Thursday, April 14, 2022

Lunch at Dias Tavern after a long break

Lynne's Goddaughter Nicolette was visiting us from Holland and brought her Portuguese friend Catia, who had never been to South Africa, but her parents had worked in Mozambique and Angola. Catia is a Professor of Economic History at Leiden University in Holland, with her speciality being the VOC, so she has an interest in our varied history and culture. We mentioned Diaz Tavern (known locally as The Portuguese Embassy) and they were really keen to go. So lunch it was. We took a bottle of Axe Hill Distinta, made by Mike Neebe in Calitzdorp, a wine made from varietals normally used in port:  Tinta Barocca, Souzão and Touriga Nacional, and a bottle of Darling Cellars Sauvignon Chenin blend for those who preferred a white. They did not charge us corkage, despite having a good wine list

Windswept, but really enjoying a huge Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla Orange gin and tonic
They were promoting these and there was no charge. Must get a bottle, it is very good

Juicy Gambas and chips on a bed of rice

We both had Trinchado which comes with good chips
rather chewy but flavourful steak, cooked medium rare in a rich marinade of red wine, stock, garlic (lots!), chilli sauce
A favourite of John’s; he has been ordering it for about 30 years

Nicolette’s Trinchado and Calamari special also came with chips

Catia could not resist trying the special of the day, tripe with beans


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Pizzas and pasta lunch at Massimo's

When we heard that Massimo's in Hout Bay had been voted the best Pizzeria in Africa, we decided it was time we went. Neither of us is a huge fan of Pizza, but we do enjoy it when it is really good. And we had never been to this renowned restaurant. We made a date last week for lunch with friends who live in the area. And they don’t just do Pizza, but Spuntini (Italian tapas style dishes), Salads and Pasta. They do daily specials and there is a Kids' menu and a Vegan menu, and we discovered that there is a wicked dessert selection
https://www.massimos.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Massimos_Menu.pdf

There is a huge pizza oven inside and the two men running the pass were hard at work
We began with a bottle of Vondeling Rosé,
 a lovely crisp and fruity summery wine, to drink while we waited for our order

Loraine likes things simple and her usual choice the excellent Margarita:
Tomato, Fior di latte mozzarella, basil, basil olive oil
(and a donation of R4 goes to Border Collie Rescue with every one ordered)

Ronnie was in the mood for Pasta and ordered the full portion of the Puttanesca
Napolitano sauce, anchovies, garlic, capers, chilli, olives, parsley and some parmesan cheese on top

Lynne ordered the Francesco from the Specials menu:
melting Brie, mushrooms, caramelised onions and Palma ham
The thin base is exactly what we like and this was really delicious

John went for his all-time favourite, the Quattro Stagione aka Capri,
but minus the mushrooms and, in their place, he added garlic - it was excellent
We took along a bottle of Cederberg Chenin Blanc and it was a really good match for all the dishes

and even after all those carbs, we could not resist trying their Brownies for dessert with coffees
Each couple shared one. They are sensational, like a good dark chocolate ganache. You have to try them

The bill with service. We will be back. Soon

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Tuesday, March 29, 2022

In MENU This Week – Veritas Tasting, Starlight Concert, Muratie Summer Wine Down

 

Watching the Sunset

We need to start with an apology. You are seeing this much later than intended. Unforeseen things like health interruptions and visits from friends and family, some of which were expected took our attention. So, this week, we describe two events we’ve enjoyed and tell you about one we enjoyed last year which will be repeated next month. It should be most enjoyable and will not break the bank

Tasting the Veritas Awards Golds and Double Golds

We were invited to taste the Veritas Double Gold and Gold award winners at the offices of Deloitte in the Waterfront. This is the first award tasting we have had for over two years and it was rather strange at first to be with so many people. It was also a sign of a return to normal life and everyone there showed their enjoyment. Luckily the crowd was small, (they did a series of tastings over a few days) and the space was good. We tried to taste carefully on our own, not get into groups and it was such a great experience to be BACK in BUSINESS again. There were some excellent wines to taste, a few surprises and a few familiar brands that always rise to the top. The wines are all tasted blind at the competition tasting. Read on …

