An evening of sheer indulgence
BLISS: A SUMPTUOUS DINNER AT NEW RESTAURANT, VIEW, FOLLOWED BY SOME PAMPERING Delicious food and treatment packages to suit every taste.
Sous chef Farrel Hirsch brought his signature mix of passion and daring to our palettes at one of South Africa's flagship eateries – View at the Four Seasons Westcliff Hotel.
Hirsch, 30, studied professional cookery in Nottingham where he was runner-up in the city’s 2008 Young Chef of the Year.
He then worked in the United Kingdom for five years before returning to his birth place, Durban, where he joined The Oyster Box Hotel Grill Room restaurant.
Having worked in the kitchen of the Singita group of luxury lodges, his most recent post was in Cape Town, where he worked with Peter Tempelhoff at the acclaimed Greenhouse Restaurant.
He is popular for introducing weekly changes to his menu, granting him the opportunity to showcase his freshest local and seasonal dishes in the most breathtakingly creative ways.
And what better way to experience such talent than at the opening of Westcliff Hotel’s latest restaurant – View.
The focus at View is on a set menu accompanied by wine pairings, in an intimate, sophisticated setting.
The guests also have the honour of catching a glimpse of the team hard at work in the kitchen through a linear window, so it was with great anticipation we waited as we watched our starters being prepared.
As a true meat lover, I was delighted the menu includes main course such as Wagyu beef, a sirloin served with sweetbreads, shitake mushrooms, chestnuts, anise puree, braaied asparagus and garnished with a port jus (a cooking wine). This is definitely one of the best steaks I’ve ever had, next to the Ginger Smoked Beef fillet.
Closing off the night with a dessert that would make the French jealous – Vanilla brulee espuma, some honey comb, milk and lavender sorbet, Honey tuile, mange blanc and honey pearls, accom-
panied by a sweet wine to compliment the pudding.
At the end of it all, I was sure I was ready to burst.
Fortunately for me, another latest from the hotel is the introduction of the Night Spa service, where guest can enjoy the best quality treatment before heading to bed.
Running until the end of the year, the spa at the Four Seasons Westcliff will take relaxation to a whole new level.
This affords guests and visitors further flexibility with their schedules.
Every Friday evening, the nine-treatment room and destination spa will remain open until 11pm for guests that book one of three new night retreat packages, guaranteed to result in relaxation and rejuvenation.
Guests can enhance any of these experiences, with limousine transfers to and from the hotel, fresh flower bouquets or champagne, at an additional charge.
The Four Seasons Westcliff is the perfect retreat to stay and enjoy some R&R in its lush, green resort-like surroundings.
No expense has been spared and the attention to detail at the hotel is one of the things that will keep guest returning.
As an added bonus, there’s a 24-hour, state-of-the-art gymnasium, a 25 metre lap pool and a cosy deli.
Spa-tacular!