If you're in Cape Town: The Woodlands Eatery (Guest post)

The fickle Cape Town restaurant scene means that many restaurants – no matter how popular – will be around for two or three years before they close their doors. This is usually only with the help of annual winter specials, because once the weather starts getting colder, most Capetonians go into hibernation and can only be lured out to eat by 50% off specials at fantastic restaurants.

Not all restaurants have to abide by these rules, of course, but there is one restaurant that has never had a special, never had a winter deal, and never even had a half-full night. All evidence points to the fact that it is Cape Town’s favourite restaurant.
What is this magical place? The Woodlands Eatery.

If you haven’t been before, you may be one of the only residents in Cape Town to be missing out. Well, that’s not entirely true – this Vredehoek spot is mostly popular with the hipster City Bowl set, although you won’t feel out of place if your hair is symmetrically cut. Run by husband and wife team Larry Steenkamp and Sara Cronwright, Woodlands is perennially popular for a number of reasons.

As far as I can tell, here they are:
1. The food is wonderful. Generous portions, made from fresh, local ingredients and reliably superb, people come back again and again for the lamb pizza and Larry’s burger – which has just had a fantastic facelift. They also do seasonal cocktails, and the plum and black cherry mojito is worth writing home about. Every time.
2. The service is superb. Fast, friendly and efficient, you never feel rushed but always feel tended to. I’ve been for everything from table-for-two to table-for-ten and the service is reliably excellent – a rare treat.
3. The décor is fabulous. Quirky, homely but not messy, you can see that the owners spend a lot of time and attention ensuring the restaurant looks its best.

This means there is always a vibe. Always. Tuesday dinner in the middle of the month? No problem! Woodlands will be full. If you haven’t visited The Woodlands Eatery yet, you are clearly missing out on something that the whole of Cape Town knows about.

What are you waiting for?

Guest Post by Russell Jarvis of Travelstart.co.za

The Woodlands Eatery
2 Deerpark Drive West
Vredehoek
0218015799
Best for: Fresh, local fare and the plum & black cherry mojito

Thanks Russell!

If you're in Braamfontein: Father Coffee

There's a new kid on the Juta str block, Father Coffee. Yes you guessed it, it's a coffee shop. I popped in on Monday and sipped on a flat white, the blend of the day was South American & African beans. I couldn't resist the blood orange juice, which is deep in colour and flavour along with a slice of good ol' apple pie.

Father Coffee is easy going, light and airy with light wood and white tones. The boys, oh yeah the boys behind the counter are super friendly and whip up a good cuppa. 

Oh yeah that's me

Do I dig it? So far so good, but I will give them some time to settle in before passing full judgement.

Father Coffee

73 Juta Str, Braamfontein (right next door to the Neighbourgoods Market alley way)

0825134258

Best for: Blood Orange juice and a cuppa coffee of course

Calling all food lovers SecretEATS is coming to Jozi book now!

SecretEATS is an underground dining experience and it's hitting the big city next Saturday 8 June 2013. The concept behind SecretEATS is simple - they bring together adventurous food lovers and talented chefs for exclusive, underground dinner parties in secret locations around South Africa.

I've got my tickets, because I love to experience something out of the ordinary and of course I'm intrigued by all the mystery. Now let me tempt you to get your tickets.
"We’re (SecretEATS) not only going to serve you the most unique, scrumptious and food-coma inducing menu, we like to throw in a few extras too. Three distinct and matchless gourmet courses and one of a kind wine pairings eagerly await you in a completely unique, incredibly unexpected and decidedly exclusive venue."

How can you get in on this you ask? All you need to do is request an invitation here and you will receive an email that allows you to purchase tickets, simple!

House & Leisure's inaugural Night Market in Jozi

This week I'm so looking forward to heading to the inaugural House & Leisure night market at Katy's Palace Bar in Kramerville, Thursday 16 May 2013. The market is set to bring the pages of the magazine to life. I love markets and a House & Leisure curated market should be a dream.
The Ceramic Factory (see my post here) will have a stall there as well, be sure to pop in.

