Friday, June 18, 2021

Afternoon Tea at Chart Farm

Food memories are so important to us, they shape our family life. Can you remember when you first had an ice cream? Or candyfloss? A very enjoyable book about Cornwall triggered a memory of Lynne's beloved Aunt May's scones and the wonderful scones, raspberry jam and clotted cream we had when we were in Cornwall in 2019. And once you have the longing, it has to be satisfied. Where to go? Luckily someone on Facebook asking the same question had come up with some great suggestions and one stood out. We have been meaning to go back to Chart Farm in Constantia for a long time and we know they do good cakes and scones. So we made a booking, phoned our friends who live in Hout Bay and ventured forth on a lovely, sunny winter’s day this week

The View restaurant at Chart Farm is run by a friend, Sandra Engelen
You can go and pick your own roses on the farm when they are in bloom
Sandra and her husband Philip were abroad for their son’s wedding, but we had superb service from their staff
They serve breakfasts and lunches as well as teas

The weather was so good that it had to be a table on the terrace with its wonderful views of the Constantia valley
And yes we did need an umbrella to shelter from the warm sun

Booking is always advised as this is a very popular venue

All the tables were booked and being occupied when we arrived at 2.30. They close at 4 in the winter

The grounds around the restaurant are beautifully planted
and Lynne would love to have this pale pink bougainvillea in our garden
Our large purple one is rampant

John and our friend Ronnie went to inspect the cake selection and were tempted by many
Lynne and Loraine had set their minds on the scones

The Red Velvet cake looked moist and was delicious said Ronnie, a good sized portion as well

The light-as-air scones arrived warm, accompanied by the raspberry jam and whipped cream
Sadly, we are not able to get clotted cream in the Cape
Lynne had them with her customary pot of green tea with a slice of lemon
Loraine had hers with a pot of Earl Grey tea, another good traditional choice

and John had a slice of rich baked cheesecake with his large, very good Americano coffee
He also swopped a small slice of cheesecake for one of Lynne's scones; two is a bit much for her

and the very reasonable bill for a great tea for four
 Now to return for breakfast or lunch one day


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Ormonde Ondine Cabernet Franc 2009

A wine from our cellar that we had with our supper last night turned out to be a jewel

This bottle of Ondine Cabernet Franc 2009 from Ormonde wine estate in Darling was one we bought a few years ago and cellared. Wow, Darling's best. South Africa produced a few magnificent Cabernet Franc-based wines in the 1990s, Christopher Keet’s iconic Cordoba Crescendo almost certainly leading the pack, but they were very rare. In recent years, we have seen many more very impressive wines from Cabernet Franc producers

This wine has all the desired components, good vanilla wood notes on both the nose and palate adding strength and backbone, beautiful rich, dark berry fruit, with those classic Cab Franc violets and umami flavours of liquorice and a hint of salty minerality and pencil shavings. Silky soft on the palate, the fruit sings... And it still had a line of supporting fruit acids to keep it lasting even longer

We hope that we have more in the cellar. So good with meat and it stood up to some spice 

Currently selling for R140 on the farm, this is a 4 star Platter wine.  Theo Basson tends to keep his wines for a few years before releasing them and we tasted the 2015 with him last December. Thank you for this one, Theo

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Saturday, June 12, 2021

In MENU This Week – Avontuur Estate, Old Mutual trophy, Sea Point and electric celebration

Soon to be extinct? Pollution from a coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga

Four stories this week, but that’s not the big news. The Big News is the capitulation by some of the Marxist dinosaurs in our government, allowing a relaxation of state control of electricity generation and our almost defunct national airline enabling our electricity supply to become more reliable and much greener and, possibly renewed pride in our air travel badge. Our own big news is that we have both, at last, been vaccinated with the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which makes us feel much safer.