The 2022 RMB Starlight Concert at Vergelegen

It is always exciting to receive an invitation to what is one of the best musical events each year, the RMB Starlight Classics concert, held in Cape Town at Vergelegen in March and in September at the Johannesburg Country Club; especially as both performances had to be cancelled during Covid lockdown. Sadly, it was not open to the public this year; just to invited guests who were mainly clients of the Bank, media and its senior employees. We were instructed to be there by 4.30 on a Saturday evening and the weather was perfect. After collecting our entry badges, we were welcomed with a glass of Vergelegen's MMV Cap Classique. Read on…

Muratie’s Summer Wine Down

An annual feast of wine, food and music, Muratie’s second Summer Wine Down on 9th April, will be an alfresco ‘celebration of all things wine’. Join the Melck family, under this historic wine estate’s ancient oaks, for an intimate family day of good food, fine wine, great company and live music. After a welcoming glass of Muratie’s Lady Alice MCC, enjoy a long lazy Farm Kitchen lunch sipping on Muratie’s much-loved wines, entertained by a mixed bag of popular music played by Schalk Joubert & friends. Wine and Food will be available for purchase. The Standard Ticket price is R 180 per person. It includes a welcoming glass of Lady Alice, and a Bottomless Bubbly Ticket allowing you to enjoy unlimited bubbly all day will cost R 280 per person. Booking is essential. All Covid protocols will be strictly adhered to. Please remember to wear a mask. For bookings, please email festival@muratie.co.za or call 021 865 2330. Have a look at our story of last year’s event



29th March 2022

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Monday, March 21, 2022

The 2022 RMB Starlight Concert at Vergelegen

It is always exciting to receive an invitation to what is one of the best musical events each year, the RMB Starlight Classics concert, held in Cape Town at Vergelegen in March and in September at the Johannesburg Country Club; especially as both performances had to be cancelled during Covid lockdown. Sadly, it was not open to the public this year; just to invited guests who were mainly clients of the Bank, media and its senior employees. We were instructed to be there by 4.30 on a Saturday evening and the weather was perfect. After collecting our entry badges, we were welcomed with a glass of Vergelegen's MMV Cap Classique

The Vergelegen MMV is a Blanc de Blanc (100% Chardonnay)
The wine is named for 2005, when Vergelegen first made bottle fermented sparkling wine - MMV in Roman numerals
It is clean, dry and crisp with lovely flavours of toast, green apple and lime,
with a good mousse and lots of elegance and enjoyment
It spent 49 months on the lees, which gives it good complexity. We knew we were in for an evening of excellence

Lady Phillips’ famous garden was in full bloom as we walked towards the Manor House
Very different plantings from previous years; very abundant


Drifts of cosmos and a huge bright pink bougainvillea cover the back wall


Different chairs this year, much more comfortable, and set out in two and fours to give us space between our neighbours
and the rows were also widely spaced apart


There were several bars where one could get wine and other drinks;
people began to gather on the lawns in front of the house


One of the very friendly and helpful members of staff circulating to serve us - with a very special hairdo

Everyone had to collect a picnic hamper of food for dinner, which you could eat before the show
seated at the new table area behind the seating or in the seating area itself before the concert or during interval
We were also given a blanket, in case it became a bit chilly
Packed full of wine, very good plastic glasses, the obligatory candles for lighting during the show, and salads, cold chicken, cheeses, biscuits, olives and canapés sourced from Woolworths, Pick 'n Pay and Checkers. They thought of everything
You could even get a cup of ice to keep the wine cool on the warm late summer evening


We found a table, chatted to other guests and then enjoyed some supper before it was time to find our seats

We enjoyed the Vergelegen Chardonnay very much, we were served an older one from the bar and it really shone