Images courtesy Associated Media Publishing

House & Leisure Night Market
16 May 2013 5 - 9pm
Katy's Palace Bar
6 Desmond Street, Kramerville, Sandton

An Afternoon with Raffaele Ruggeri at BiCE Southern Sun Hyde Park

I cracked an invite to join foodies & media at BiCE Ristorante Southern Sun Hyde Park a couple of weeks ago. It was a celebration of the BiCE South Africa journey, with BiCE Southern Sun Hyde Park currently being the only South African link to the BiCE Ristorante Group. The guest of honour and our host was the handsome and charming Raffaele Ruggeri, the CEO of the BiCE Restaurant Group. I most enjoyed getting insights of the overall BiCE journey from Raffaele, along with the planned expansions into emerging markets. I am excited to hopefully see the BiCE Ristorante Group expand into Africa. All we need is an appetite for real Italian food.

Top Left: Executive head chef Nicolai Paretti & Raffaele Bottom Left: Myself & Raffaele

The afternoon was centred around an authentic Italian menu concept combined with a seafood journey and a sweet end featuring the signature BiCE apple tart.

The starter was two-fold, a medley of cold Tuna Tartar, followed by grilled tiger prawns with asparagus and seafood ragout. I preferred the sweet grilled tiger prawns on a deep umami ragout.

A seafood risotto with baby Zucchini and tomatoes and lobster ravioli with white sauce and black truffle followed. The seafood risotto just outclassed the lobster ravioli. Even Raffaele commented that  "It'll make Milano proud".

A kingklip with porcini mushrooms and asparagus sauce and grilled seabass with lemon potatoes - served as one dish as main course.  This one the verdict was out I loved the earthiness of the porcini mushrooms in the kingklip main and the flavour of the seabass.

Of course the classic Italian tiramisu and BiCE apple pie were the sweetest end to a wonderful afternoon filled with culinary delights. There was no context here, the tiramisu won hands down!

To quote Raffaele on BiCE Ristorante Southern Sun Hyde Park “Once again, our recipe of authenticity has proven to be successful.  We believe in keeping it real… real Italian food made with fresh produce, prepared by renowned Italian chefs. The local success of the brand can also, largely, be attributed to our partnership with Tsogo Sun.  The alignment of the first and only BiCE restaurant on the African continent to the Southern Sun Hyde Park Sandton hotel provided us with the correct platform to bring our expertise to South Africa.”

Images thanks to Angelfish PR


BiCE Ristorante
Southern Sun Hyde Park, Sandton
011 341 8080
Best For: Seafood risotto and Tiramisu, High end Italian group lunches (think corporate team or family occasion lunches)
Not sold on: the lobster ravioli, the ravioli was a bit to rustic for my liking.

Jozi Foodie Fix turns 3 Give Away 2 - The WKND SOCIAL

As you know I am part of The Collective that presents The WKND SOCIAL, a monthly that brings Jozi Good Food, Good Music and Good People. This is the monthly event that I most look forward to and I would love for you to join in on the dancing because I sure do love dancing my face off.

All you have to do to win two tickets to the May Edition of The WKND SOCIAL |MONOCHROME| After Party is: 

1. Like the fb page or follow me on twitter
2.  Spread the word via social media (Facebook or Twitter) "I have entered @JoziFoodieFix bday giveaway to win two tickets to @TheWKNDSOCIAL |MONOCHROME| After Party"
3. Use the hashtag #JFFTheWKNDSOCIAL
4. Do let me know you have done so by either commenting on this post or tagging me on Facebook or Twitter

Competition closes on Wednesday 15 May 2013.

Winner announced 16 May 2013 | Open to Jozi only | Must claim prize within 24 hours

If you'd rather not take your chances with the competition you can buy tickets here

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If you're in Linden: Ceramic Factory

I have recently moved into my apartment, so I am always on the look out for interior design additions.  The Ceramic Factory caught my eye after breakfast at The Whippet (see The Whippet review here), and once I stepped it I was sold on the ceramics.

The Ceramic Factory is a crisp, white space that is illuminated with ceramic light shades that illuminates the wide range of other ceramics on sale. The palette of ceramics on show at the moment includes the traditional, crisp white, deep and subdued greys as well as lemon yellow.

