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
The Delaire Graff restaurant in the Helshoogte Pass, which opened in June, is another threat to Franschhoek’s status as the Gourmet Capital of South Africa. The restaurant is likely to be a Top Ten contender in 2010, given that restaurants have to be at least a year old to qualify for nomination.
Stellenbosch already has three Top Ten restaurants, and Delaire Graff may well be a fourth next year. This could make Stellenbosch take over the Gourmet Capital crown from Franschhoek, an accolade the beautiful French Huguenot village has claimed for many years. It currently only has one Top Ten restaurant, i.e. Le Quartier Francais.
Delaire was bought by Lawrence Graff, Chairman of Graff Diamonds International, in 2003, previous owners having been Erica and John Platter, well-known for their Platter wine guide. For the past six years the estate has been rebuilt to house the winery, the tasting venue and space-extravagant restaurant. The entrance from the Helshoogte Pass has been remodelled, and is impressive with its stone-work wall, alongside which is the landscaping work by King of Gardening Keith Kirsten.
From the Helshoogte Pass one can see that the building is well-lit at night, and almost comes across as too “Caesars Palace”! Fortunately the lighting is not in one’s face, so to speak, on arrival. The locals may find it too bright and over the top, however.
The only jarring experience is the poor welcome by the outsourced security guard, who opens the right hand gate, struggles to get the pin to hold the gate into the fitting for it, then takes his time to ask for the surname, and a mobile number. He accepts all answers given and lets the guests in, but first has to open the left hand gate, a slow and time-wasting exercise. One wonders how effective the guards (we counted five in the hut as we drove out) will be should there be an illegal attempt to enter the property.
The parking area is graced with statues welcoming one, and a staff member comes towards one in the parking area. A limp handshake and an inaudible introduction are quickly forgotten when one is greeted by the hostess, who seats one in the restaurant, and places the serviette on one’s lap. She explains that she is our hostess for the evening, but we do not see her again. On the way in we are welcomed by the Maitre’d William van der Merwe, previously with The Big Easy.
The low-key menu offers a good range of dishes, with starters ranging from R 88 - R 115, mains around R 155, and desserts between R 65 - R 85. Delaire wines range from R 110 for a bottle of white to R 280 for a red.
The estate is looking after its carbon footprint, and the generous garden and the bottling of its spring water in glass bottles for its exclusive use at the estate bear testimony to this concern.
The restaurant’s focal point is two orange leather wave-shaped couches which are linked to 16 tables, and they are well-matched to the William Kentridge painting in the restaurant. The building resembles a distinctive art gallery, with works by Kentridge, Anton Smit, Lionel Smit, Dylan Lewis, Deborah Bell, Fred Schimmel, Frank Benson, Sydney Khumalo, Nicolas Moreton, Durant Sihlali, and Johannes von Stumm.
The skill of the Maitre’d is put to the test, when a request is made for a tasting portion of the crayfish lasagne, the most interesting sounding dish on the menu. The richness of the dish prevents the customer from ordering the dish on this visit. William does not flinch, and soon a more than generous tasting portion is served - it is heaven, a definite must for the next visit, prefaced by a two-day fast! Christian Campbell is the chef, previously at the Cellars-Hohenhort Hotel in Constantia.
The fillet and sirloin steaks arrive perfectly done, the chip and mash portions are very generous, and the sauces are well suited to the steak. The meal is ended off with a ball of choc chip ice cream and a cappuccino, with which chocolate coated coffee beans are served.
The cost of two main courses, a bowl of vegetables, a glass of Delaire Shiraz, the ice cream and cappuccino was R 448.
Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
Tags: 2010, Anton Smit, Cellars-Hohenhort Hotel, Christian Campbell, Deborah Bell, Delaire Graff, Durant Sihlali, Dylan Lewis, Eat Out Top Ten restaurants, Erica and John Platter, Frank Benson, Franschhoek, Fred Schimmel, Gourmet capital, Helshoogte Pass, Johannes von Stumm, Keith Kirsten, Lawrence Graff, Le Quartier Francais, Lionel Smit, Nicolas Moreton, Platter wine guide, restaurant, Stellenbosch, Sydney Khumalo, The Big Easy, Whale Cottage Portfolio, Wiliam Kentridge
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. 