A Saturday at Avontuur Estate, Stellenbosch

On a lovely Saturday we were off to Avontuur Wine Farm in the Helderberg region of Stellenbosch. Known as "the home of fine wine and fast horses" it is owned by the Taberer family. We were joining Leigh Taberer. She is the sister of the late Tony Taberer who bought the estate in 1984. It is now run by his sons Michael and Philip Taberer. We were to have a wine tasting and lunch, and see the exciting newly finished Manor House accommodation. On arrival, you drive through the Paddocks and layers of white iceberg roses. Read on…

The Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2021

The judging of the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show competition has always been at the Grande Roche hotel in Paarl. This year in a Covid related change, the judging was moved to central Cape Town and it took place at The Westin Cape Town from 31 May to 4 June. Read on…

A Sea Point Evening

The Sea Point beachfront is a wonderful amenity enjoyed, not only by those of us who live here, but by visitors from all over the Cape Peninsula and points further afield. It is a favourite place for us to take a walk and enjoy the fresh sea air. Read on…

Flying with Electric News

This has indeed been a momentous couple of days. After years of struggling to provide enough power to the country from its ancient, creaky and inefficient, poorly maintained coal driven power stations and one equally ancient nuclear facility, the worst power outages in years have forced the government’s arm. Our President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has announced major changes to the Governments renewable energy plans. They will make an amendment to schedule two of the Electricity Regulation Act, which would minimise the red tape for independent power producers. Read on…





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A Saturday at Avontuur Estate, Stellenbosch

On a lovely Saturday we were off to Avontuur Wine Farm in the Helderberg region of Stellenbosch. Known as "the home of fine wine and fast horses" it is owned by the Taberer family. We were joining Leigh Taberer. She is the sister of the late Tony Taberer who bought the estate in 1984. It is now run by his sons Michael and Philip Taberer. We were to have a wine tasting and lunch, and see the exciting newly finished Manor House accommodation. On arrival, you drive through the Paddocks and layers of white iceberg roses. http://www.avontuurestate.co.za








They have a lovely view of the Table Mountain range
and you can clearly see Adamastor, the legendary Titan and Protector of the Cape,
lying on his back, taking his nap on a bed of mist

There is parking outside the main building and lots of seating on the terrace for wine tasting or eating at the restaurant

You can sit inside and they do have a fireplace but we enjoyed our lunch out on the terrace

Autumn leaves on the pin oaks

Avontuur is a renowned racing stud. We were so amused watching these pregnant mares in the closest paddock. There was one mare in control and they happily played follow my leader around the merry-go-round tree and the paddock. The new generation of foals will be born in August and are very sought after in the international racing world as the sires have very good racing records

African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) were grazing in the paddocks

Leigh Taberer has curated a very good exhibition of art for sale in the old cellar. It is certainly well worth the time taken to see the paintings, sculptures and ceramics of the well known artists Andrew Cooper, Lesley Charnock, Vicki Norcliffe, Marion Cross and Sandile B Cele

Chatting with Leigh and her partner Francois Joubert in the gallery

and we had a good look at the pictures and sculptures

It is a very good area for displaying art in all its forms

A bronze by Vicki Norcliffe

and a very accomplished horse's head

Wine and art combined



Very talented ceramicist Sandile Cele

You could not help but stroke the noses of this pair of dogs
Leigh Taberer contributed to the book Exploring the Cape Winelands

and they had some visitors who wanted to buy

We took a stroll to see the Manor House which has been converted into luxurious suites
We thought it would be the perfect place for a wedding or for other family celebrations, or a quiet break from the city.
Bookings can be made from the estate or through Nightsbridge booking platform 

There is a pool and a tennis court

The pool room

The house was closed, but we were able to take photographs through the windows. This is the entrance hall

One of the impressive suites

and the Manor house has the same beautiful views of paddocks and the mountain

A sheltered area at the back of the house

A vine covered pergola

now in beautiful colour as the leaves die back

Time for lunch and we had a table in the shade with the beautiful views

It is a very popular restaurant and the same people have run it for many years
It is open for breakfast, lunch and early evenings
Bookings and details on https://www.dineplan.com/restaurants/avontuur-estate-restaurant

The menu has a good and interesting selection

Hot drinks. You can order any Avontuur wine to have with your meal, by the glass or the bottle

Our very friendly and helpful waitress Avril has been working there for many years

