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Thursday, March 18, 2021

Franschhoek Visit - Chefs Warehouse at Maison

One of the reasons we decided to go to Franschhoek on Monday the 8th of March was that it was our 18th wedding anniversary and this seemed like the ideal way to celebrate to it. We would be there when there were not many people about. Franschhoek is nicely busy at weekends and we are avoiding being with any sort of crowd. The downside is that many restaurants do not open until Thursday or Friday and the weekend, so our choices were limited. We have been to several of the Chef's Warehouse restaurants and were very happy to discover that their Maison restaurant is open on Mondays. (They close on Tuesday and Wednesday)

Walking in, you go through the very impressive chef's garden full of herbs and vegetables for the kitchen

Seating outside for the wine tasting - this is also a wine farm: Maison Estate with its own wines, a deli, a guest house

and owner Chris Weylandt’s family home

Wandering the gardens is a selection of very pretty chickens. These fluff balls are Silkies

We had booked a table on the terrace and, for a Monday, Maison was quite busy

The farm’s black porker wanders around and is quite tame

How tame we were not prepared to test out

All the chickens and the pig are corralled safely at night

Views from the terrace of the farm's vineyards and the garden

The same menu is for lunch or dinner
It is exciting food, with lots of variation, different combinations of flavour, texture and aromas

You do not have to have the main menu, you can just order from the starter menu and the dessert menu
should you not want a full meal. There is a varied wine list and Maison wines are available by the glass

Another view of the terrace

There are also very pretty speckled hens

A view of the restaurant from the garden

John thinks this wood collection is the same wood

that was here at the beginning of Maison restaurant some years ago

It looks very well seasoned

We decided to push the boat out, do the full 8 dish Tapas menu for R1 000 for two

Having a British pension can be useful for splurges like this

We have known the manager, Rebecca, for many years so it was lovely to catch up on what she has been doing. She worked with Chefs Warehouse owner Liam Tomlin in several of his early ventures. She presented us with a surprise; two glasses of Maison 2014 Blanc de Blanc Cap Classique as a celebration of our Anniversary, lovely and crisp, a bready nose, and golden delicious apple, fresh and cooked on the palate

The first round has three dishes. This is Arepas, a crisp round deep fried bread, filled with Fennel and Pork sausage meat and accompanied by a spiced Buttermilk dressing, heavy with green coriander, some lime, mint and chilli. It was something new for us, and resembles a deep-fried pita bread, very enjoyably crisp but it is made with cornmeal and originates in northern pre-Colombian South America

Then savoury and light as air, crisp choux gougères straight from the oven,

served with a rich crème made of aubergine and smoked yellowtail, topped with olive oil, smoked fish,

deep fried capers, preserved orange rind

The summer salad with roast pear, apple, shaved fennel, celery, herbs, pecan nuts,

flower petals on a bed of buchu curd, rather like a cottage cheese

John had a glass of the Maison wooded Chenin

Then two more plates appeared

A ceviche of kingklip with fresh litchi and Mango in a passion fruit tiger's milk sauce/marinade

with keffir lime leaves and slices of red chilli

And some wood fired Venison (soft and tender Impala) in a honey, flaked almond and sweet olive dressing,

with shaved courgette rolls, petals and herbs

A bit of the venison with the sweet almonds and olives was quite a taste sensation

It seems we are in for an early autumn

We are experiencing very unusual weather for early March, which is usually one of our best summer months

Next course was a dish all on its own and it so deserved showcasing. Delicious! A creamy Parmesan and Truffle risotto, with Genesis heirloom varied tomatoes which had been gently roasted and peeled. It was one of the best risottos Lynne has ever had, superb in its simplicity, the correct 'bite' on the rice and the base stock used shone. She later asked the chef what he added and it is made from a barley stock, which adds the correct amount of umami. It is topped with different basil leaves and pine nuts. One to try at home, definitely

Chanticleer the Cockerel appears in all his glory

and you can see why the French thought him worthy of being their emblem

And then the final two dishes. They do look small and you share them between you but this is plenty of very satisfying food. A sticky tender piece of roast lamb rib from the Karoo with a rich fig Fesenjam Sauce, a gentle goats cheese and lavender mousse, wood fired figs that were then pickled, a crumb of pistachio and lemon and sprinkled with pomegranate aruls. We could have eaten an entire plate of the rich lamb ribs

