Friday, October 09, 2020

Restaurant Month lunch at Fyn

Restaurant Week has evolved into Restaurant Month as so many good restaurants join. When Lynne checked out the Cape Town entries, she was excited to see Fyn on the list. Opened in 2018 by Chef Peter Tempelhoff - you might know him from the Cellars Hohenort in Constantia - it has garnered many good reviews and recently an international award. We have been keen to go, so she immediately made a booking. They were running a very good special. We arrived on a blustery day and, as John drove into the car park across the way, the concierge Albert told Lynne that they can arrange free parking for guests there. He then chased John’s car and arranged everything. What service. We knew then that this was going to be a special day

The almost disguised entrance in Parliament Street reminded Lynne very much of finding Joe Allen's in London, a restaurant in the 70's/80's, totally anonymous, it had no signage at all and you had to be in the loop to find it and book. Used by actors, director, producers and advertising people it served great American food and had a marvellous atmosphere. Fyn does have signage outside, but it does have that air of exclusivity and mystery. This is the door to the restaurant on the building’s top floor
Inside the restaurant, the design is very modern and slightly industrial. They built it on the top of an existing building and the glass windows give lots of light and views of the city. We really liked the new booths that safely separate you from others, but you still get the feel of the restaurant design. The long bench seats in front of the windows are separated by good square bolsters
There is a very good bar
We had booked for 12.30 and the restaurant slowly filled up for lunch
The kitchen is open and they have a fantastic selection of different crockery on display
A table for six
There is a small mezzanine area
And you can dine at the counter, which we saw another wine writer do. His review added to our decision to come
Those amazing rustic plates and bowls
Masked chefs doing the prep
And the fabulous mobile of hanging wood disks and lights which fills the void of the huge ceiling space so well
While we took in the atmosphere, we studied the special Restaurant Week menu, which is very good value and has very good choices. We were told it may change half way through the month. We were asked if we wanted two or three courses and we replied, "could we please decide later?". However, if you want the cheese soufflé, you have to decide at the start, so we chose the three courses. Please note: You do have to pay a deposit on Dineplan when you book, to secure the booking. More and more fine dining restaurants are doing this to discourage the habit of people booking three or four restaurants, choosing one at the last minute and just not arriving at the others. Despicable behaviour
If you are ordering from the main menu, you use your phone to scan the menu 
A good Covid precaution. Our paper menu was ours to keep
You can scan the menu from this photograph
Simple and clean table decoration, a bonsai spekboom, chopsticks on metal branches, a stone place card holder and hand sanitiser. Cutlery, if needed for the dish, is provided fresh for each course. The assistant restaurant manager Lester Riffel recognised us and we were kindly given complimentary glasses of Bon Courage Jacques Bruére Cuvée Rosé Brut, which just won a Michelangelo Trophy. Full of raspberries and cream, with lovely crisp and zingy freshness and some maturity. A great start. And finding old friends from the wine and restaurant industry seated at the next table, was another bonus
And the fabulous mobile of hanging wood disks and lights which fills the void of the huge ceiling space so well
The second snack is the bread course. Both came warm. A spelt roll, a little dense and dry, might have gone well with the soup. And, for us, a too tiny, moist cheese and corn muffin which we would like to encourage Chef to copyright, enlarge and sell in large numbers. If not, Lynne would love the recipe. This could become something diners demand in future, it is so good. Accompanied by a rocher of allium chive butter
We have to confess that John is not a fan of tofu in any form
The next 'snack' was a small bowl of Blonde Miso soup that changed his mind
The home made tofu was like small pieces of savoury pannacotta, soft and melting in the warm soup. The bowl has three kinds of salty seaweed including green sea lettuce, wakame, and kombu, tiny white enoki mushrooms in Lynne’s - left out of John's because of his allergy - spring onion and elderflowers
The blonde miso soup is then poured at the table and has a lovely comforting aroma and taste; it was also slightly smoky which added another good dimension to this excellent dish. We asked what it was and it is Katsuyobushi,  dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna flakes. It seems that Chef Peter's trip to Japan has added a further influence to his excellent cooking. We could eat this regularly and Lynne is now looking for blonde miso, we have the red already. Miso soup is part of our diet
The tofu begins to dissolve
A feast in a bowl
We both chose the same starter and again it is Japanese. No complaints from us, we love this style of food. A game fish Tataki which this time was seared yellowtail, topped with a sprout, on a bed of Ishikawa rice, resting on a sheet of nori. Between the fish and the rice was some chopped Cape wild rock oyster and on the side an Ulva (sea lettuce seaweed) emulsion and essence of Shoyu, Japanese soy sauce. The rice held together on the chopsticks and was nicely flavoured. The fish sea fresh. We loved this dish
Lynne’s main course choice was the charred Iberico pork with crisp caramelised edges, and an aroma that wafted off the dish and took us back to Spain. Served with a sticky Tonkotsu, almost barbecue sauce with lots of umami notes, nicely complex. Ponzu braised onion, not enough of the glorious celeriac miso purée, topped with squares of celeriac, a twirl of deep fried pork crackling and presented on a bed of wilted bok choy. John loves pork, but this would have been too fatty for him. It is a very good fusion dish
John chose the Crispy Hake Sando which is slices of very soft hake, sandwiched between crisp slices of compressed and toasted brioche, so it rather resembles an ice cream sandwich! On the separate plate are a seared scallop, steamed and raw new season broad beans, artichoke, and samphire in a sake mussel sauce. Very good flavours and textures to counterpoint the soft fish, which came with a slice of seared lemon
You get a glass of wine with the menu and a choice of a Sauvignon Blanc from Neil Ellis, a typical warm country Sauvignon with a floral, slightly reductive nose, classic green gooseberry and greengage plum flavours, good acidity and a little fizz on the end. The red is a Neil Ellis Grenache with real wildness and marzipan and dark black cherry berry fruits, dark wood and length on the end. Age will calm this wine a bit
After a rest, it was time to tackle the dessert end of the meal
John had the warm twice baked soufflé made with Gruyère and Huguenot cheeses and Lynne suffered lots of envy. Next time
Soft and light as air and very full of flavour
They add a barley & parmesan sauce
and top with grated parmesan
We were so switching roles this time. Lynne eats cake about twice a year but felt we had to try this dessert and she was not at all disappointed. Layers of set coconut cream jelly, very light chocolate sponge, soft ganache and a base of crisp chocolate cracknel feuilletine. Light as air, very rich and unctuous chocolate and not too much of a challenge for she who dose not have much of a sweet tooth. Accompanied by pear cubes, pear gel, blueberries and crème coconut. It does come with a coffee pouring sauce but she loathes anything made with coffee, other than coffee, so passed on that. She did taste a smidgen on a spoonful of cake but it is not for me. You will love it; customers do love the sauce. Just her quirk. Someone else always gets the coffee chocolates in the box
Another special treat from Lester to go with our last courses. A tiny glass of Thelema Noble Late Harvest 2015 Semillon, perfumed with elderflowers, which has lovely crispness and elegance balancing the sweetness. And a glass of Lammershoek straw wine, like a good rich red port. Both excellent with the desserts. We shared and so enjoyed them
And a final touch, an amuse bouche of sticky caramel nut toffee. Yum
We went home extremely happy, as will you
The Lammershoek Straw wine
The view of Kloof Nek
And the mountain, swathed in cloud
Our bill. Thank you again, all at Fyn. A very fine meal and experience

