After more than a year of claiming that all its of its beef, lamb and game is organic, and that it comes from owner Giorgio Nava’s Karoo farm, and persisting to do so for more than two months after this blog challenged this claim, Carne has finally changed the introduction to its website www.carne-sa.com, removing references to “Giorgio’s own Karoo farms” and “organically grown”, thereby doing the honourable thing! We are surprised that it has taken him so long to make the corrections.
Originally the Carne website’s Homepage made the following claim: “Dedicated entirely to meat as is evident from its Italian name, Carne SA is a carnivore’s paradise serving a unique offering of the finest cuts of Romagnola beef, Dorper lamb and game, all organically grown on Giorgio’s own Karoo farms.”
Now it reads as follows: Dedicated entirely to meat as is evident from its Italian name, Carne SA is a carnivore’s paradise serving a unique offering of the finest cuts of Romagnola beef, Dorper lamb,game and more.
When one clicks onto the word “more”, a full page explaining how Nava obtains his meat can be read. This is what is written - difficult to follow at times, due to Nava’s ‘Italglish’: “Giorgio Nava’s flair for quality is undisputed. Patrons of the award winning 95 on Keerom have been enjoying the benefits of his culinary stance since their opening in 2003. In alignment of Giorgios’ unwavering inclination towards supreme quality and use of only the finest ingredients has led him and his partners of Carne SA-(his latest instalment of Milanese appeal)-open since November 2008 to a intersection pertaining to the ultimate quality of meat offered at Carne. Months of extensive research has seen Carne, a carnivores’ paradise which has to date boasted a unique offering of the finest cuts of Romagnola beef, Dorper lamb and game, all historically grown on Giorgio’s own Karoo farm- progress to a crossroad where a savoir-faire business approach and an adherence to the requests of the local market shift to now officially incorporating into-an already impressive free range selection- the finest in grass and grain fed beef. Patrons of Carne can look forward to an exclusive menu featuring the very best meat Southern Africa has to offer, aspiring to indulge the meat lover with an extensive choice of beef of which its calibre can be traced back to its farm, aging time and whether it was grain or grass fed. These all-inclusive details will be readily available to the customer-making dining at Carne an elite experience. Absolute strict characteristics are considered before a product is included on the menu like age of animal, diet, terroir, slaughter process, fat content, and meat flavour. Paying reverence to the meaning of its simple Italian name - meat, Carne surpasses the highest standards of all meat produce obtainable in Southern Africa guaranteeing the ultimate in carnivorous culinary. Giorgio, his partners and all involved in Carne SA, are excited at its capacity to offer its followers both local and abroad the ultimate variety in supreme South African beef, delivering Carne SA to the status of international meat emporium“.
Initially Nava refuted the WhaleTales challenge about Carne’s organic and his Karoo farm origin claims, but did admit that he bought in meat from other suppliers for quality comparison purposes. His supplier Gastro Foods also admitted that they supply non-organic and non-Karoo game to Carne. The fact that Nava did not institute legal proceedings against this blog was further proof of the false claims made.
From guest feedback it was understood that Nava took great care to explain personally to all his Carne customers how he obtains his meat for the restaurant.
The Carne con correction leaves “steak” on Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly’s face, in that she refused to allow a comment about the misleading Carne claims on the magazine’s website. She is one of the three judges for the Eat Out Top 10 restaurant list, for which Carne was nominated last year.
The original story about the Carne con can be read here.
POSTSCRIPT: Giogio Nava, the owner of Carne, has written a Comment to this post, denying making changes to his website due to the exposure of his restaurant’s misleading claims. Read his comment (click on ‘Comments’ at the top).
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
Tags: Abigail Donnelly, Carne, carnivore, Chris von Ulmenstein, con, Dorper lamb, Eat Out Top 10 restaurant list, Gastro Foods, Giorgio Nava, Italian, Karoo, legal proceedings, organic, restaurant, Romagnola beef, website, Whale Cottage Portfolio, WhaleTales
The Prudential Eat Out Top 10 restaurant list can make, or break, restaurants, and so the tension in the ballroom of the Westin Grand Hotel in Cape Town was high when the top restaurant awards were announced last night.
Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly indicated that the choice for this year’s Top 10 was very tough, and clarified that a chef owning more than one restaurant (e.g. Reuben Riffel) could be eligible for an award, as could a chef who will spend more time away from his namesake restaurant (George Jardine), at his new Country Restaurant at Jordan winery in Stellenbosch. In recent years a Top 20 list is announced a few months prior to the November highlight, and this year the new players on this list were The Round House in Camps Bay (who bravely stated at their inception that they want to be the best restaurant in Africa, and who are very Big Brother as far as observing their patrons is concerned), the Green House in the Cellars Hohenhort hotel, and Carne.
The scoring for the restaurants was 70 % for the food, 20 % for the service and 10 % for the ambiance. Restaurants had to have operated for a minimum of a year to be considered, the owner and the chef had to show a passion for their business, they had to show a dedication to uplift the industry, they had to show that quality sourcing of their supplies is important, and consistency and excellence had to be their foundation.
The winners of the 2010 Prudential Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards are as follows, in order of rank:
1. La Colombe in Constantia
2. Restaurant Mosaic in Pretoria
3. Rust en Vrede Restaurant in Stellenbosch
4. Terroir in Stellenbosch
5. The Roundhouse in Camps Bay
6. The Restaurant at Grande Provence in Franschhoek
7. The Green House at the Cellars in Constantia
8. Roots in Johannesburg
9. 9th Avenue Bistro in Durban
10. Overture in Stellenbosch and the Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français in Franschhoek.
The tension, excitement and shock was felt by all when the winners were announced. The first surprise of the evening was that Abigail Donnelly, the editor of Eat Out magazine, had created two new Award categories, in which only she had a say in the winners. The Best Country Kitchen Award went to a perennial favourite - Marianna’s in Stanford - while, very surprisingly, the other new category was Best Bistro, which was won by Bizerca Bistro in Cape Town, a top 20 Award finalist. This made it clear that Bizerca would not make the Top 10 Eat Out Awards list for 2010. Many heads were shaking, and it sounded as if Bizerca had won a consolation prize.
The next shock was that the 10th place winner was a jointly placed Overture and the Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais, once again sounding as if the judges could not decide which of the two restaurants to drop into 11th position, making both these restaurants joint 10th winners, and thus creating an Eat Out Top 11 Restaurants Awards this year! The list also created a stir in that Jardine fell out of the top list completely (from number 2 last year), as did Hartford House. La Colombe, 9th Avenue Bistro, Mosaic, Terroir, The Tasting Room, Roots and Overture were all on the Top 10 restaurant list last year. Restaurants that were on the Top 20 list, but which did not make the Top 10 list, are Reubens, Carne, Aubergine, Bread and Wine, The Food Barn, Hartford House, Zachary’s, Bizerca Bistro and Jardine.
Chantel Dartnall of Mosaic won the Chef of the Year award. Rust en Vrede won the Service Excellence award.
Cape Town and the Winelands retain their reputation as the gourmet centre of South Africa, three awards going to Cape Town and Stellenbosch restaurants each, and two to Franschhoek restaurants.
The 5-star Westin Grand Hotel disappointed hugely as the venue hosting an awards evening recognising the best of gourmet cooking and service in South Africa. Its standards have dropped significantly compared to the slick function a year ago. Luke warm waters and white wines were served, the service staff were initially unable to cope, and the airconditioning did not operate at an acceptable level.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio : www.whalecottage.com
Tags: 9th Avenue, Abigail Donnelly, Aubergine, Best Bistro, Best Country Kitchen, Bizerca Bistro, Bread and Wine, Cape Town, Carne, Cellars-Hohenhort Hotel, Chantel Dartnall, Chef of the Year, Chris von Ulmenstein, Country Restaurant at Jordan winery, Franschhoek, George Jardine, Gourmet, Hartford House, La Colombe, Mariana's, Overture, Prudential Eat Out Top 10 restaurant awards, Restaurant Mosiac, restaurants, Reuben Riffel, Reubens, Roots, Rust en Vrede, Service Excellence Award, Stellenbosch, terroir, The Food Barn, the Green House, The Restaurant at Grande Provence, The Roundhouse, The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais, Westin Grand Hotel, Whale Cottage Portfolio, Winelands, Zachary's
After more than a year of claiming that all its of its beef, lamb and game is organic, and that it comes from owner Giorgio Nava’s Karoo farm, and persisting to do so for more than two months after this blog challenged this claim, Carne has finally changed the introduction to its website www.carne-sa.com, removing references to “Giorgio’s own Karoo farms” and “organically grown”, thereby doing the honourable thing! We are surprised that it has taken him so long to make the corrections.
