Sunday, July 14, 2024

The 2024 Investec Trophy public tasting at the CTICC in Cape Town

The Investec Trophy Wine Show is one of the best opportunities we have to taste some of the best wines from South Africa. There is a very large number of wines to taste and it pays to try and be selective, although one always has some favourite producers who may not have won a Gold or a Trophy, but have nevertheless consistently made superb wines and one will always stop for a chat and a taste

Lynne and Janice Fridjhon catching up, they have lots in common

The show was in the newish second section of the CTICC
Lynne tried to attempt to taste all the wines that won a trophy but as the tables were not laid out alphabetically
It was a real challenge finding some of them and she walked many miles
It was a very social trip and she had lots of chats with friends who are winemakers
and, hopefully, made a few new friends 

A good way to start - Graham Beck Extra Brut, shown by Michelle Taylor and De Waal Gerstner

A taste of SeaSalter for Chris Kelly from Groote Post winemaker Lukas Wentzel

Cape Wine Masters Winifred Bowman, Bennie Howard and Catherine Dillon

Ewen Wilson happily showing his Gold Medal Lothian Chardonnay

KWV senior winemaker Kobus van der Merwe pouring his Trophy winners

and with his Mentors Chenin blanc

Rene and Michael Bampfield Duggan of Wine Concepts

Jeanne Talbot showed the Thor Vintners Trophy winner Lara Semillon 2023

Pierre Wahl of Survivor

Joseph Dafana and friend

Bloemendal winemaker Andri Hanekom showed the
Trophy winning Best Museum Class Bloemendal Kanonberg
2018 Sauvignon Semillon blend and best Museum class Bloemendal Semillon 2017

Winemakers Lukas Wentzel of Groote Post and Dawie Botha of Antonij Rupert wines

Lizemari Geldenhuys of Kleine Zalze
with the Trophy winning Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

Groote Post communications manager Peter Pentz with PR agent Posy Hazell

A very glam Posy

C le Roux winemaker Matthys Botes
showed his Trophy winning JC Le Roux Méthode Cap Classique Scintilla Vintage Reserve 2015
 and Pongrácz Méthode Cap Classique Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs NV

The wines

Glen Carlou Gold medal Chardonnay 2023

Jaen Lochner with the Trophy winning Stark-Condé Round Mountain Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Stark-Condé Round Mountain Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Gold medal winning Buitenverwachting 1769
We think this is one of the very best Constantia Dessert wines
Made when they have Botrytis on the vines, a Noble Late Harvest
with perfect honeyed sweetness and lime crispness in balance,
made to last from Muscat de Frontignan by Cellarmaster Brad Paton

Matthew Fridjhon, son of Michael and Janice, with De Wet Cellar 's Mashup Sauvignon blanc

Bouchard Finlayson winemaker Chris Albrecht

Stark-Condé's impressive collection of Trophies

Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh  2022 Sauvignon Semillon blend won a Trophy

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Posted by MENU at 12:57 pm 0 comments

Saturday, July 13, 2024

Winter Special lunch at Fyn



We love good food; it is a passion, so we follow all the top restaurants on social media

Reading their menus is a guilty pleasure, and we admire the awards they garner, if we think they deserve them!
We also find following food trends interesting.
We have a background in food having run a successful business selling unusual ingredients and fine wine
and Lynne is a passionate cook who has a very wide repertoire
However life on a pension does not make for regular visits,
so we have respect for top restaurants who offer winter specials for the locals each year
This means we can at least sample one or two of our favourites
While we write about food, we do not get invited to complimentary meals
FYN in Parliament Square is run by very talented chef Peter Templehoff and his excellent staff
and, this year, it moved from 90 to 60 on the list of 100 Best restaurants in the world
Fyn is running a season of winter specials and as it is one of our favourites we grabbed this with both hands,
found the money and booked for lunch. We certainly were in need of a cheer up this year

 The entrance on Parliament Street
There is paid garage parking right opposite which the restaurant can book for you

Lovely fresh arrangements of proteas

Bonsai spekbooms on every table

Fine glassware and an Asian style table setting
The food uses fresh local ingredients and "is tempered by the style of contemporary Japanese cuisine"

Something new was poured for us to begin the meal
A complimentary glass each of Japanese sparkling Fukumitsuya Kagetobi Saki
They had a battle to get it into the country and now it is here after some sterling work by their group CEO
The brewery uses only two ingredients: high-quality sake rice from contracted farmers and "Hyakunensui,"
which means one-hundred-year-old water sourced from Mt. Hakusan

The back label, it is only 11% alcohol

It is like a good Cap Classique at first, with a fine crisp mousse, then you get the flavour of toasted rice,
a hint of dry sherry and then a faintly fruity apple and naartjie peel flavour and warm spirit
Really enjoyable served ice cold. It really works as an aperitif

Their wine and drinks list is epic,
they have a seriously good list and we especially liked their perfectly aged selection of older wines
which you can order, at a fair price...  Many of which we covet

The By the Glass section suited us this year and we chose a glass each of white wine to start with

We had booked for the Winter Lunch Menu
You need to pay a deposit up front when booking and it is then deducted from your final bill
Sadly needed as some rude guests book five top restaurants,
decide where they are going at the last minute and only turn up at one!
If the restaurant is popular they can fill every seat and do not want "no shows"

