Sunday, April 16, 2023

70th Birthday Concert for Péter-Louis van Dijk in the Endler Auditorium, Stellenbosch University

If you live in Cape Town and go to an evening concert in Stellenbosch, perhaps at the famous Endler Auditorium, you want to be there on time and perhaps stay the night afterwards so that you don’t have to drive home on the motorway in the dark

We had a very special concert to go to; a celebration of the 70th Birthday of an old friend, composer Péter Louis van Dijk, conducted by his son Xandi van Dijk. Lynne was best friends with Péter's first wife, Susi Waldmann. They met at Girl Guides and she came to know Peter and the boys better when she returned to South Africa from England in 1993. Sadly, Susi died in 2000

Peter has since remarried, to Junita, whom we have both come to know. They live in Port Elizabeth so we haven’t seen each other for too long. We tried to find affordable accommodation in Stellenbosch, but it was Graduation time at Stellenbosch University and the city was full

The Ender Auditorium, which has excellent acoustics

Gathering in the foyer, we met a couple of people we know and another who recognised us!

Time to take our seats and, fortuitously, Lynne had booked seats very close to where Péter was sitting in his wheelchair

The Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra "was founded by Prof Eric Rycroft in 1981
The aim of the orchestra is to provide music students with first-hand training for their profession,
as well as offer talented musicians studying other courses, experience in symphonic orchestral playing

They have an impressive organ, useful for the Saint-Saëns organ concerto (one of Lynne’s favourites)
All links to musical pieces are by kind permission of Xandi van Dijk

The programme


Conductor Xandi van Dijk about to conduct the first piece, About Nothing, which has an unusual choral beginning

He didn’t use a baton to conduct, just his whole body, full of rhythm and music

Xandi getting ready to play the piece his father wrote for him, Sarabande for Strings, on his viola
It brought so many happy memories and some very sad ones for Lynne; she had tears streaming down her face

If you want to hear some of the beautiful music, click on the links from Xandi van Dijk's Facebook page
The Mozart Adagio from Clarinet Concerto in A Major solo by family member Heidri Faber,
who now plays in an orchestra in Oslo, was sublime

The orchestra was supported by the Vox Chamber Choir for the performance of San Gloria
Huge applause for this piece and for the Brahms where the first movement was rather rumbunctious
and the last, and most familiar movement; the orchestra played like angels

It was time for some fun

Renowned composer Peter Louis van Dijk at 70

Matthijs van Dijk joins his brother Xandi to perform a narration for the finale of Musicians of Bremen


A much-performed piece, written by Péter Louis van Dijk many years ago when the boys were young
and the audience was asked to join in with the choir for part of a song in the programme
The performance was very lively

The joy of singing continued as we all joined in to sing Happy Birthday to Peter


A celebratory birthday hug and kiss for his father
after a splendid performance by Conductor Xandi van Dijk and the orchestra and choir

A hug from son Matthijs

The pleasure of receiving some gifts

Peter very happy with his present of some wine

and a hug and kiss from Peter's wife Junita

Xandi with his young son, who reminds Lynne very much of her friend Susi

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Thursday, April 13, 2023

Pre-concert early supper at De Warenmarkt, Stellenbosch

We decided to treat ourselves to an early dinner before the concert we would be attending
at Stellenbosch University's Endler Auditorium
Because of Graduation at the University, many places were booked out
We ended up at a venue we are familiar with, De Warenmarkt,
and could only have a table for two there by promising to be out by 6.30

The last time we were there was for a function at which you could  find a place to sit and eat 
and choose dishes from different stalls. It now appears to be a conventional restaurant 
It has a good wine list featuring Stellenbosch wines

It has an interesting, if slightly limited, menu
so we were extremely conservative in what we ordered, given the time constraint
A dish of crisp fried baby calamari with a Vietnamese Nuoc Nam sauce, chips and a tartare sauce on the side
The calamari tubes were tender; the tentacles were crisp and so were the wedge potatoes
But, for some reason, they were covered in a very sweet sticky sauce and no sight of the Nuoc Nam?
A bit disconcerting and Lynne did query it with the very helpful and busy Manager
It was their version of Nuoc Nam, which is actually Vietnamese Fish sauce
Could the chef have meant it to be a Nuoc Cham dipping sauce,
which is made of  fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, palm sugar, lemon grass, chilli and garlic?
We were offered a new dish, but time was upon us and Lynne had eaten half of the dish so we declined

John ordered their famous Hamburger and was very happy with it ....

