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Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Lunch at The Restaurant, Newton Johnson Vineyards, Hemel en Aarde Valley

As we were in the valley for the weekend, we wanted to try out this restaurant which we had not visited since its change of chef from Erik Bulpitt to Rickey Broekhoven. They had told us that they wanted to do less fine dining and more artisanal food. Chef Rickey was sous chef to Erik Bulpitt. It is good to see such a young and talented chef - he is only 26 - take charge of his own kitchen. He did his training at the TCA under Rebecca Hurst and has lots of good experience locally and overseas while he climbed the kitchen tree. He has worked in good restaurants in Sweden and with several respected South African chefs

The winter vineyards in front of the winery on the hill. We saw that one of the cover crops is broad beans. Can't wait to have some in the restaurant

Inside the restaurant

It has an informal open kitchen

It has wonderful views over the valley and down to the sea with Hangklip in the distance

The menu of the day. Quite small and simple, but choices for most

First they bring lovely sweet sourdough bread with a good chewy crust, served with whipped lard - bread and dripping!

As we had done two wine tastings already that morning (driver John does spit!), we decided to play safe and go with wine by the glass and, as we were having the same starter, we shared a glass of 2016 South End Chardonnay. The restaurant was happy for us to share a glass and poured it into two glasses. Golden loquats on the nose with orange and tangerine notes on the crisp and rich palate ending with a light toast

We ordered the deep fried duck bitterballen, a great reminder of our holiday in the Netherlands. A crisp crumb crust with a soft, creamy shredded duck centre. Good soft mustard sauce with a little kick complemented the bitterballen and the wine

We decided that each of us would order one of the main courses, eat half then swap. John started with the tender loin of Eland, served nicely pink. This came with seared onion rings and wood sorrel and a lovely onion sauce. We suspect that the Eland had been in buttermilk; it gives it an unmistakable tenderness. John ordered a glass of the Full Stop Rock red blend to go with our main courses

We cracked and ordered one serving of the Hand cut Fries with aioli. They are very good indeed. Nicely crisp

Lynne began with the Beef ragout, covered with a blanket of mashed potato and cream - which reminded her of the Greek Skordalia sauce - braised cabbage and a broad bean pesto. The ragout was intense and very rich. The beef tasted as if it had been smoked and some pieces were almost like ham, and then added to the rich jus rather than cooked together. The pesto added good green notes and was also rich. A great find on the plate was some lovely flakes of crisp roast potato

We skipped dessert and, over our very good double espressos chatted about training, restaurants food, experience and life to chef Rickey and manager Theo van Niekerk for ages. What nice, enthusiastic young men. The menu changes regularly. We will be back

The bill

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MENU's Wine of the Week. Bartho Eksteen's Wijnskool Blom Rosé

This palest of pale rosé wines is made from Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah and a dash of Viognier. Bartho took a risk. He says the grapes were producing such beautiful juice this year that he blended the juice first and then made the wine. It's a risk, and very hard to repeat.

The wine was so pale that he had to add a dash of red to give it some colour and it still very pale. It has produced a delicate wine, with a floral perfume of rose geranium on the nose and the palate. If you close your eyes it smells and tastes like a gentle Rhône red wine, but it is so pale. Pure gorgeousness, how all rosé's should be. We cannot wait for summer holiday lunches on the deck. R98 a bottle from the farm

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Tasting in the Hemel en Aarde Valley - Bartho Eksteen

We spent the weekend in the Hemel and Aarde Valley at a friend's 70th birthday celebrations and much fun was had. As part of the celebration, they had arranged to have an informal tasting with winemaker Bartho Eksteen on his property Die Wijnskool. Bartho was in great form. He told us he prints all his wine labels in Afrikaans only. He says the French, Italians, Germans and Spanish do it, so why not him. He reassured those who do not speak Afrikaans that, if you want to know about the wine, his web site and all sales material is in English

The wine that absolutely blew us away was Bartho's Rosé entitled Blom (flower). We liked this pale blush wine so much that, not only did we buy a case, but it is also our Wine of the Week. You can read about it in detail

Bartho, who was the winemaker of the year in 2010, is always good value; he is a great raconteur with many amusing anecdotes and lots of wine wisdom. He runs a Wine Academy for school children from Grade 8 to Matric, giving them a great start to a career in the wine industry when they leave school. We also tasted and enjoyed. Diners Club sponsored the school until last year; he is actively looking for new sponsors

These were the wines we tasted, starting with his Sauvignon Blanc called Meester (school master) which has a tiny dash of Semillon. Fig and green grapes, clean and crisp with long flavours, in the New Zealand Style. He went there with his Winemaker of the Year bursary. This is a great food wine for dishes with rich sauces. Ouskool (Old school) is his Rhône style red and the Wijnskool Sauvignon Blanc, NZ on the nose with green fig leaves and elder flowers and then in the more tropical style on the palate with full flavours; and the Wijnskool Tree of Knowledge Shiraz, meaty and spicy with toast and licorice on the end

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Tasting in the Hemel en Aarde Valley - Creation