The Tsukemono, Onion Kakiaga and Hokkaido milk bun


Van Loggerenberg Trust Your Gut Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc 2022 has smoke,
then richness of ripe golden fruit on the nose which follows through on the palate with lime and lemon zest

Rebel Rebel Colombard from a small single vineyard on Kaapzicht in Stellenbosch
Earthy petrichor on the nose then perfumed apricot and fresh apple peel
Rounded, rich and full on the palate with more ripe cooked apple and lime, it calls for food
They were both good matches for the food that was to follow

Japanese pickles (漬物, tsukemono) are an important part of the Japanese diet,
served with practically every traditional meal alongside rice and miso soup
We were invited to eat them before each course to cleanse our palates
Pickled daikon radish, smoked daikon is very unusual, it looks like a slice of truffle, carrot, cucumber
and a tiny, very sour pickled plum that draws your cheeks in
Very enjoyable as they did indeed enliven the palate  

Second course Onion Kakiage, Tentsuya, Ginger Kakiage is tempura vegetables
and Tentsuya is its classic four ingredient dipping sauce: Dashi, Soy, Mirin and sugar
The ginger went in the bottom of the dipping bowl
The super crisp and excellently crunchy tempura onion, sweet potato and spekboom lit our palates
We found the dipping sauce light and therefore it worked very well as a miso soup which we make often

Cheers! Lynne does not like having her photo taken...
but the new hairdo is fabulous

The open kitchen and the industrious chefs preparing everything fresh
The Manager and the waiter Tandeka Taetenda gave us superb service as did all who we came into contact with,
it is seamless service and very professional. That is why they are on the list of the world's top restaurants

Next came the course that everyone was raving about and trending on online food pages
Burnt Mushroom custard with an Oh, so soft Hokkaido milk bun to tear apart and cover with the custard
It comes with a dark caramel burnt sugar crust like a creme brulée
and is creamy, deep and unctuous with lovely mushroom and truffly flavours. Delish

Because John is allergic to mushrooms, he was served a very good subsitute
A red pepper romesco sauce with paprika, pistacio and hazelnut paste

There was a large party at an adjoining table and they were having the full lunch menu
This was their next course. Tuna sashimi, bichotan grilled obsiblue prawn, seaweed salad, pomelo emulsion
The chef carefully carved off each a portion of the very fresh tuna sashimi

and our next course came from the same fish
Very fresh Tuna sashmi checkerboard, squares of raw and seared tuna with a pomelo emulsion to pour over
Chokka (squid) and octopus rice, seaweed salad,
a wild garlic and ink aioli and shards of nori to scatter on the sticky rice which was reminiscent of sushi
We liked the pomelo emulson and cut sections but did miss a bit of umami flavour with the fish


A surprise from the sommelier of a glass each of Thamnus Chardonnay from the Overberg
between Stanford and Caledon made by experienced winemaker PJ Geyer
Tim Atkin scored this highly
He also makes a Pinot Noir. Golden fruit, perfume and smoke on the nose,
wonderfully succulent on the palate, with crisp layers of good fruit

and added to that was also another gift, a surprise and a treat, a course off the main menu,
which sang with the Chardonnay

Perhaps not terribly visually appealing for some,
 but when you unwrap the local kelp seaweed foraged by the chef ....

... it reveals pefectly steamed kingklip fillets covered with a flavourful saki espuma with spekboom and spring onion
The very fresh local fish is firm and flakes well, the flavours were excellent
We love eating locally sourced kelp; this lived up to expectations with sea flavours and iodine
A triumph of a course. Thank you chef for the experience

The dish is balanced on hot stones gathered on the beach. 


and with the next course which is the main course, a choice of Kock locally made Japanese style steak knives
We could chose which one appealed. Not that they were needed for the very tender Wagu beef

Karoo sourced tender Wagu Beef which was served rare with braised Shiitaki mushrooms,
tiny squares of delicious soft pickled tongue in a rich dark umami dashi sauce, wasabi mustard
and a side serving of Ohitashi mixed vegetables
Lynne would love the tongue as a seperate course and enjoyed the beef
John did not get the shiitaki, instead he was served celeriac

We were now feeling the effects of all the courses and so, after a nice pause, it was time for the dessert
Titled The Honey Guide. A circle of delicious set creme fraiche parfait with the sharp flavour of a lemon posset,
rolled in honeycomb dust, with a lemon gel
It is accompanied by a traditional warm and sticky malva pudding
topped with honey, fresh ginger and rose geranium petals
Applause to the Pastry Chef Ellen Harris

We arrived at 12.30 and left at nearly 5, a long luxurious and extraordinarily good experience
We are saving for next year

Looking from our table over Parliament Square

The talented Pastry Chef Ellen Harris

Marcus van der Spuy, son of Mike van der Spuy, whom many will remember as the owner of Peddlers on the Bend
and other Cape Town restaurants, was one of the very friendly waiting staff

and before you go, rich chocolate Bon Bons on a bed of dried sour figs are another excellent spoil

Fyn is a member of the Relais and Chateaux group

Their other restaurant on the ground floor, Ramenhead. A visit is planned to this soon

The bill

All our stories 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 1:10 pm 0 comments
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