Thursday, January 18, 2018

Lunch at Leeto, Strandloper Boutique Hotel, Paternoster

One of our best chefs, but largely unrecognised and unsung, Garth Almazan, who was at Catharina's Restaurant at Steenberg for many years, had left and we heard that he was opening a restaurant in Paternoster at the Strandloper Boutique Hotel. We had this on our list of things to do when we were there on holiday and were absolutely delighted when their PR agent invited us to visit and sample the food. And we were not disappointed. Garth is a very good chef
The food is why you go to restaurants, but ambience is that little bit extra that can add so much to the experience. Leeto was, for Lynne, the perfect seaside restaurant. It is modern white, with clean lines, bright and open. It lets in the sea, the beach and the sky. The furniture is minimal but comfortable. They have not tried to go too formulaic and beachy. Just very relaxed. We particularly liked the tables with their unvarnished wooden cross-beam legs and the comfortable chairs. And the views
It is the perfect place for a small beach wedding or celebration
The hotel has 13 double rooms and the restaurant can cope with 40 to 50 covers
The bar is open. Garth told us he was used to having quite a large number of restaurant staff at his previous job;
here they just have four, all friendly and well trained. He also has two experienced chefs
Most of the staff have come from the 12 Apostles Hotel, where Garth worked many years go
They are attentive but not obtrusive. Garth's wife Cecile is the manager
Chef Garth Almazan is loving the West Coast life
He offered us a glass each of the Pierre Jordaan Belle Rosé Brut from Cabrière
and came and sat and chatted to us for a while until it was time for us to order and he to cook
The menu is short but concise, something for every taste, and we loved the fact that you can also order starters as mains
And the wine list is good, with mostly local wineries. We ordered a bottle of Tierhoek Chenin Blanc 2014 which is from Piekenierskloof
We have known Tierhoek owner Shelley Sandell and winemaker Roger Burton for many years and really respect what they do
They serve only sustainable fresh fish
Garth also buys and grows seasonal foods, locally where possible
And should you care to come in our secret season, winter, when the West Coast is fresh and lively
with winter storms and bright champagne days, they have a fire to warm the restaurant
and thick glass sliding doors to encapsulate and insulate, but still allow you to drink in that view
Table settings are nicely simple and the glassware is good
We were offered any table we wanted at the front and chose a sheltered one with a great view
Hotel and other guests can sit on the deck beneath and enjoy drinks there
Their own beach area, with access to the main strand
The owner of Strandloper Boutique Hotel has also bought the land to the right of the restaurant,
so that the area close to the restaurant will not be built on and the hotel overlooked
The South Easter came up every afternoon while we were on the West Coast
and the sailboarders were having lots of fun in the surf. No wind reached the restaurant
From the deck
Here comes our starter
Our waitress Justine, opening the Tierhoek for us
It was the perfect match for the food that was to follow,
full of grassy, warm hay notes on the nose with peaches and citrus on the palate
Lynne decided to try the West Coast Mussels in a rich curried broth as her starter. Mussels are one of the star foods of this area
They were briefly cooked, incredibly fresh and the warm curry sauce had just enough heat for Lynne, who has a medium tolerance level
while John can chew fire and raw chillies with impunity. The star was the tiny crisp potato samoosas perched on top
More please, Chef Almazan! Would make a very good Vegetarian course with a dipping sauce
John plumped for the Seafood risotto, full of tender calamari and prawns, topped with coriander sprouts and crisp crumbs for texture
The rice was cooked perfectly and had some masala, cream and, for richness, dill and chives to add some herb notes to the dish. Delicious
The beach is superb and seems to go on for miles and miles, good for long walks
 And whales and dolphins at the right time of the year
Time for the main courses. Lynne chose to have the Seafood risotto as her main, but in a starter portion and found it just as delicious as John had and very satisfying. John chose the Kudu loin and he says it was the best he has ever had. Lightly seared and perfectly pink inside and very tender, with a very good flavour. Served on a bed of parsnip purée, with spinach and roast potatoes, good sundried tomatoes (and that is saying something because we both usually do not like these dried and often sharp, ill-treated tomatoes). There is green basil oil and good crisp sweet potato crisps topping off a great dish
And then after a small pause to reflect, it was time for dessert. Lynne chose the lemon posset, not something you see often on menus in SA. It is creamy, almost a set panacotta, with good fresh lemon flavours, served with dots of berry compote, mini brandy snaps, blueberries and cape gooseberries and a pathway of crisp crumbs. Light and refreshing
John said he was expected to continue his reputation as the house chocoholic, so he ordered the Chocolate Delice, rich, creamy and decadent, on a bed of chocolate soil, accompanied by some strawberries, salted caramel sauce, nut brittle, a cocoa tuile and some very good coffee ice cream, quite a tour de force. We followed lunch with two very good double espressos, often hard to find
Cecile Almazan came to see if we had enjoyed lunch. Yes definitely
And then it was off to the beach to walk some of the lunch off and then back to St Helena Bay - only 20 minutes away - for a nap!
This is a view of both the restaurant and part of the hotel. The front rooms share the same sea views
Now this is what coastal holidays are all about
We shall return

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Lunch at De Vrije Burger, Stellenbosch