Creation co-owners JC and Carolyn Martin were at the Birthday party we attended on Saturday night and they asked us to visit the farm next day so, as the day was beautiful and we were not due for lunch at Newton Johnson till 1pm, we decided to take the short trip up the valley

There is a lovely view of Babylonstoren mountain over the Creation farm dam and vineyards

We were seated next to the fire in the tasting room

It is wide open and full of light, with more beautiful views and it is very wheelchair and disabled friendly

Phillip Marais, Creation’s restaurant manager, was working hard keeping all the groups happy who had come for tastings and lunch. They have a very diverse menu of many delights. We have promised to come back soon to experience the new Story of Creation seven course wine and food pairing menu. You can have a 10am Brunch pairing, a Kiss and Tell Pairing and a smaller 3 course pairing menu, Cheese pairings, Charcuterie pairings, a Paradoxical Wine and Chocolate pairing, even a Non-Alcoholic pairing for those who prefer not to imbibe and also a young Adults’ Menu. AND you can even do a 40 minute walk among the vineyards and the fynbos with a dedicated guide. Check out their website for all the details

We began with the classic 2016 barrel matured Sauvignon Blanc. And the elegant peachy Viognier. All the wines are served in the correct Riedel glasses

Then the lovely 2016 Chardonnay, rather French in style, with a Southern nose of golden fruit and the very special top wine, The Art of Chardonnay. Owner-Winemaker JC Martin had joined us by then and we had long discussions about our mutual love for this varietal and its expression. As it says in Platter, this wine is not easily forgotten, with vanilla oak, with a tingle on the tongue, good depth and clean minerality, very much in the Burgundy style. We loved it

A taste of their Elation MCC Brut Nature, a lovely celebratory wine; 80% Chardonnay 20% Pinot Noir. Beautifully in balance, crisp and dry with minerality and restraint

Then the two Pinot Noirs. The 2016 has violets on the nose and palate, is lightly toasted and has lovely fruit. The Art of Pinot shows soft, sweet elegant fruit on the nose, On the palate, the soft berry fruit shows more elegance, soft tannins, some light toast and good minerality. JC says that this year is the best and we agree. It is layered with a hint of licorice on the end, SO delicious

JC Martin enjoying his wine, as were we

The 2015 Reserve Merlot is in the French St Émilion style, but SA's version of the best St Émilion fruit, with riper berry flavour; still elegant and carefully crafted, but we are warmer than France

Carolyn Martin was then able to join us for a short while before we had to be on our way to our lunch booking. We finished with a tank sample of the Shiraz Grenache - one of our favourites, but currently sold out. It's a meaty, spicy, rich fruit Grenache influenced wine, savoury and umami; a "FOOD NOW!" wine. They are certainly doing such innovative things. All the wines score 4 stars and above in Platter and deserve them, and more

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Breakfast at Mondiall

Continuing our search for the perfect breakfast in Cape Town we bought vouchers from Hyperli which took us to Mondiall in the V&A Waterfront. We think it was good value at R208 for two. Known for its wonderful position on the quayside at the end of the V&A Hotel, we have enjoyed dinner there, we liked the hamburgers from the Burger bar which we took home after a non-catered Waterfront event, but this was the first time we'd had breakfast there

There is a nice terrace with Waterfront views

It is a large spacious restaurant

We arrived as they opened at 10 and, as it was still a bit chilly, we were grateful to be seated indoors, with a good view

First came a Nespresso Americano with a nice crema, but rather a bitter pod and rather small cups for breakfast!

Sadly the Hyperli deal is now no longer available, at it was very good value indeed. What was the Deal?

• R109 Choice of Breakfast with a choice of Beverage for 2 (Value R210)

• R209 Choice of Breakfast with a choice of Beverage for 4 (Value R420)

More About the voucher Menu

• English Muffin Selection: Bacon - Hollandaise Smoked Salmon - Hollandaise Spinach - Hollandaise

• The English: Eggs of your choice - sausage - bacon - tomato - mushrooms - baked beans - hash brown

and a Nespresso Beverage Selection: Espresso, Americano, Cappuccino

This is the current Winter breakfast menu. You can go and have the same choices but at the current prices, with a little more variation

The bar area

Lynne chose the Eggs Royale: Muffins topped with good smoked salmon, two poached eggs and a very good Hollandaise sauce. It had to be fresh and it was. Nice and thick and coating. The eggs were as ordered - runny yolks, cooked whites. It looks small, it was not and was so filling Lynne nearly had to leave some but, in the end, greed got the better of her

John ordered the other choice, The English, without the mushrooms and with scrambled egg. A good choice

Lovely views of the morning mist rising over the city

And of our lovely mountain

Our bill. The extra charge was for two more coffees, we found we needed more than one small cup each. And, of course, service which was friendly and prompt. They then deducted the voucher amount of R109 which we had paid direct to Hyperli

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Tuesday, July 18, 2017

This Week's MENU. The Granary Cafe at The Silo, Breakfast at La Petite Tarte, Visits to Groenland and Kaapzicht in Stellenbosch, Classic Chicken soup, Kaapzicht The Glimpse 2015

A tanker on a "wine dark sea" (quote from Homer) with clouds on the horizon which we hope will bring more blessed rain

Winter has set in and we are feeling the cold. Thank goodness for a new load of firewood being delivered tomorrow. While the temperatures are not significantly lower than we experienced in Oslo last month, our houses are not built for cold weather; we have always pretended that it doesn’t exist. This is Africa, after all – even if Antarctica is the next stop to the South and a lot of our weather comes from those parts. So we have a couple of stories for you about good things to do in a cool place which pretends to be warm in July....

