must go and enjoy what the Cape has to offer. We seem to get most of our power cuts between 4 to 6.30 or 6 to 8.30 and Lynne now has a strategy worked out. A long hot bath with a gin and a good book wearing a head torch, then into the kitchen to cook a complicated but healthy meal on our gas hob and oven. John has enough battery power on his computer to last through almost the whole 2 and a half hours but he also enjoys reading. We will not let this get us down, but it is affecting friends and colleagues in business badly and we do wonder how long the country can tolerate this disruption.

To Simonsig to try on Tiaras       We had an early start to our trip to Simonsig, as we had the offer of a very greatly appreciated lift. Some events are hard to resist and the opportunity to taste through 7 vintages of this iconic Bordeaux-style blend, Simonsig's flagship wine, was indeed irresistible. Simonsig made their first serious red wine in 1984 from Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. In 1990, they made the first Tiara (released in 1992) and planted Merlot and more Cabernet. Cabernet Franc was added in 1992 and in 1997 Petit Verdot, after tasting Walter Finlayson's Grand Classique blend. Finally, in 2009, they added Malbec. Not all these grapes are used in each year's Tiara; the blend does vary according to their quality and what they add to the blend, and there have been some years when they didn't produce any. When Johan Malan took over as cellarmaster in 1998, he started to make classic red wines, having seen what Jan Boland Coetzee, Etienne Le Riche and other Stellenbosch wine producers had produced. He likes the style that Pauillac makes, and wines with the potential to last a long time.

Winemaker Debbie Thompson is also passionate about quality wines. Her first vintage was in 2000. They leave the grapes hanging longer on the vine these days, it doesn't give you more sugar, just more depth. When to pick and press is critically important. She says the most exciting part of her job is making the blends. You play with the tannins which give the wine its longevity, search out quality, know the characteristics of all the blocks and the put the best to barrel. And they do vary the wood used: Mainly French oak, with small amounts of American. She says it's like starting with Cabernet and then adding the salt and the pepper.

Following the tasting we had an excellent lunch in their restaurant Cuvée paired with more Simonsig wine. Read On....

Simonsig are having a Vintage day on the 15th of August and you can buy tickets to taste and buy these vintage wines. Go to the web site for more details. http://www.simonsig.co.za

Ed Saunders’ Fork restaurant has been refurbished     So, on Saturday night, a small crowd of his loyal guests, suppliers and also friends joined him at a cocktail party to celebrate the new space, introduce his new chef "Aristotle" and his new manager Emma Farquharson. Fork, which is a tapas bar, has been open now for 10 years and he felt it needed a fresh approach. It was a very social evening with lots of people we know, the Krone bubbly flowed like water and there was also wine from Beaumont, Elgin Ridge, Rustenberg and Warwick, with just a few canapés circulating overhead. Read on....

The Greek Odyssey continues ...

...with our last day in Athens and then our arrival in Diakofto on the Peloponnese and our visits to a local winery and restaurants

This week's recipe is Pears in Red Wine with a Chocolate sauce

Apples and pears are in season so it's one of the instant things to reach for when thinking of a dessert. This is simple to prepare and you can make it the day before to save time. If you can, use pears that have their stalks on. And use a nice easy drinking wine, nothing too sharp. You can use a corked wine as the taint disappears when it is cooked. Great if you have a really good wine that you can’t drink because its corked. This is for 4, double up if you need to.

4 firm pears - 1 bottle of red wine - 50g of sugar - 2 cloves - 3cm piece of cinnamon - 1 cardamom pod, crushed - a vanilla pod - 20g of chopped walnuts or pecans – 1 or 2 T sweetened chestnut purée or Nutella

Peel the pears carefully, leaving the stalks on. Remove the cores from the bottom, but do not break through to the surface of the pears. Take a small deep pan and arrange the pears in it, standing up if possible. Add the wine, which hopefully will cover the pears, sugar and the spices. Stir and add more sugar if you need to, it will depend on the ripeness of the peas and the wine. Simmer until the pears are soft but not falling apart. If possible, leave them to cool overnight in the wine. This will give them a lovely dark red colour. Mix the nuts with the chestnut puree and stuff the pears.

Strain the wine and reduce it until you have a syrupy sauce. Put a spoonful or two of the syrup into a pretty glass dish and top with a pear. You may serve these warm or cold accompanied by a jug of the red wine syrup, and the chocolate sauce, or with fresh cream if you prefer. If you want to decorate, you could add a mint leaf next to the stalk of the pear.

Easy chocolate ganache sauce

1 bar of 70% dark chocolate - 250 ml of fresh whipping cream

Break up the chocolate into a heat proof mixing bowl. Heat the cream in a pan until it reaches boiling point and, before it boils over, pour it directly onto the chocolate. Mix very well with a spoon and then, with an electric whisk, beat it until it begins to thicken slightly. Serve warm or cold.

COMING EVENTS:

Saturday, 11th July at 11:30 am "Old oak vs new oak" Tasting & Barrel Lunch at Beaumont, Bot River. An informal tasting and discussion with Sebastian on the influence of old & new oak on wine. Taste some of Beaumont's finest wines from barrel. Zest will be firing up the Oak Barrel Smoker for their delicious hot smoked salmon starter. A selection of special wines from the cellar will pair with this delicious seasonal menu. Menu & Wines @ R415 per head. Book online at http://www.beaumont.co.za/shop/beaumont-barrel-lunch-11th-july-2015/ or email nici@zestcatering.co.za

Saturday, 11th & Sunday, 12th July  Franschhoek Bastille Festival Food & Wine Hall, situated at the Town Hall. Entry is R120 per person, which includes a complimentary tasting glass, a booklet of tasting coupons as well as a R20 wine voucher to be used on the day. Additional coupons can be purchased on the day. Live entertainment will add extra flare and fun Children under 18 enter for free. Visit the website at www.franschhoekbastille.co.za for more info. Terms and Conditions apply

Saturday, 11th & Sunday, 12th July  Franschhoek Bastille Festival, Food & Wine Marquee, situated at the Huguenot Monument. Entrance tickets to the Franschhoek Bastille Festival Food & Wine Marquee cost R200 per person, which includes a complimentary tasting glass, a booklet of tasting coupons as well as a R20 wine voucher to be used on the day. Additional coupons can be purchased on the day. Live entertainment will add extra flare and fun. Visit the website at www.franschhoekbastille.co.za for more info. Terms and Conditions apply

Sunday, 12th July  Long Sunday Lunch with Bertus Basson at Vondeling, Voor-Paardeberg. Cost: R245.00 per person. Booking is essential. Contact Mariaan Harris on 021 869 8595, or email info@vondelingwines.co.za 

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

1st 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

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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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