The final dish was really perfectly cooked piece of freshwater trout, unusually thick, skin seared to a crisp at one side, the flesh of the trout just cooked, oh so tender and falling into flakes with a beautiful flavour; in a rather Malay atchar coconut milk broth, well spiced but not too much to hide the delicacy of the trout. It was on a base of roast sweet potato slices. A meal that is a flavour and texture extravaganza

We had no room for dessert but John enjoyed a double espresso

Ma and Pa patrolling the lawn

and an olive thrush just found a worm

The bill

And in the parking area, as we left, a magnificent Ferrari 250 California from the early 60s
set us wondering which customer it belonged to

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All content in this article is © John & Lynne Ford, MENU

Franschhoek Visit - La Cotte Inn Wine Sales / Fromages de France

We called in at La Cotte Inn Wine Sales / Fromages de France,

to speak to Ludwig and Lodine Maske and buy some cheese

Life has not been easy for them, prevented, like everyone else in the business, from selling alcohol for so many months

Ludwig is very knowledgeable about wine and he has some interesting wines at the moment, well priced

Do visit and support them when you are in the village, they expect a new delivery of cheese very soon

The selection is down because of import problems, which everyone is facing

We bought a small tranche of French Brie, some Bleu D'Auvergne and some Raclette

to have with new potatoes and cornichon later in the week

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All content in this article is © John & Lynne Ford, MENU

Franschhoek Visit - Colmant Sparkles

We began our days in Franschhoek with a visit to Colmant, one of Franschhoek’s best Cap Classique producers

Owner Jean-Philippe Colmant has won many awards for his sparkling wines

and has renowned winemaker Paul Gerber on board

and Pieter (Bubbles) Ferreira as a consultant, a winning combination

We haven’t been here for a few years and really love the way the avenue has grown

and shows off the wine cellar at the end

They had finished picking the grapes and were just getting them into the cellar when we arrived

The tasting room and its terrace on the side

The inside of the tasting room. We will always take the chance to sit outside in the time of Covid,

it seems so much safer than indoor. A warm welcome from Cara Viljoen and the farm dogs

Don’t you just love the bottle closure of a top hat!. The tasting glasses fit the bill and show off the Cap Classique to their best. We began with The Sec Reserve Non Vintage, which has a dosage of 23 g/l, so off dry. It is a wine that is apparently very popular with the young, who want sweeter wines. We have to confess it is not our favourite style, we prefer them as dry as they can be made like the Brut Zero, with no dosage at all. Bready with red berry fruit on the nose from the 52% Pinot Noir. A fine crisp mousse. Stewed apple from the 48% chardonnay and, beneath, strawberries and raspberries on the palate, some umami and we found the sweetness very acceptable, at the level of a fresh raspberry. A wine to serve with good rich paté and desserts

A great view of the Franschhoek mountains from the farm

They also have the agency to sell Tribaut French Champagne, of which we are quite fond

The Brut Plaisier is a drier blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It spends 12 months on the lees and has an R/s of 7 to 8 g/l

It’s easy going, "good with breakfast" said Cara

Shy nose, a good prickle on the palate, lots of red berry fruit and cooked apple on the end

From vineyards in Franschhoek, Robertson and Elgin

A hadeda on the edge of the vineyard. They are good at clearing out snails and slugs

We miss them from our garden at the moment, we think they are all out here working during harvest!

The Brut Reserve is their biggest production and is 52% Pinot Noir 48% Chardonnay

6-7 gm/l residual sugar and it spends 36 months on the lees, which shows with its good maturity

A crowd pleaser and our favourite too of the tasting. Brioche and gardenia perfume on the nose,

crisp and dry on the attractive palate, a lovely prickly mousse

Fresh apple, then cooked apple with residual citrus flavours on the end,

the Chardonnay shines, the Pinot supports in the background. Very enjoyable; hints of France here

The Blanc de Blanc (100% Chardonnay as always) has 4 g/l sugar

and spends 48 months on the lees with some wood contact
Buttery Brioche on the nose, apples in abundance, Granny Smiths,

crisp and dry with long flavours and a tiny hint of caramel

A very worthwhile tasting and definitely a place to visit when in Franschhoek

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All content in this article is © John & Lynne Ford, MENU

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Franschhoek Visit - Three nights at Sunny Lane Guest House