... one of the best he has had lately.  Lynne had a glass of Zevenwacht Sauvignon blanc
and John a Devil's Peak King's Blockhouse IPA and the bill came to R480 with service



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Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Oriental tapas supper at Silk restaurant, Cape Town

It is Restaurant Week again but, actually, it’s Restaurant Month, as it will last for the whole of April. There are some really interesting restaurants, some very new restaurants and some impossibly expensive restaurants offering “specials" that we still can’t afford. Have a look, we are still considering where to go next. Our first venture was to Silk restaurant, now part of the grouping of restaurants run by Faisal Khakoo and Anna Rascola, his  Catalonian wife, and Christophe and Sabrina Durand. Faisal and Anna own La Bohème and La Bruixa (the Witch) in Sea Point. Christophe and Sabrina own Bouchon in the premises of their Dorrance winery, in the same Heritage Square building. In partnership with Faisal, they serve excellent French style tapas there. Silk is on the corner of Buitengracht and Shortmarket Street in what used to be the Africa Cafe ground floor premises. Parking is available in the square, but be aware that the area is now filled with very popular restaurants and it can be very crowded, especially on the weekend

The entrance


We are, as you have probably gathered, rather fond of Asian food; the menu here is filled with things we love to eat
The special at the moment is three Asian tapas dishes for R255
and the servings certainly are big enough to share with your partner
All the dishes on the menu are tapas sized, Lynne was told by Christoph
and they have a good wine list and serve cocktails as well

We were given a very warm welcome by Christophe, Sabrina, Faisal and Anna


The restaurant was very busy and is obviously very popular


Attractive Asian style decor to get you in the mood

We were treated to a glass of local bubbly; we suspect, looking at the wine list, it was from Kleine Zalze
We loved the cute lamp on the table which makes menu reading much easier. 
The table is set with chopsticks and knives and forks
We liked the use of the mahjong tile as a chopstick rest

Bamboo, adding to the ambiance

Suitably inscrutable, imperious!
Relishing the food coming and really enjoying the glass of Dorrance Kama Chenin Blanc,
so French, so dry and layered in flavour and sophistication. A good serving and good glassware too

On the table was a dish of chilli oil and some fresh pickled cucumber which John enjoyed


More Asian decor

A smiling barman making sure everyone is served quickly and the glasses are polished


Page one of the menu, Oysters are extra

We stuck to the Tapas special but, on a return visit, we might add some sides like Noodles or Edamame beans

The wine list is helpful; if you are driving you only want one glass of wine

Some interesting choices, some favourites and a couple of new names

The first course to arrive was seared baby squid polpetti
with garlic, lemon and parsley and a Japanese tartare sauce. So tender, delicate with a hint of chilli
If you love squid, maybe not a dish to share.....




The next dish was perfection. Sesame crusted, just quickly flamed on the outside, Tataki tuna from the grill fire
The long fin tuna season is in full swing and this Tataki was perfectly flavoured, with exceptionally fresh pink tender tuna
If you are ever offered black tuna; refuse, it's old or bruised
The lively green apple salsa, daikon radish and the sesame oil and ponzu just lit it up




Another thing we are fans of is Soba noodles, especially as a cold salad in summer
We had asked what Christoph for a recommendation and he said to try the Steamed Fish
Lightly steamed fresh hake, falling into lovely flakes
and complimented by the subtle but present ginger, garlic and soy sauce, with lemongrass perfuming the dish
We recommend it too




There was quite a long pause between the first three dishes
The fourth was something we cannot resist on any Asian menu, dumplings
The Japanese call them Gyozo (these were called Yaki Gyozo) and were filled with pork and prawn,
very finely minced, so the prawn was a bit shy. Served with a sesame, ginger and chilli dipping sauce




Now, Bao can be contentious. In our world, they need to be light, airy, pillow soft and foldable
and able to hold the filling really well. Never stodgy and solid
These were just right, and the filling was the slightly sweet and five-spicy Char sui tender Pork belly
It  was delicious. The bao are topped with a rainbow slaw which adds texture and crunch
If sharing, we need four; sharing one could cause an argument ....