Seated next to us were Muzi Nkosi and his wife
He is in charge of Rand Merchant Bank's corporate business in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa


John managed to get us aisle seats again so that he could have an uninterrupted view of the stage
and not bother anyone behind him when taking photographs


and it was time for the concert to begin


Warmly welcomed back by Conductor maestro Richard Cock who had missed all of us as much as we missed him!
The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra played the overture from the film Back to the Future,
which was rather appropriate

and by the CEO of Rand Merchant Bank, James Formby

We then all stood to sing the National Anthem

The opening act was the Mzansi 10 Tenors, a group of men from the townships, many of whom are training to be opera singers at Cape Town University, who have banded together to find work singing, which was very sparse during Covid. They are managed by Sipho Fabesi. Thanks to Richard Cock, Rand Merchant Bank has agreed to support the Mzansi Ten Tenors and they’ve commissioned Ralf Schmitt, who is a conductor and co-founder of the popular Ndlovu Youth Choir, to write and produce a signature piece for the group called Go Forth Young Man. The song will be available in all the digital music platforms

They sang rousing choruses of Neapolitan songs, including O Sole Mio
It brought joy to our hearts to see what amazing talent we have in this country

and then a rousing version of Granada

Next Diva Thembeka Mguni returned to Starlight with a lovely song Brave by Sara Bareilles,
which brought the first tears of the evening to Lynne's eyes

Joined by the dancers from Jazzart

Talented Baritone William Berger from Stellenbosch has a stellar career in Europe and now lives in London
He was stuck here during the Covid lockdown and so was available to appear at this year's Starlight concert
 He told us that appearing at Starlight was one of his top Bucket List items and he was so happy to be here


He has a wonderful, rich voice and entertained us with the well-known aria Votre Toast from Carmen,
better known as The Toreador Song

Charl Petrus du Plessis is a South African classical and jazz pianist
who has written a rather different version of the famous hit by Meatloaf (RIP) I Would do Anything for Love
in the style of both Tchaikovsky and Mozart

Performed by the UCT Jazz Choir and the orchestra
It was both entertaining and hilarious and got a terrific response from the audience

Maestro Richard Cock then introduced his co-conductor for the evening, Brandon Philips,
who is the resident conductor of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra

He would conduct Coenie de Villiers performing his popular song Namaqualand
Coenie de Villiers is a South African singer-songwriter, pianist, and pop artist who sings in his mother tongue, Afrikaans

They accompanied the song with a wonderful film backdrop of the spring flowers in Namaqualand

Very talented Mezzo-Soprano Monica Mhangwana, singer and musician, born and raised in Pretoria,
wowed us next with a faultless performance of the beautiful aria from Saint-Saëns Samson and Delilah,
Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix”. When Richard Cock introduced her, he said "This is a talent to watch"
We so agree, she has a superb voice, one that gives one cold shivers, it is so good

Singer, songwriter and performer, Zoë Modiga’s sang "Isegazini" (It's in the Blood) in Zulu next

Very popular South African singer, songwriter and performer Matthew Mole
He energised the crowd with his performance of I'm With You,
which had us thinking of our long periods of lock down in Covid and how many friends and family we missed

and he followed it up with his song Take Yours, I'll Take Mine which had the audience singing along,
stomping and clapping to the music

To raise funds for the Mzansi 10 Tenors, this large engraving was put up for raffle at R500 a ticket

and then to highlight the end of the first half, the entire cast was on stage to perform the song written by P!nk,
Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac, which could be the anthem for most of South Africa at the moment, "What about us?"

One by one, performers joined the others on the stage and it finished in a huge response from the audience. If you don't know the song, here is a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKOEJs602uk

Interval, which gives everyone a break to get some coffee, eat some more food from the hamper,
find friends, chat and have a comfort break, as coy Americans put it

and just stand around and talk, reconnect after a long hiatus of two years and enjoy each others’ company at last
Pick 'n Pay supermarkets founder Raymond Ackerman, seated in the front row, was celebrating his 90th birthday

Time to start the second half with the orchestra playing the Champagne Polka by Johann Strauss II
and the audience supplying the appropriate POP! sounds when signalled by Maestro Cock!

and so we all joined in!