We were given a very kind gift by friends who live in Carlisle in England. They are swallows and have not been able to come back to their flat here for two summers due to Covid. Every year they also book a self catering place in Franschhoek for two weeks, for which they prepay. They had hoped to come again this year but the UK went into lock down just as they were about to travel. So they offered us and a couple of other people their time at Sunny Lane. We waited a few days to see if the others had booked it out before phoning, but no one had yet reserved any time. We are wary of booking at weekends, now that we are on Schedule 1 and people can travel. Our Wedding Anniversary was coming up, so Lynne thought we might as well celebrate it there and booked us in on the Monday 8th, departing on Thursday, 11th March. It seems that Franschhoek is very, very busy at weekends, so we had a marvellous time in a rather quiet village, which was exactly what we wanted

We phoned ahead and made some appointments and people were extremely hospitable

They all gave us very worthwhile stories so MENU is back for a while

It has been so lovely to escape home and be in another place

On Akademie Street, Sunny Lane is very well situated for getting round Franschhoek

It is only a short walk away from La Cotte wine and cheese shop, the main road and the Franschhoek tram office

which was not working at the beginning of our week, but it had started later in the week

The self catering apartments are down a side lane of the house, nice and secure and we were able to park outside

There is a lovely terrace outside. Sadly, the weather was not very obliging, as it rained quite a lot during the week

March is usually one of our best summer months, this year it is turning out to be bit chilly and wet

But the dams are full and the harvest is nearly over

The lounge is comfortable and spacious, with a TV and some satellite programmes

We didn’t watch much! In fact, on our first night we were in bed with books really early; it is the country air

A huge bed, which is very comfortable and there is a large wardrobe

John was able to set up his laptop on the small table; Lynne put hers on the kitchen table

But we were out so much that we didn’t do much except read emails and John downloaded his photographs

A well appointed and spotlessly clean bathroom

The lounge is open plan with the well supplied kitchen

We were going to braai one night, but the rain pelted down, so we were happy to discover that the stove had a grill

The rain was torrential and it was what we imagined a monsoon sounded like, no exaggeration

The noise was very loud and luckily stopped dead on midnight, so we were able to get to sleep

DP Burger at GlenWood told us that they had 72 cm before 8 am in the day that we visited them,

with heavy rain during our visit and after we left

Our car parked outside the door to the Sunny Lane

Thank you Barbara for such a great, comfortable stay

and for the bottle of Graham Beck you gave us to celebrate our Anniversary

A lovely thought

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All content in this article is © John & Lynne Ford, MENU

Sunday, March 07, 2021

First MENU of 2021 - Special wines, Greek inspired dinner

The nearly tame hadeda ibis who has been a frequent visitor to our garden

MENU has, until about a year ago been a weekly publication. But these are, as we all know, very different times and we expect them to remain like this for the foreseeable future, a depressing thought, but, until we can all be vaccinated and until people learn to behave sensibly, there can be no other way

So here is a collection of stories we have published in the past few weeks. We will be going to Franschhoek for most of the coming week, so there will be stories coming out of that. After that, who knows. Please enjoy them. Stay safe and please keep out of trouble

In case you have missed any stories we have written in the past year, please look at the Blog Archive to the right of this. Click on a year to open all the stories of that year, all the way back to when we first published

Silverthorn River Dragon

John Loubser has made an interesting new Cap Classique on his and Karen’s Silverthorn property near Bonnievale. When we visited them in 2019, John said that he wanted to make a bubbly from a 37 year old Colombard vineyard on the farm which is on the bank of the Breede River

South Hill Sauvignon blanc 2015

Another delightful mature wine. This one served with an artichoke pasta. We first saw South Hill Vineyards sauvignon blanc when winemaker Sean Skibbe, moonlighting as sales rep brought his wines to our shop in Sea Point in 2006. We loved it then and we love it now. This is the 2015. It still has vibrant acidity with flavours of nectarine and granadilla and a hint of cassis right at the finish.