Our starters had been pre-ordered and were smoked salmon roses
stuffed with prawn, avocado, ginger, wasabi and topped with caviar
They do not contain sushi rice, so good for no carb diets. Delicious

We have good memories of the Avontuur Cabernet Franc
and they did have some in the cellar which we had with our main course
Full of savoury umami flavours with and rich red berry fruit
Age is showing but still delicious, it went so well with the awesome Duck
Avontuur used to have an excellent annual festival of Cape Cabernet Francs
We shall miss this and, especially, the woman who organised the festival, the late Cobie van Oort

A mixed salad for the table

Both Leigh and Francois encouraged us to order the duck. We needed no pressure, it is one of our favourite things to eat, especially when it prepared as well as this. They suggested that we share a portion as they are usually very large. This portion is just right. The sauce flavoured with van der Hum tangerine liqueur and caramelised orange was perfection with the duck. It is on a bed of mixed vegetables. The crisp skin, and the moist duck are definitely something to go to Avontuur for. And the price for the full half a duck of R200 is very reasonable


It came with a portion of chips


John had room for dessert and this was the Brandy Snap Basket with vanilla ice cream, caramelised orange and a vanilla fudge sauce. Leigh and Francois had the Deep fried ice cream

We did have a taste of two wines at the beginning of lunch: the newly released Luna de Miel 2021 Reserve Chardonnay, with herbal notes, crispness and minerality and the excellent Cabernet Sauvignon with classic Cabernet flavours of forest floor, black berry fruit with cassis to the fore, good wooding and soft tannins. All the wines are named after horses that the farm has owned. The winemaker (since 2011) is Jan van Rooyen. These are the two wines we drank with our meal.

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Flying with Electric News

This has indeed been a momentous couple of days. After years of struggling to provide enough power to the country from its ancient, creaky and inefficient, poorly maintained coal driven power stations and one equally ancient nuclear facility, the worst power outages in years have forced the government’s arm. Our President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has announced major changes to the Governments renewable energy plans. They will make an amendment to schedule two of the Electricity Regulation Act, which would minimise the red tape for independent power producers. 

We have been stuck in a time warp putting all our energy future into coal fired power stations at a time when coal is running out, is of bad quality and is a global pollution nightmare. 

The announcement has forced the arm of Gwede Mantashe, the dinosaurian Minister of Mineral Resources. He is a trade unionist with a huge belief in the need to use coal as a power source and, we believe, a vested interest. All his actions, for several years, have flown in the face of environmentalists and most governments, who have seen the need to use greener, cleaner power. He admitted, at the press conference in which the President made his important announcement, that he had had his arm twisted. To quote Vrye Weekblad, the Afrikaans weekly: “On Thursday, during Ramaphosa's briefing, he looked slightly sheepish and admitted that the president had “bent his arm in this direction”. Actually, Ramaphosa tore his arm off and slapped him in the face with the bloody side”.

So the lid has been lifted off. Our industries, municipalities and individual property owners have expressed their wish to source their own green power for years. We have abundant wind and sunshine. We have suppliers who have everything needed to provide it; indeed, some of them have been exporting their expertise. Large windmills are already dotted about the countryside and Stellenbosch municipality has already equipped itself to generate its own green power.

The coal powered power stations in the Mpumalanga Highveld have polluted the atmosphere there for many years. Here is a photograph we took at about 11 in the morning in May 2009 en route to the Kruger Park. Lynne who is asthmatic, had trouble breathing.  



We have listened to people complaining about the sight of wind farms and solar panels
Would they prefer this? And enjoy breathing it?



And then, the next day, the news that 51% of South African Airways has been sold to a private South African consortium with extensive experience in running airlines. So, no more bureaucratic Marxist control of that failed entity.

So, the news is indeed bright and is great news. Suppliers will still need to apply for permits, but we sincerely hope that these are not delayed so that we can get on with our lives and let the country continue to grow. There is a lot of spare renewable energy being produced already and as we have more power cuts, more companies will move to independence from the woeful national electricity supply which is old, keeps breaking down and which will take years to mend. In the time of Covid we need a quick fix to get us back working.

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