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Monday, March 13, 2017

A day in Durbanville

We wanted to take our Dutch friends on a local wine tour and Durbanville is very close to town. The weather was perfect and we began at Bloemendal, had lunch at Diemersdal (Lynne had heard very good things about the restaurant and we knew the wine was superb) and finished the day with at last sigh at the view from De Grendel

We began at Bloemendal, which we haven't visited for a while. This is the restaurant, but we wanted the tasting room. Bloemendal grow possibly the best Sauvignon Blanc grapes in Durbanville, on the legendary Suider Terras vineyard

We were directed to "cross the bridge" over there (it was on the other side!) and had a lengthy walk around the farm until we found the outdoor tasting centre at the back of the farm, near the stables which are now guest accommodation. We don't know why they have hidden it. Surely they are proud of the wines? We were warmly welcomed by Etienne le Roux, the Tasting room manager

Tables are under a white marquee, rather wedding-like. We enjoyed some of their wines, starting with their second label Waterlily Sauvignon Blanc at R70. This is the Suider Terras, made in tanks. The Limited Edition is sold out. And then the 2015 Kanonberg Limited Edition SB full of grass, asparagus, green peppers on the nose. This has 30% Semillon added and is made from bush vines. Dry minerality, round mouth, white peaches, pear and granadilla.

We loved the 2014 Semillon, a very limited release as only 1000 bottles were made. It is slightly smoky with groendruif minerality and vanilla, with greengage flavours, mutton fat and crisp acidity, but a sweeter end

The best, the 2014 Chardonnay has vanilla oak limoncello nose; citrus full and round with lemons and limes, very satisfying. Both sell for R175 These wines were all made by consultant Francois Haasbroek

We tasted the 2013 Tierberg Shiraz which is lactic with vanilla ice cream on the nose; a blockbuster red, full of dark berries and spice and black pepper and a bit of brettanomyces character, so it will last

And then we then tasted all the Waterlily reds. The Pinotage shows its soft, perfumed Pinot parent with some leather, very satisfying with a peppery end. The Waterlily merlot was much enjoyed and scored very highly. Loads of cassis and cherries, sweet fruit, dark wood, and milk chocolate rounds it off, with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. No greenness and no mint detected. Thank you Etienne

Then we were off down the valley to Diemersdal, famous for their Sauvignon Blancs. Lynne had heard rumours that the restaurant was doing wonderful things. Indeed it was. We have since discovered that the Royal Portfolio has put it at #5 on their Favourite Restaurants in the Cape Winelands list http://www.theroyalportfolio.com/our-stories/top-10-restaurants-in-the-cape-winelands/

'Twas a hot summer midday with the cicadas singing - we call them Christmas beetles

We chose to sit outside under an umbrella rather than eat in the restaurant

and ordered a bottle of the 8 Rows Sauvignon Blanc, our favourite, but we do like all of their Sauvignons

A lovely lady having lunch with her family

We were in for a treat. Our expectation was usual farm restaurant fare. Two of us chose the tapas menu, the choices sounded interesting

And this is what arrived. Wow. Chef Martin de Kok trained at the Greenhouse and at Jordan under George Jardine. His focus is on locally grown, regionally sourced ingredients. From top left: a deep fried fish ball in a green mustard sauce; Not ground down left over fish, great texture and flavour. Then a lamb confit in a white bean purée - sweet lamb so soft it was in shreds, with a rich bean paste, very French in style. Slices of perfectly rare and pink sirloin steak in a classic Béarnaise sauce (yes with tarragon) and Moutard Moût de Raisin, a French mustard made with grape must. A fresh chilled Asparagus and pea soup which was superb. It still had some texture and was dressed with good olive oil and herbs. And finally a small Barley risotto with dark mushrooms, topped with celeriac puree. Great flavours and texture. Definitely going back for more.

The lads opted for the sirloin steak, rare with the Béarnaise sauce, baked onions, and crisp chips which they loved. Enjoyed with a glass of the Estate Red

The tapas also comes with a dessert, a rather cheffy bread and butter pudding with figs, crème Anglaise and dots of sharp berry jam. Taste and texture more like cake than bread

Owner Tienie Louw in the tasting room

We also made a turn at Altydgedacht, one of the oldest wine farms in the Cape, owned for five generations by the Parker family. We had a quick tasting of the beautiful bone dry, litchi and rose perfumed Gewürztraminer, the excellent smoky Pinotage and the classic dark fruit Barbera as we wanted to introduce them to our friends. Sadly no The Ollo to taste, all sold out until the new vintage is released later in the year. It's a great blend of 35% Semillon, 31% Chardonnay, 23% Viognier, and 11% Chenin blanc. Behind the counter was Robyn, the lovely daughter of viticulturalist John Parker