Meerlust Red 2019

Meerlust Rubicon is one of this country's truly iconic red blends. Occasionally, very occasionally, after the requisite time in barrel and bottle in the Meerlust cellar, it is deemed by its makers to be less superb than it should be. It is then downgraded and simply called Meerlust Red. Experience has shown that, kept for a few years, this is still a wonderful wine. We were given a sample of the latest Meerlust Red, the 2019. On the nose and palate, it has rich berry fruit; we tasted raspberrry and blueberry as well as cassis. Assertive acidity, as one would expect from a young wine, and the fruit is not overpowered by the wood, which makes a subtle statement on the finish. It will be interesting to taste it again in five years, after which time we'd expect it to have matured very well. 18/20

A Shirley Valentine's dinner from Dish Food and Social - with Greek wines

Lunch at Dunes

Lynne loves Calamari and has not had any for months, so we decided to go and find some at a favourite place of ours on Hout Bay beach, Dunes, which is a pub with food. We picked up a local friend and off we went for lunch. If the wind is blowing you can sit downstairs behind the see-through blinds, or if it is calm, upstairs on the terrace admiring the view and watching for whales

Ken Forrester Silver Rose

Ken Forrester Vineyards in Stellenbosch sent us a sample of the Silver Rose, a rosé made from one of Ken's favourite grapes, Grenache. The wine comes in luxurious packaging

Two ancient Sauvignons

Friends who came to supper last week brought with them two 1998 Sauvignons blanc, both from Stellenbosch. Most people think old South African white wines are not worth drinking, and we have found that that includes wines that are only a couple of years old! We do not hold with this belief, really enjoying wines with maturity and we have in the past had some notable and enjoyable older white wines. However it is quite a long time since we had any wine with this age, so we proceeded with caution and a little anticipation, not sure of what we might find

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All content in this article is © John & Lynne Ford, MENU

Wednesday, March 03, 2021

Two ancient Sauvignons

Discussing the wines at tasting, we all thought that they must have been one of the first vintages from either producer. In fact, Villiera's first Sauvignon blanc was produced at the same time as the first Platter, 1980 and Thelema's was in 1988

We looked them both up in the 1999 Platter and it is interesting to compare our notes when we tasted the wines with the comments made when they were released.

The first wine we tasted was the 1998 Thelema

1999 Platter: Jam-packed with super-ripe gooseberry fruit, loads of flavour, seemingly indomitable alcohol 14.20%

Our note: Golden amber in colour and with golden fruit notes on the nose, there was richness and still a hint of that 14.20% alcohol. On the palate the golden fruit followed through with maturity and warmth from the alcohol. What it reminded us of was a good Spanish Sherry, an Oloroso in style for Lynne, who still found a little fruit, and a Manzanilla for John. We continued to drink this with dinner and the next day and it was very enjoyable and lasting.

Then we tasted the Villiera 1998 Bush Vine Sauvignon blanc

The corks were both in very good condition

1999 Platter: Herbaceous gooseberry-toned from unirrigated vineyards. Loire-like aroma, tropical asparagus top notes, accessible, not simple, persistent

Our note: Dark amber in colour, with honeycomb and apricot notes. It had a lovely mouthfeel, a buzz of alcohol and lots of depth of flavour with apricots and a hint of grape moskonfyt giving richness, but dry. There was also a sherried character and we found it very delicious. Good with food too. We loved the comment on the label, Winemaker Jeff Grier was correct: "Intended for extended maturation in the bottle". Indeed.

An essential tool for safe removal of older corks, which does not have the same propensity for putting crumbs of cork into your glass is the two prong cork puller. There are several brands; the one which seems to be most accessible in South Africa is made by VacuVin and can be found at TakeaLot, Makro and YuppieChef with quite a lot of variance in price. We have also seen one in Checkers

One final pertinent question. Why are we not drinking Sherry in South Africa? It is a really cool thing to drink as an apéritif and with food. Not the sticky oversweet stuff that masquerades as sherry, but the drier and more interesting styles. And we used to produced world class variations.

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Ken Forrester Silver Rose

Ken Forrester Vineyards in Stellenbosch sent us a sample of the Silver Rose,

a rosé made from one of Ken's favourite grapes, Grenache. The wine comes in luxurious packaging

The gift pack contains, in addition to the bottle of wine, a rose-scented candle in a glass,

itself packed in a cylindrical box

The bottle is an elegant shape with a glass stopper

The wine has pomegranate and fresh Bing cherry notes on the nose

which follow through beautifully on the refreshing palate

It is an extremely enjoyable wine

See John's photographs and follow us on YouPic

Lunch at Dunes

The view of Hout Bay beach from the deck at Dunes which is right on the coast road.

The burger was a little dry, the chips were good, and a very generous portion

Downed with a draught Windhoek

The Nachos Grandes are very very good and a portion is big enough to share if you are not very hungry

Ronnie had this with a glass of sauvignon blanc

Lynne chose the calamari strips and they were very good in a light golden batter and a good creamy tartar sauce

It was such a huge portion, some went home wrapped in a serviette

And washed down with half a draught Devil's Peak lager. Yes, we should have ordered a salad ....