We did go and visit one new restaurant before Christmas, Bertus Basson's burger house in Plein Street in central Stellenbosch. Die Vrije Burger - it's a play on words, it’s named after the original Free Burgers in the Cape in the 17th Century and fits nicely into Bertus' concept! (And no, these burgers are not free). It is already popular with the students and locals and tourists, offering just one thing, a very good burger, with accompaniments, chips and a soft serve ice cream cone to finish. We do like his witty logo
The seating is minimal, some outside in good weather, under shelter and some inside. All are on high chairs which were not the most comfortable we have ever sat on, but perhaps that is to encourage you to move along quickly? Trade and service are brisk
The open and on-view kitchen is shiningly clean and well organised by the fully trained staff
The 200g pure beef burgers on the grill with the buns toasting alongside. We saw a delivery of buns while we were there and if the numbers delivered at lunch time are anything to go by, they sell a lot of burgers
A message from the chef
The simple menu is on a board, you choose, place your order and take your seat while they cook them for you. It did not take long to get our order and we got a good seat in the window. Notice that the ice cream comes free with the order of every burger. There is a small but good wine list and two craft beers
Lots of take away orders too
Your order comes packed in one paper bag, so you can pack up the detritus in the bag when you have finished and put it into their recycling bin. Saves on mess. We like this very much
The burgers are huge, very juicy. The meat is of excellent quality and you can order them cooked medium rare, medium or well done according to your taste. We didn't do any extras this time, we just wanted to taste the standard burger. We shared one portion of the Potato Tjips, which had been double fried and were nice and crisp, and one portion (6) of the spiced onion fritters, which are gram flour Indian badjis; light, spicy and delicious. And with this large and very satisfying meal, we both had the Windpomp lager. Our bill came to R310 with service. We were done in less than an hour and the parking - almost outside, but then the students were on vacation - cost us about R6.50 It can be tricky to find but there are public parking garages a short walk away
When you order burgers, you are issued with these tokens
Which you then exchange for your free soft serve ice cream
Which can be topped with crunchy hundreds and thousands. (Bertus, can we possibly suggest some chocolate sprinkles as a less crunchy substitute?) Do go and try it for yourself
Or if you really want to go big, have another of Bertus' famous burgers, his Wagyu Cheese Burger at The Deck on the dam at Hidden Valley Wine farm. No reservations required, but it is weather dependent. You will need reservations at Overture, Bertus Basson's fine dining restaurant at Hidden Valley, see our recent review

Relaxing on the West Coast

After New Year, it was time to get away from the house, tidying, fixing and bemoaning the death of the garden and escape to one of our favourite places to chill out, the West Coast, a couple of hours’ drive north of Cape Town. We hired a simple self-catering cottage at the St Helena Bay Hotel for 9 nights and took with us piles of books, quite a lot of wine and some food that didn't need much preparation. We discovered two new West Coast restaurants - see the reviews below - and came back really relaxed and ready to dive right in to the 2018 media season. Harvest has begun
The hotel was old and tired until its recent outside facelift. They are still working on the inside
We were in one of the humble cabins at the side which had a basic open plan kitchen diner lounge, a fairly comfortable bedroom and a bathroom with shower. Reasonably modern, but with quite a few plumbing and electrical problems which need to be sorted out. The South Easter wind blew almost every day usually rising to hell pitch in the late afternoon so sitting outside was not an option. But we had DSTV provided - most of its time devoted to the Test series against India - our books, our laptops and we went for beach walks and local trips. Doing nothing is sometimes rather good for one, no stress or deadlines. We braaied once on the last day, in the wind
A heron caught in flight on the coast
A Sacred Ibis pair on the beach rocks
Fishing boats in the local harbour where we found the fish and chip shop and took home hake and chips for supper. It was average, the fish was fresh, we think. Chips despite being fried twice for us, were not great and still 'slap'.
The organisation in the fish shop was hysterical. There seems to be a hierarchy of "Now you do this next" among the four pleasant, experienced local ladies serving. There is a lot of standing about talking by everyone concerned, You do get served eventually, somehow, but you can't stress about it.
In case you want to view the comic opera ....
And we opened this to celebrate ... well, just not having to cook and being on holiday. It was given to Lynne by owner/winemaker Jackie Coetzee on the day he sold the farm a seven years ago! It was magnificent, still fresh and zesty with a lovely full palate. The Bloemendal Sauvignon Blancs are recognised by many in the industry as some of the best in South Africa, especially the wines made with grapes from the Suider Terras vineyard. Proof that our best wines can age very well
We took a trip up the coast one day and stopped at Soverby where we found these fisherman having a lesson
A dead sand shark
And we found this small farm stall, Die Skooltjie Padstal on the road between Velddrif and Elandsbaai
Packed to the gunnels with home made jams, pickles and preserves. We bought some good boerewors for our braai. We were tempted by the well cured springbok pelts but could not think of anywhere to put one in our house
Shaun with his mates, gathering together by the road to Elandsbaai in the 37.5⁰C heat. They carry a heavy load, serving all the local ewes
And spotted some pale pink flamingos on the salt pans near Velddrif
This is the Berg River where it meets the sea at Velddrif. The fishermen were not having a good day
One of our favourite beaches, Golden Mile at Britannia Bay. We toyed with buying a plot, but only briefly when we learned that the monthly rates would surely outstrip any possible growth. Properly is booming there, our friends who are estate agents told us, as it seems as if most of the people of the rest of South Africa want to come and live here by the coast. Plots go from R220 000 to several million Houses like these are a bit more!
A carpet of shells after one of the recent fierce solstice tides
A relaxing kelp gull near a mussel covered rock. Gulls don’t need a permit to harvest the mussels. We do
Our braai fire in the wind
We saw many raptors and a few owls. It is very, very dry up the coast; some of the land is completely parched by the drought. We feel for the farmers, the grazing is disappearing and if we don’t get much winter rain they will not be able to plant wheat this year