Friday, October 02, 2020

This Week's MENU. Perdeberg, Ayama Artichoke Festival, CWG Auction preview, Groote Post Seasalter, Old Mutual Trophy


The view across the Perdeberg valley from Ayama

Life appears to be returning to normal. We have several stories to tell this week and we have been able to drive to an interesting event. Not so normal is the gale force wind we have had here in Sea Point which has wreaked havoc in our garden and which knocked out a lot of Sea Point’s electricity last night. Thumbs up to the City Council which restored it while we were sleeping. Our stories follow, click on the titles or the pictures to open them; enjoy!

A quick visit to Perdeberg Winery

On our way to the Artichoke Festival at Ayama last Saturday, we made a quick call at Perdeberg Wines in Paarl's Voor Paardeberg area. Scudding clouds and a lovely view of a hillside of vineyards as we drove in. This is a producer we so recommend that you visit. There is a good selection of wines available at affordable prices, friendly people and an area just under an hour from Cape Town, with lovely country views. We took the R302 country road from Durbanville. And there are other good wine farms in the area, like Vondeling, Ayama and Scali, to visit.  It is the area where some of our best Chenin Blanc grapes are grown. Read On…

Artichoke Festival at Ayama, Voor Paardeberg

We were invited to visit Ayama and enjoy their annual Artichoke Festival. The owners, Ottilio and Michela Dalpiaz, are Italian from the North of Italy and they have planted all the things they love on the farm, from artichokes to olives, almonds - yes, they say they do want to make Amaretto in future - and some Italian grape varietals.  Both are trained wine makers. When they came to South Africa in 2004, they fell in love with the Cape and bought a wine farm called Slent which grew very good Chenin Blanc. Read on...