And with just half an hour before they closed we had to visit de Grendel for the beautiful views and to taste their Sauvignon Blanc

We sat on the cool enclosed terrace

This lovely, polite young man really looked after us, giving us the three wines we asked to taste: Koetshuis 2016 Sauvignon Blanc, classic green pea, elderflower with a mineral note and a hint of wood and a touch of Durbanville salt on the finish; Winifred white blend of Semillon, Viognier and Chardonnay, a complex food wine and 2014 Rubaiyat, a Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, showing classic Cabernet characteristics, good now, but needs at least five years to show its true worth. The Rubaiyat was named after Omar Khayyam’s poems, much loved by the late Sir David Graaff

It was a hot day and we were offered a taste of their new Obex apple cider which impressed Lynne so much, she bought six. It is a proper dry cider, not sweet apple juice turned into alcohol

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Friday, March 10, 2017

Anniversary lunch at the Chefs Warehouse

Last Wednesday was our Wedding Anniversary. We are rather surprised to find we have been married for 14 years, it has gone so quickly and been so much fun. We like to celebrate with a good meal out, somewhere we have heard about before but not yet been to. Liam Tomlin opened this store/restaurant in 2014 when they moved from their old site in Bree Street and we have been trying to go for a very long time. Quite difficult as we are invited out to restaurants and wine farms often several times in a week.

It is on the corner of Heritage Square with the entrance in Bree Street, Number 92

An important thing you need to know, there are no reservations. Come early or you might have to queue, or wait for a table. We were lucky. John was there at 12 and got us a table; he was in town for an appointment

There is a retail area, full of books and things that a cook might desire for sale

and a guardian

Tables outside on the terrace

Inside, simple wooden tables and rather uncomfortable old fashioned stools

Bread and Liam Tomlin cookbooks for sale

Might look familiar to those of you who knew our shop in Sea Point, Main Ingredient. They have lots of the ingredients we used to sell, and several new ones. No wine for sale other than that for consumption with your meal though

A hint at the variety of food styles they serve

Look familiar? Spices in small packets

It is in a lovely old building with the original 18th Century windows

Lynne's bus didn’t arrive, she had to wait another half hour, so John comforted himself with a beer. A new one for us, the Drifter with a blonde on the label. Which is what the beer is, the Cape Town Blonde. Very good, with citrus hints

The menu is brief. We decided go go for the most popular option, the Tapas for 2 at R650

Some of the other choices. They now have a branch at Beau Constantia wine farm, which is near the top of Constantia Nek

It is an interesting wine list, some of our favourites, affordable and less so, (no Taittinger today) and some we have not yet discovered. A good choice of wines by the glass

We opted for a wine we last had at La Colombe (thank you Joseph). Called Dirty Julie, it's a 2014 Verdelho grown in the Swartland, made by David Cope and Simon Wibberley. We knew it would go very well with the menu of the day, and it paired beautifully

Lynne enjoying the experience. The nose is full of hot dusty grassland with loquat notes. On the palate, lots of citrus pomelo marmalade. It has crisp acids and long flavours, a great wine to go with food

The first three dishes: Dark plate: Fish and chips: Gentle steamed hake with lemon mayo, gherkins, capers and red and pickled onions, topped with tiny potato crisps - was nice, but didn't excite. Top left: Deep fried squid with charred pineapple & Sriracha mayonnaise. Squid, perfectly crisp, crunch coated, tender as butter, a wow with the Sriracha and pineapple. Could have eaten an entire plate each. And then the tuna. What to say about perfect raw, really fresh tuna, so rarely found, a generous round, dressed with a perfect Vietnamese sweet, hot, sour and spicy dressing and an avocado purée, topped with salmon caviar shallots, micro greens, herbs. It melted in the mouth. We could only rave and wish there had been two slices each.