Two famous people in the audience were celebrating their birthdays
so we sang Happy Birthday lustily to them and anyone else who was having a birthday


Next a clink of Champagne glasses and William Berger performed Fin Ch'han Dal Vino from Mozart's Don Giovanni

The aria is supposed to be sung in 60 seconds, so it is very rapido, and his diction was perfect

Zoë Modiga sang Miriam Makeba's I Langa We Son Ewe and Matthew Mole sang the Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun
and then they sang both together, a lovely fusion of culture, voices and songs

The 10 Tenors performed Ralf Schmitt’s specially commissioned Go Forth Young Man 

The raffle for the engraving had closed at half time

and it was now time to draw the winning ticket

The raffle raised R121 500, a sizeable sum, which will support the Ten Tenors
and the winner was a surprised and delighted Kurt Wiley

Thembeka Mguni and Coenie de Villiers and the UCT Jazz Choir sang a rousing version of Another Country,
the Mango Groove hit and we all joined in, raising our cell phone torches

at full voice, audience included!

Zoë Modiga is extremely versatile and her next performance singing jazz was superb and impressive; she rocked the audience

Coenie de Villiers at the piano, singing his famous song Katedraal (Cathedral) in Afrikaans,
all about the wide open spaces and high dark skies of the Karoo where he grew up
He described it: "It is like someone you know who is not totally attractive, but has a great personality"

It was then time to light our candles when the mood changed and we knew we were going to be able to sing along soon




Next came a song we all know well, a song that uplifts. William Berger and Thembeka Mguni and the UCT Jazz choir
gave us a lovely sentimental version of Edelweiss from The Sound of Music

Pop and Jazz were in fusion with Zoë Modiga and Matthew Mole
singing Gershwin's You Can’t Take That Away From Me! together
Matthew might have looked a bit tentative at the beginning, but he was really good at it
Another side to a talented musician

And the audience loved the fun interaction they had on stage

Mezzo Soprano Monica Mhangwana, joined by William Berger,
sang a beautiful and moving rendition of The Prayer

They sang in both English and Italian and their voices together harmonised so beautifully
It made us think of what is going on in the Ukraine

and the Ten Tenors joined in at the end

To get us all up and dancing Thembeka Mguni, the UCT Jazz Choir and JazzArt dancers
did some well known Tina Turner numbers


Thembeka singing Proud Mary

The audience dancing enthusiastically, everyone on their feet and really enjoying the evening

Mezzo Soprano Monica Mhangwana singing Libiamo Ne' Lieti Calici (the drinking song) from La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi

The Ten Tenors as the chorus

joined by William Berger 

The orchestra rocking it!

The finale - the entire cast and audience singing We Are Family 

The audience asked for, nay demanded, MORE and then The 10 Tenors performed an encore of Nessun Dorma by Giacomo Puccini. There was another song called Don't Stop Believing, which not many of the audience knew and the concert came to an end. One of the best, and lots of praise to the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, who held it all together with their wonderful versatile performance. Thank you all at RMB for the invitation

You never rush for the exits after Starlight;
there are so many people who do and the queue of traffic to get out can last an hour
So the bar stays open and we fancied some of that marvellous Vergelegen MMV bubbly
Sadly, the bar we went to didn't have glasses, so it came in 500ml plastic beakers!
What is the correct glass to drink bubbly from? Not this one

Yes, these ones are the right ones (we prefer them to the ubiquitous flutes which kill the wine’s nose)
We went to the next bar and enquired and they generously supplied us with these
A lovely end to a superb evening
Then we left to go to the overnight accommodation in the area that we had booked on line with Booking.com
 Midnight is far too late to drive back to Cape Town

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