The 2020 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction - live on line this Saturday

John went to Somerset West to the offices of the Cape Winemakers Guild to collect two wine samples which they offered us, as there was no trade/media tasting this year because of Covid. We were very sad to miss what for us is always the tasting of the year. The idea is that we should drink these while watching the Auction live on line on Saturday. It is going to be very exciting; we will be sitting in front of our computers toasting the results. The Guild wines are from some of our star winemakers and are worth supporting. Read On…

Online launch of Groote Post Seasalter 2020

We watched the launch by the Groote Post wine estate team of their SeaSalter 2020 Sauvignon Blanc, made by winemaker Lukas Wentzel. Groote Post is just outside Darling and benefits from the cold air which comes in from the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Read On…

The Old Mutual Trophy 2020

The results of the Old Mutual Trophy were published on Wednesday 30h September and you can watch the video on this link:
https://www.trophywineshow.co.za/2020-results/
The judges also give some feedback on videos. Read On…

All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Thursday, October 01, 2020

A quick visit to Perdeberg Winery

On our way to the Artichoke Festival at Ayama last Saturday, we made a quick call at Perdeberg Wines in Paarl's Voor Paardeberg area. Scudding clouds and a lovely view of a hillside of vineyards as we drove in. This is a producer we so recommend that you visit. There is a good selection of wines available at affordable prices, friendly people and an area just under an hour from Cape Town, with lovely country views. We took the R302 country road from Durbanville. And there are other good wine farms in the area, like Vondeling, Ayama and Scali, to visit.  It is the area where some of our best Chenin Blanc grapes are grown
The wine cellar
And friendly masked faces in the tasting room. We tasted several of their excellent Chenin Blancs,
they really do have a great selection of some of the different styles of this versatile grape
Our favourite Perdeberg Chenins have always been the Dry Land Collection, unwooded Braveheart and Courageous, the wooded Chenin
which, this year, does need to settle a while; the wood is quite prominent. But funds are tight so we did not buy it this time
Their tasting sheet goes from the most expensive down to the more affordable wines, so there is something for every purse
All are good
And as we tasted, we did downscale a little to fit the budget, so good are the less expensive choices
We tasted the Grenache Blanc from Piekenierskloof, a grape that brings back lots of good travel memories, and loved it
It is full of intense fruit flavours, dry and crisp and so suited to summer food. So we bought a case
We also tasted their Malbec; perfumed with roses and blue plums, soft fruit , chalky grippy tannins, lots of cherries and dark coffee wood
A wine to put away and watch
They had a bottle of the Endura Single Vineyard Chenin open so we were able to taste a wine that is not usually available to sample
It is very beautiful - Sommeliers take note
It has lots of quality and is full of layers of stone and citrus fruit flavours, good minerality and buttery French oak wood
We predict awards for this one in future.  Made in tank, amphora and barrel (no new wood)

All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
 

Online launch of Groote Post Seasalter 2020

We watched the launch by the Groote Post wine estate team of their SeaSalter 2020 Sauvignon Blanc, made by winemaker Lukas Wentzel. Groote Post is just outside Darling and benefits from the cold air which comes in from the nearby Atlantic Ocean

The launch was live on Facebook, something new for us.  Definitely one of our favourite wines, which we have bought every year since its launch 4 years ago. It is full of crisp, dry classic Sauvignon fruit and lovely salty minerality, elegance and roundness from the addition of a little Semillon and so, so good with fish, seafood and spicy dishes. We drank some of the 2019 vintage while we watched. Details and prices are on their website. http://www.grootepost.co.za/
We have enjoyed the SeaSalter with seafood, especially with sushi
The presentation started with an introduction by Nick Pentz (in the middle) followed by the story of the farm by his father Peter Pentz, "The Old Man" and details of the wine making from Lukas Wentzel (on the left)
Nick told the story of his discovering the small Kentish town named Seasalter in a book which  he found on a visit to England
Debbie McLaughlin, co-owner and chef at Hilda's Kitchen, the restaurant in the old manor house on Groote Post, showed a dish
from the restaurant, chosen to match the SeaSalter - hake with a mushroom duxelle and a parmesan and herb crust
Peter Pentz Jr, Nick's son, is qualified in IT and has joined the family team
You can see the video presentation on the Groote Post Facebook page (Click on the picture below)

The Old Mutual Trophy 2020


The results of the Old Mutual Trophy were published on Wednesday 30h September and you can watch the video on this link: 
The judges also give some feedback on videos

The top results were published. There were some surprises and some we knew would do well; the wines are superb. We have written about them during the last year, marking them for awards. And we confess that there are a couple we have never heard of before. Those have to be investigated. The gold medal winners are also shown on the website.

