I recently spent a wonderful afternoon, with one of my closest friends, at the Taj Hotel Cape Town. I could think of nothing better than afternoon tea, at a luxurious hotel, in the heart of the Cape Town CBD. What a treat and some much needed girly time! [Read more…]
Taste Cape Town Restaurant Reviews
Taste Restaurant reviews written by Fiona Rossiter from Inspired Living. Inspired Living brings you Cape Town Restaurant Reviews, foodie inspiration, as well as first hand restaurant experiences.
Spasie Underground Restaurant
Spasie Underground Restaurant
If you love eating out but are in need of something a bit different, then Spasie Underground Restaurant is definitely the place for you! When I first saw mention of Spasie Underground Restaurant on Twitter, I was most intrigued. Which would make it was no surprise, when the invitation to dine there popped up in my inbox – I jumped at the chance.
Spasie Underground Restaurant is certainly not your run of the mill eatery! Nestled amongst the eclectic mix of bulidings in Bo-Kaap, once the HQ of Haas Coffee, Spasie is both unexpected, as well as charming, which makes the concept even more successful.
A dining experience rather than just a meal out, Spasie Underground Restaurant is the concept of Greg Zeleny, who you may know as the founder of Secret Eats. At Spasie, guests gather at a long chefs table for a more intimate evening of dining, enjoying great company, amazing food and wine.
Each week a guest chef is invited to Spasie Underground Restaurant, to create a custom 4 or 5 course menu, complete with wine pairings. Chefs are given complete creative control, giving them the opportunity to move away from their daily routine and create something truly magical and different in the Spasie kitchen!
Spasie is open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for dinner and soon to be open for Sunday brunch. The “chefs table” menu is on offer on Thursday and Friday evenings, with Wednesday themed as a “speakeasy” evening, also known as #PWW or Pocket Watch Wednesdays.
Our menu was prepared by Chef, Jaco Redelinghuys from Yoco Eatery in Durbanville Cape Town. Chef Jaco is all about bringing fine eating to everyday life, he is passionate about food and fresh produce.
The art is in the eating. ~ Jaco Redelinghuys
The wines paired with our menu, for the evening, were all from Kaapzicht Wines in Stellenbosch. We started our evening with a French Onion Soup Tarlet, paired with the Kaapzicht Chenin Blanc .
Next on the menu was a beautifully presented Vegetable Mille Feuille. The vegetables were wonderfully al dente, lightly charred, with a slight smokey flavour. The mille feuille was served with creamy Goats Cheese and a delicious Parmesan Crumb, for added texture. The dish was paired with a marvelously crisp Kaapzicht Sauvignon Blanc.
As a palette cleanser Jaco served a Passion Fruit Sorbet, made from home-grown passion fruit – it was amazingly zingy.
For mains we enjoyed a perfectly cooked Fillet Mignon, served with La Pomme de Terre, Root Vegetable Puree and Green Beans. The fillet was paired with the Kaapzicht Cabernet Sauvignon, which complimented the dish beautifully!
For desert Jaco served the masterfully crafted and aptly named French Countryside in Autumn. When the dish first arrived, we were all in awe of the creative genius behind such an artfully presented creation – it really looked too beautiful to eat! The mushroom, made from meringue, was set on a bed of “chocolate” soil, edible leaves and stones, with berries dotted about to cut through the sweetness.
What a delicious meal and fabulous evening at Spasie, it is definitely something we will do again soon. Thank you to the great staff and the remarkably talented chef Jaco, from Yoco Eatery.
Booking for these exclusive evenings is essential and cost from R650/person, which includes your complete food and wine experience. To see the list of upcoming chefs and make a booking visit the Spasie Underground Restaurant website or call them on 021 422 1492.
Image Source: Jaco Redelinghuys – ST Photography
Disclosure Ranking: 4
Ryan’s Kitchen Franschhoek
As you know, I love Franschhoek! If I had my way, I would probably move there tomorrow! One of our favourite dining experiences in the area, to date, was dinner at Ryan’s Kitchen. It was a rather romantic affair, which has stuck in my memory ever since! [Read more…]
Volare at Peddlars & Co
Volare “to soar or fly”
I have always loved Italian cuisine and a recent trip to Italy reaffirmed this love. I am not talking run-of-the-mill pizza and pasta but real authentic Italian food!
Imagine my delight when Grant and I were invited to dine at Volare at Peddlars & Co, in Constantia! Peddlars, a local landmark, has become one of the most recognised and beloved destinations in Constantia.
As one of the more recent additions, Volare became part of the Peddlars & Co family in 2012. The restaurant recently underwent a complete menu revamp, at the hands of talented chef Brad Ball. Brad Ball has been a name synonomous with Bistro 1682 at Steenberg, for the past five years! He recently joined Peddlars & Co to put his stamp on this Cape Town institution and bring it up to date, with the rest of the culinary world. One of Brad’s ideas for Volare was for it to be a dining experience, rather than just another meal out. The menu is anything but ordinary and in my opinion a much-needed addition to the Constantia Valley!
As I mentioned we travelled to Italy recently and one of the main highlights for me, was eating Italian food as it was intended – fresh local produce, simply prepared, with the most heartfelt passion! {and not a Hawaiian pizza in sight!} One glance at the Volare menu and I was transported back to Tuscany.