The Granary Cafe at The Silo

The Silo in the Waterfront is about to open its much publicised gallery, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) to the public. John heard about it on Cape Talk last week and we realised that we had not been to see the Silo Hotel or its restaurants which are above the gallery. So, on a rare lovely, sunny and warm Champagne day this week, we made a booking. The Silo Hotel is part of the Royal Portfolio Group

A Warm Breakfast on a Cold Day at La Petite Tarte

Last Saturday was a raw and miserable morning, a little wet, but we were all anticipating heavy rain from a big front approaching the city. We decided to cheer ourselves up with another breakfast. Not too far from home, we discovered Le Petite Tart in Dixon Street, across the road from the Cape Quarter Lifestyle centre in Green Point and got a table for 10 am. No one wants to jump out of bed early on a chilly Saturday morning

The restaurant, which also does lunch and dinner, is easy to find; you can't miss those red and white striped awnings. We also found parking at the top of the street

Visits to Groenland and Kaapzicht in Stellenbosch

What to do on a cold and damp Saturday morning in the Cape midwinter? Why not visit some wine farms not too far from Town. Bottelary took us only half an hour on the N1 and Old Oak Road. And we zoomed along, not breaking any speed limits with very moderate traffic

What’s on the Menu this Week? Classic Chicken soup We love the restorative properties of good chicken soup. We have been buying it from the Kosher section at Checkers for years and keep a litre in our freezer for those days when we are feeling a bit wobbly and some winter bug or other is beginning to overtake our life. However, they seem to have left out the chicken recently and Lynne decided to make her own. We had a large chicken this week and on day three, still quite a lot of meat on one leg and on the carcass; she sacrificed it to the pot. It is not rocket science, you just need good vegetables. This was quite astounding as, when we ate it, it was full of umami flavours. And yet, no salt had been added, just some real chicken stock. Use a stock cube if you must, but make sure it actually contains some chicken, not just MSG

One cooked chicken carcass, not picked completely clean - one cooked leg of chicken - 2 celery stalks, finely chopped - 3 carrots, finely chopped - 2 leeks, finely chopped - one turnip, finely chopped - two cloves of garlic, sliced - 3 T celery leaves, finely chopped - 2 T parsley with stalks, finely chopped - ½ litre good chicken stock - 2 bay leaves - 1 t fresh thyme - 5 whole peppercorns -seasoning: white pepper and salt to taste.

First, cut off as much good chicken meat as you can from the carcass and the leg and keep aside. Put the carcass and any bones from the leg and the skin into the pot and add all the vegetables and the stock. Cover with water and simmer for about 1½ to 2 hours. Check the pot every half an hour and when the carcass looks as though it is about to fall apart, immediately remove it with the bones and skin from the pot. Remove any more bits of chicken on the carcass that can go back in the pot, then discard the carcass, skin and bones. Taste and adjust the seasoning if you need to, adding white pepper and a little salt if it needs it. You can add some soup noodles at this stage and add back all the chicken pieces you have saved, cook for another 10 minutes until the added chicken has been boiled and any noodles are cooked. Serve as a meal with crusty bread

MENU's Wine of the Week. Kaapzicht The Glimpse 2015, from Kaapzicht in Bottelary, Stellenbosch.

From a winemaker with vision, Danie Steytler, who is also a member of the Cape Winemakers Guild. This is made from the same grapes as the Vision (45% Pinotage, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cab Franc) but spends only 12 months in barrel. It is different, with pomegranate and cherries on the nose and palate, soft with chalky tannins with some liquorice. So satisfying to drink and cellar. R300 a bottle. We predict that it will win awards

18th July 2017

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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. This electronic journal has been sent to you because you have personally subscribed to it or because someone you know has asked us to send it to you or forwarded it to you themselves. Addresses given to us will not be divulged to any person or organisation. We collect them only for our own promotional purposes. If you wish to be added to our mailing list, please click here to send us a message and if you wish to be removed from our mailing list, please click here to send us a message.

What's on the Menu this Week? Classic Chicken soup

We love the restorative properties of good chicken soup. We have been buying it from the Kosher section at Checkers for years and keep a litre in our freezer for those days when we are feeling a bit wobbly and some winter bug or other is beginning to overtake our life. However, they seem to have left out the chicken recently and Lynne decided to make her own. We had a large chicken this week and on day three, still quite a lot of meat on one leg and on the carcass, she sacrificed it to the pot. It is not rocket science, you just need good vegetables. This was quite astounding as, when we ate it, it was full of umami flavours. And yet, no salt had been added, just some real chicken stock. Use a stock cube if you must, but make sure it actually contains some chicken, not just MSG

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