OLD MUTUAL TROPHY WINE SHOW 2020

All the Trophy Winners

Old Mutual Trophy for Most Successful Producer Overall: Kleine Zalze

Trophy for Best Shiraz and Old Mutual Trophy for Best Red Wine Overall: Trizanne Signature Wines Reserve Syrah 2018

Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc and Old Mutual Trophy for Best White Wine Overall : Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc 2019

Old Mutual Trophy for Discovery of the Show / Best Value Gold Medallist: Mulderbosch Chenin Blanc Steen op Hout 2019

Old Mutual Trophy for Best Sparkling Wine: Kleine Zalze Vintage Brut Méthode Cap Classique 2013

Harold Eedes Trophy for Best Chenin Blanc: Kleine Zalze Family Reserve Chenin Blanc 2018

American Express Trophy for Best Cabernet Sauvignon: Cederberg Five Generations Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

Riedel Trophy for Best Bordeaux-Style Red Blend: Morgenster Lourens River Valley 2014
Miele Trophy for Best Chardonnay: Rustenberg Five Soldiers Chardonnay 2018
Trophy for Best Museum Class Chardonnay: Rustenberg Five Soldiers Chardonnay 2011

Trophy for Best Cabernet Franc: Warwick Estate Cabernet Franc 2017

Trophy for Best Pinotage: Ormonde Basson Pinotage 2018

Grande Roche Trophy for Best White Blend: Durbanville Hills The Tangram 2018

Trophy for Best Museum Class White Blend: Cape of Good Hope Riebeeksrivier Caroline 2016 (Anthonij Rupert)

Trophy for Best Rhône-Style Red Blend: Underworld Red 2019 (Wildeberg / Strange Kompanjie)

Trophy for Best Niche Wine: Stellenbosch Vineyards Limited Release Verdelho 2019

Old Mutual Trophy for Best Unfortified Dessert Wine – Noble Late Harvest: Buitenverwachting '1769' 2017

Tony Mossop Trophy for Best Cape Port: De Krans Cape Vintage Reserve 2017

Trophy for Best Museum Class Fortified Wine: KWV Limited Release Port 1948

Some of these top wines are available on the farms and some even in the supermarkets
We have to confess that we have already bought some of both the Mulderbosch wines
 Congratulations to all the winemakers who did so well

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

The 2020 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction - live on line this Saturday

 

John went to Somerset West to the offices of the Cape Winemakers Guild to collect two wine samples which they offered us, as there was no trade/media tasting this year because of Covid. We were very sad to miss what for us is always the tasting of the year. The idea is that we should drink these while watching the Auction live on line on Saturday. It is going to be very exciting; we will be sitting in front of our computers toasting the results. The Guild wines are from some of our star winemakers and are worth supporting.

We were given Kevin Grant’s Ataraxia Under The Gavel Chardonnay 2019 and Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Windansea Pinot Noir 2017, both fantastic wines from very talented winemakers whom we know and love and whose wines we have bought from the farms and on auction and enjoyed

Bonhams Auctioneers of London are running the auction on line on Saturday 3rd October 2020, starting at 12h00 BST (13h00 SA time). If you are interested simply follow this link https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/. The Nedbank CWG auction is the only one that day, so it will be first in the list. If you click on the name of the auction it will give you an option to watch live.

In addition to the Guild's annual Auction, the Guild is holding a one-of-a-kind online Vinotheque Auction of past CWG Auction greats. It works like a Silent auction, the highest bidder at the close at 3 pm Saturday gets the wine. You can take part now. The winemakers of the Guild have donated all the wines for the Vinotheque Auction. The Guild’s objective is to raise funds to help fellow members assist those employed within their businesses who depend on an income from their work in the wine industry. Really worth supporting and you can browse now to see what they are getting. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26573/

Should you want to bid, you have to register beforehand on line. Setting up your Bidding Account to bid on the 2020 CWG Auction and the CWG Vinotheque Auction is really simple and easy! Just make sure you have an electronic copy of your photo ID / Passport / Driver's License and proof of residential address that you can upload (to prove you really are you!). Pop over to www.Bonhams.com and sign up!

Once you have a Bidding Account, you will be able to register for a Bidder's Number for the Auction(s) you would like to participate in.

Please note: you need to register for a separate Bidder's Number for each Auction you bid on (the bidder number will be different for every auction).