The bill came to R512 including gratuity

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Monday, March 01, 2021

A Shirley Valentine's dinner from Dish Food and Social - with Greek wines

We don't usually celebrate Valentine's day; it's normally a total commercial scam. But this year was different. Because of Covid, Lynne had something up her sleeve. She wanted to support the hospitality industry in some way, as they will not be making lots of dosh this year. Our friend Andrea Foulkes has been suppying wonderful meals to be consumed at home from her business, Dish Food and Social, for several years and she has been working with another friend, Chef Craig Cormack who has Salt Restaurant on Paul Cluver and his caterering company, Goose Roasters with his business partner Beau du Toit. They came up with a stunning offer, called the Shirley Valentine Valentine's Dinner, which was delivered on Saturday 13th. There was so much food for two that we had some that night and the rest on Valentine's Day. And all for the magic price of R550, plus delivery to Sea Point for R25. So Lynne was chilled and relaxed and only had to do minor 'warming up' of the food. A great way to spoil John too! It was a complete surprise for him. And she had ordered some of John Loubser's crisp new MCC, Silverthorn River Dragon, made from Colombard, so we celebrated the good things in life, rather than just Valentine's day

All highly recommended. Have a look at their web and Facebook pages.

The parcel that arrived - all the packaging materials they use are recycled

In fact we re-purposed three packs to package sandwiches for our hungry callers

The very simple cooking instructions which came with the food

Starters of "Queen of Tarts" - heart shaped tarts filled with semi-dried tomatoes, ricotta and basil pesto, Spanakopita & minty tzatziki, mini scorched pitta, Skordalia. The pastry on the tarts was just right, almost a savoury shortbread and the filling worked so well. The Spanakopita were superb, the sort you want lots more of but dont need! The Skordalia lasted several days and even got added to a salad later in the week

Heritage baby beetroot salad with lemon & marjoram dressing was very fresh and enjoyable by Lynne, John is not a fan of beetroot. The Griddled courgette, broccoli, artichoke & bean salad was an interesting combination. We had the Chicken souvlaki on the first night and it was tender, full of flavour and a very generous portion with 2 each. There was s0 much Orzo with feta and herbs that it did both meals as the starch. The Slow-cooked Greek lamb Giouvetsi is the version cooked with tomato rather than the Kleftico version. It was so tender and delicious and goes perfectly with it partner the Orzo

Pistachio baklava diamonds with rosewater & mint syrup, not too sweet, just the way we like it , crisp flaky and packed full of nuts

Traditional Greek shortbread crescents called Kourabiedes, normally a Christmas treat, were melt in the mouth and one could just detect a hint of mastika

White Chocolate-dipped strawberries and some heart shaped shortbread biscuits

We found these wines in our cellar, bought on our trip to Greece in 2015, and decided to drink them with the Greek menu. Ágios Ávgoustos (St Augustine), a dry white wine from Santorini. 2010 vintage, bought at the Art Space Winery in Santorini in 2015. At the time we said, "Their Barrel Reserve tasted like a full semillon, many layered with chalky tannins, very sophisticated and elegant and very lively for a five year old wine". It had deep colour at 10 years old, but was still remarkably fresh and lively. You can see the winery at

https://adamastorbacchus.blogspot.com/2015/05/menus-aegean-odyssey-day-7-santorini.html

and Palivou Estate Anemos Red, from Nemea in the Peloponnese, made entirely from the Greek St George varietal, which we described at the time we bought it as "dark as Claret, full of elegant cassis violets and on the palate cherries, raspberries and other berries. It’s soft with no faults and a long finish". Six years later, it held up well, and the characteristics were true to our original description. You can see our visit to that winery at

https://adamastorbacchus.blogspot.com/2015/06/menus-aegean-odyssey-day-17-mykine-wines.html

See John's photographs and follow us on YouPic

About us

MENU, our weekly email newsletter, started as an advertising medium for Main Ingredient, our specialist retail grocery business. We opened our Sea Point shop in December 2002 because realised that there was a place in South Africa for a grocer catering to people with sophisticated tastes and needs. We moved the shop on line in 2010, but discontinued it in 2015, having decided that it is time to “retire” and concentrate on our writing, photography and tour guiding. MENU has a wide circulation and is read nationally and internationally.

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