The main thing to understand as far as Italian dining goes, it is not meant to be “fast food” but rather a feast! A feast which is meant to be enjoyed leisurely, with friends and family, accompanied by a few glasses, or in some cases, bottles of wine.
We started of our evening, sipping on a glass of wonderfully chilled Steenberg Chardonnay MCC, while perusing the mouth-watering menu! It could not really get much better than that!
For our Antipasti course I started off with the Burrata, while Grant decided on the Tuno Crudo. The Burrato was absolutely delicious – the softest Puglia mozarella, with tapenade, baby tomatoes, micro basil and wafer-thin focaccia toast.
The Tuno Crudo was as delicious – yellowfin tuna carpaccio, with capers, lemon, a heady basil emulsion and a shallot dressing.
From the outset I had my eye on the Farfalle Primavera, which I chose for my Primi course and Grant had the Pork Ragu Pappardelle. Both dishes were amazing but if I had to pick a favourite the Farfalle Primavera would win hands down, in fact I would go back to Volare just for that! The combination of peas, leeks, zucchini, parsley oil and pea shoots, in a rich creamy sauce, was definitely the best vegetarian dish I have ever eaten! The Pork Ragu Pappardelle was a flavour packed, hearty dish, of braised pork belly, tomato, fennel seeds, rosemary, topped with a goats cheese fondant.
Admittedly by this stage we were both almost full but this would not deter us from experiencing more of the new menu. My choice for our Secondi course was the Roast Porchetta, which was Oak Valley pork belly, with artichokes, sage, Parma ham crackling and brocollini.
Grant opted for the Controfiletto, a mouth-watering Chalmar sirloin, with the most delicious rosemary potatoes, roast garlic, gremolata and asparagus. The flavour combinations of both dishes were spot on, I just wish I had the space to finish it all!
We were told that we could not leave without trying a desert and it had to be the Chocolate Torta! OMW!!! Nothing short of desert heaven! I don’t have a very sweet tooth but this desert is pure perfection! The sublime combination of Valrhona chocolate, espresso ice cream and chocolate crumble was right up my alley and we scoffed the lot!
I would like to say a big thank you to Brad Ball and all the staff at Volare for a truly magical Italian dining experience! Volare is contemporary Italian cuisine at its best! We will definitely be back soon, to sample more of the amazing dishes from their wonderful new menu.
Contact Details: Opening Times: 11am – 11pm, Telephone: 021 794 7747, Email, Address: 13 Spaanschemat River Road, Constantia, 7800, Cape Town. Directions: From Cape Town, turn into Ladies Mile from the M3 freeway and turn left. Just before the first set of traffic lights, turn left onto Spaanschemat River Road, you will find Peddlars on your right.
Image Source: Images 1,2,3,6 & 9 Coutesy of Claire Gunn Photography
Disclosure Ranking: 4
Col’Cacchio Celebrity Chef Series 2014
Col’Cacchio Pizzeria
There are some evenings, after a long day of running around, cooking is simply not an option! As a family, we try not to eat takeaways or ready meals, so the next best thing is eating out! One of my favourite places for a quick meal during the week is Col’Cacchio Pizzeria. I would probably say they are my favourite pizzeria. {my hubby’s homemade pizza is still my favourite though 😉 – in the event that he is reading this}
I was delighted when offered the opportunity to sample the latest Col’Cacchio Celebrity Chef Series pizza, Basil McBeefy! The Col’Cacchio Celebrity Chef Series 2014 has entered its second month, with a throwback to 2010, when super chef and founder of The Food Design Agency in Johannesburg, Jodi-Ann Pearton, first took part in this gourmet charity challenge.
Jodi-Ann’s Basil McBeefy pizza is an expression of her #FoodWithaStory culinary roots. She recalls fond memories of her father, Basil, preparing slow-braised beef short ribs for the family on weekends – “the most amazing comfort food and the spark that ignited my passion for food”.
We decided on our local Col’Cacchio’s in Westlake for dinner, our waiter was rather excited about the fact that I was going to try the Basil McBeefy pizza!
The Basil McBeefy pizza is my idea of soul food – with beef short rib slow cooked in red wine, veg and herbs, mozzarella, red chilli and crispy basil leaves. My pizza was loaded with beef, perfect for a meat lover like me! I loved the spiciness the red chilli added and the crispy basil was something a bit different but added great flavour and texture.
The Basil McBeefy pizza is perfectly paired with the Place In The Sun Shiraz, which is actually the wine I usually drink when we eat at Col’Cacchio!
I really enjoyed the Basil McBeefy pizza and even had a few slices leftover for lunch the following day 🙂
It is Friday peeps and who feels like cooking??? I know I don’t! So why pop on over to your favourite Col’Cacchio Pizzeria and give the Basil McBeefy a try. If you are not a meat lover, then there is a huge variety of other yummy pizzas, pastas and salads to choose from!
The Basil McBeefy (R110) is available at all Col’Cacchio pizzeria stores across the country for the month of October. R5 from every pizza sold will be donated to the Children’s Hospital Trust, to fund a paediatric rehabilitation programme, at St Joseph’s for Chronically Ill Children.
Disclosure Ranking:4