I went in looking for nothing in particular and ended up buying two items. A dark grey kitchen tool holder for your spoons, whisks and such. The second item I haven't quite decided what I will be using it to either pot an orchid or to hold pasta. I will post an update as soon as I have decided what I will use it for.

The Ceramic Factory is such a gem, if you can't make it out to Linden they will have a stall at the House & Leisure Night Market next Thursday 16 May 2013.

Ceramic Factory
Shop 59, 4th Avenue, Linden
011 057 4314
Best for: Ceramics, pop in if you're looking for quirky gifts or for a ceramic tagine (the vessel).

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The winner of Bday giveaway 1 is.....

I bumped into Loyiso at The Whippet earlier this week, I figure he was shooting LNN which is back tonight, and so I decided on the spot that I'll giveaway tickets to his Comedy Central presents Loyiso Gola Live show. I'm so looking forward to seeing him on stage later this week.

Courtesy: http://www.joburgtheatre.com/

Congratulations Pearl Pillay and her *dramatic faint in slow motion* on winning two tickets to see Loyiso Gola live at the fringe Joburg Theatre this week.

Two mouthfuls at the 2013 Winter Sculpture Fair

Having caught wind of The Winter Sculpture Fair, that took place this past weekend, I just had to go and taste Franschoek's finest. Presented by MasterCard, it's a day of contemporary art combined with the best food and wine in the country.

Sunday was a comedy of errors, long story short we, TumiMohale (of TumiMohaleHere) and I got horribly lost. We subsequently came to the conclusion that we shouldn't enter The Amazing Race together.

The Nirox Foundation is in the cradle of humankind and is a beautiful forest gardens. The gardens are sprinkled with a few sculptures and installations, I felt a bit like a sophisticated gypsy Alice heading to the tea party. If the mad hatter were in fact an patron of the arts.

Having arrived at lunch time on Sunday, we were just in time to eat or so we thought. Unfortunately by 14:00 basically all the stalls were sold out of food. Serves me right for choosing African time but I was seriously disappointed, hungry and irritable. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to fully appreciate the showcase because I spent my time waiting in long queues for a bite to eat.

After standing in numerous queues and being told "we're sold out" three people from the front I had given up hope. Luckily Vie (of VieMyself&I) is resourceful and charming so we bought a tub of Rickety Bridge smoked snoek pate and biscotti. It was smokey, salty and ever so slightly sweet snoek pate. I admit I was hungry but it was super tasty so of course I ditched the biscotti and ate spoonfuls of pate.

Just when we thought everything was sold and we wouldn't taste a single hot dish. Suddenly a line appeared and a chef was serving beef tongue, tongue is one of my favourites in case you didn't know. The tongue was perfect pre boiled and then pan fried to order served with caramelised onions, balsamic crema and pickled betroot. It had the best parts of a seven colours lunch; tongue and pickled beetroot.

The best dish of the day

Next year I plan to get there at opening time to secure prime seating and try every single dish on offer. 

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Jozi Foodie Fix turns 3 Give Away 1 - Loyiso Gola Live

I actually can't believe that at the end of the month Jozi Foodie Fix will be 3. To say thank you for all the love and support I will be having weekly giveaways until the 30th May 2013. I would like to give you insights into to my Jozi, the highlights of my week leading up to the big day. So the giveaways will not be exclusively food related.

This week I plan to catch Comedy Central Presents Loyiso Gola Live at the fringe Joburg Theatre which runs until 12 May 2013 this Sunday. The first giveaway is a pair of tickets to Loyiso Gola's one man show at the Joburg Theatre.

Loyiso at The WKND SOCIAL

All you have to do is:

1. Like the Jozi Foodie Fix fb page or follow Jozi Foodie Fix on twitter and if you can do both.
2. Then tell me you have entered in the comments section of this post and either on twitter or on Facebook.
3. Use the hashtag #JFFLoyisoGolaLive  Example "I have entered the JoziFoodieFix Loyiso Gola giveaway #JFFLoyisoGolaLive"

The competition closes tomorrow May 6 2013 at midnight and the winner will be announced on Wednesday morning May 8 2013.

Winner announced 8 May 2013 | Open to Jozi only | Must claim prize within 24 hours

*Actual show date will be dependent on ticket availablility at the time of contacting the winner.