Second serving was one for the vegetable lovers (like us). Gado Gado, an Indonesian salad of peas, fresh steamed broad beans in their pods, baby corn, radishes, pea nuts, herbs and micro greens in a gentle but present peanut Satay sauce. How to showcase fresh seasonable vegetables at their best. In the copper pot, a green parsley risotto, rice perfectly cooked, rich and sticky with cheese and butter and ricotta, topped with crisp pancetta flakes - more please

Our final three courses: Top left: Flash fried swordfish served Portuguese style with olives, tomatoes and onions. Crisp on the outside, soft and moist in the centre. Congratulations to the chef, who really knows how to cook this difficult fish. It can be like cardboard. Loads of flavour and excitement. Next to it: Pork fillet medallions, pink in the centre, with an unctuous, sticky, charred aubergine slice and an excellent meat glaze, with a creamy butternut purée. This was served on a bed of flavourful couscous, full of Moroccan Ras al Hanout spices, rich and tender. In the pan, slices of entrecote steak, fondant baby potatoes, crisp roasted parsnips, and some celeriac purée, topped with an onion soubise (classic French onion sauce). For Lynne, it brought back memories of an excellent English roast dinner. Well done chef, an extraordinarily good meal, so accomplished with all the varied techniques and culinary influences

The couple next to us had the same meal and seemed as enthusiastic and happy as we were. The staff were really lovely, friendly, quick and responsive

Good weather to eat outside

Our bill

Alongside the restaurant is the tiny bar

Good for escaping work

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A look at Heritage Square, Cape Town

On our wedding anniversary last Wednesday, I had an hour to kill between doing my bit at a casting in Loop St and meeting Lynne at The Chef's Warehouse for a celebratory lunch. It had been a while since we had visited any of the fine collection of food and wine venues in this historic square complex, so I stuck my lens into a few corners. It is a collection of eighteenth century buildings which came frighteningly close to being demolished to make way for a freeway in the 1990s. The quadrangle in the middle of the square is the home of what is believed to be the oldest grape vine in the country, possibly planted in the 1770s

The marquee over the door of Bizerca, a great French fusion restaurant run by Laurent Deslandes and his wife Cyrillia. We had heard that they had closed, so I decided to take a look

Inside the square, everything looked normal and all Bizerca's tables were ready for lunch but I heard, a little later, that they will close at the end of March, very sad and regrettable. We have had some memorable meals there and at their original venue behind the tax man's office

Reasons will, certainly, become apparent in due course

Just across the square is Dorrance, Christophe Durand's small centre city winery and restaurant. The inner square entrance takes one into Christophe's small wine shop, where he has an interesting range of his own wines and the wines he imports from sources around the world as well as other delights including a very good Calvados

The entrance to the restaurant, Bouchon Wine Bar & Bistro, is off Hout Street, on the other side of the square

It is run in collaboration with Faisal Khakoo of Sea Point's popular bistro La Bohème. It is only open in the evenings and has a comprehensive tapas menu which is changed frequently to keep fresh and seasonal

The wine list on the board has some interesting wines from other countries, all imported by Christophe, including excellent Greek wines made by Gaia in Santorini from Assyrtiko and Agiorgitiko

Before the premises became a restaurant, they housed a foundry where interesting ironwork was produced using traditional methods. The foundry's old press makes an interesting display case in the middle

Christophe's small winery has his wine maturing in barrels (he also imports and sells barrels) and his fermentation tanks

A section of the winery shows some of the building's history in its wall

Jean Vincent Ridon has his Signal Hill winery and shop in a small space just inside the Shortmarket Street entrance. Jean Vincent had just stepped off the plane from France, bringing a streaming cold with him, so it would not have been fair or kind to photograph him
But how many large cities, anywhere, can boast of two French winemakers making wine in an 18th century precinct in the city centre

It must be one of the smallest wine production facilities in the world

HQ is, in their words a "Parisian-inspired steakhouse / bar / lounge"

We haven't visited it, but the menu shows sirloin steak, tapas, beers, cocktails and wines. It was too early for the lunch time traffic, but they were ready

Outside, in Hout Street, I went to see Savoy Cabbage, an old favourite

but they were closed for lunch. There is a huge building project across the street which must be very disruptive for them and for Bouchon Wine Bar & Bistro

Round the corner in Buitenkant is I Love my Laundry,

"a unique concept offering laundry, dry cleaning, dyeing, alterations and ironing services, as well as serving JOGA JOGA Brazilian coffee and sweet treats. It is also home to I Love My Wine, a platform for promoting hospitality brands in an intimate experience around a dining room table"

and next to them, the Boston Brewery has a tiny bar

with a simple menu

The Africa Cafe has probably been in Heritage Square longer than anyone else

It offers a tapas style menu featuring traditional dishes from all over Africa

The entrance is in Shortmarket Street

Just before the Bree Street corner is a branch of Simply Thai, who produce good simple Thai food in several venues round Cape Town. The young lady beat a hasty retreat when she saw my camera

And then it was time to go round the corner to meet my lovely wife,

more about which you'll find here

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