The final dish was the duck croquettes. Know that we can never resist duck on any menu
Crisply deep fried, Panko crumbed with a hint of their origin - Pekin Duck with Hoisin sauce


We could have ordered more, but, honestly, we were really replete
so we will have to come back to try some of the other items on the menu
Our bill, with service, came to R750. It’s a good offer

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Friday, March 24, 2023

In MENU This Week. RMB Starlight Classics, Vergelegen; Rigel Retreat BnB; Klein Constantia book launch, Meerendal La Romantica, Mykonos meze

This week’s MENU is a little later than we would like. The scribe went down with a nasty dose of Lurgy which meant that the words for the stories had to be delayed. But here it is with a good selection of stories for the weekend. The year rushes on and suddenly we are at the season when three of the world’s religions celebrate major events. We send all our readers our best wishes for Easter, Passover and Ramadan

2023 RMB Starlight Classics Concert at Vergelegen - Singing in the Rain

We were delighted when we were invited to the RMB Starlight Classics Concert this year, held again at Vergelegen; one of our favourite events to cover each year. Multi-talented performers at a great venue and some good food and wine to accompany it. We were welcomed by Joandra Griesel, Communications Manager at Rand Merchant Bank, and her team. Read on…

The Rigel Retreat AirBnb in Schapenberg, Somerset West

When we are invited to a prestigious evening event in the country, we try to find affordable accommodation for the night. Our budget on our pensions is small, so we are always delighted to find something good. We were invited by RMB to the Starlight Concert at Vergelegen and found a small but perfectly formed apartment on the Schapenberg, only 12 minutes' drive away. It was also a very easy drive on major roads. Read on…

A brief look at the Vergelegen estate

Vergelegen is one of the Cape's and South Africa's most historic properties. After Willem Adriaan van der Stel succeeded his father, Simon van der Stel, as Governor of the Cape in 1700, he claimed a 30,000 hectare piece of land for himself, just as his father had done in his time at Constantia. It was registered on 1st February 1700 and he used the resources of his employer, the Dutch East India Company, to improve the estate and build the famous manor house. Read on…

High Tea book launch at Klein Constantia

On Thursday 9th March 2023, Klein Constantia launched a new book about the history of this historic wine estate and we attended. Established in 1824, the Klein Constantia 146 hectare estate originally formed part of “Constantia”, a vast property established in 1685 by Simon van der Stel, the first governor of the Cape. Famous for its world renowned wines, and the revival of the famous 18th century sweet Constantia wine, known as Vin de Constance. The book is available for sale on the farm. Read on…

Meerendal's new La Romantica Restaurant

We were invited by Meerendal Wine Estate owner Herman Coertze to the opening of La Romantica, a new Italian themed restaurant at Meerendal. Durbanville is a great food and wine area; they believe in generous piled-high plates for reasonable money and they produce excellent wines. It took us only half an hour to get to Meerendal on the farming outskirts of Durbanville, driving down one of the most spectacular roads through the wheat lands and vineyards, the Vissershok Road off the N7. Read on…

Meze platters at Mykonos, Sea Point

Sunday evening was chilly and a bit wet, but our spirits were up as we had a reunion with a friend whom we have not seen for two months. We decided to go to Mykonos Taverna, a local Greek restaurant, and found other friends eating there too. NB - We were told that the Sea Point Mykonos is due to move soon to a new location in Sea Point, but we were not told where it will be. Read on…



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