82 A feast for your senses In conversation with chef Coco Reinarhz

Chef Coco Reinarhz’s Sandton restaurant, Epicure, marries African cuisine with French flair.

EPICURE

Situated in the heart of Sandton, Epicu rerestaurant seats 160 diners. Guests may dine in a 40-seater, private dining room, or on a terrace or a lush lawn. Lunch, dinner and latenight African street food is complemented by exquisite decor and superb service.

The menu will often change according to chef Coco Reinarhz’s inclination. Examples include coconutbasted crab, which pays homage to the wonders of West African seafood, and slow-cooked Nguni oxtail, which tastes of southern African comfort and luxury. And for those who follow a vegan, low-GI or glutenfree diet, there’s magnificent mabele (sorghum), topped with wild mushrooms.

Epicure has a space to match each and every mood. The private dining room is ideal for discrete business discussions, and couples can enjoy a starlit, romantic rendezvous in the garden.

Epic Bar

In Epicure’s exceptional wine collection are South African, French and newworld gems. Coco and his team of sommeliers recommend food and wine pairings. You might start with ginger-smoked beef, paired with a glass of seductive Viognier, and end with a decadent glass of dessert wine with notes of glorious honey typical of the wine valleys in Constantia.

Epic Bar’s focus on rum showcases the African Diaspora, where oak-aged excellence abounds.

Epicure also offers a premium selection of bubbly, including LAURENTPERRIER La Cuvée Brut for the ‘champagnophiles’, and Ace of Spades Armand de Brignac Brut Champagne for the fashionistas.

Not forgetting that Epic Bar has one of the finest selections of cigars in Joburg. A state of the art humidor houses the likes of Hoyo de Monterey Epicure No.2, Opus X and La Glorian Cubana Serie R.

Coco Reinarhz spent his childhood in his mother’s restaurant in Kinshasa, DRC, and completed his formal training at the Ecole Hotelière de la Province de Namur in Belgium. Which means he’s uniquely qualified to lead the new wave of South African cuisine. Under his careful stewardship, modern French flair and exquisite African innovation are combined. It’s a signature culinary style that’s been embraced enthusiastically by the Joburg food scene, first by Ma Passion in Greenside, and more recently at Morningside’s

Sel et Poivre.

Multi award-winning chef Coco Reinarhz knows a thing or two about African epicurean elegance. His food philosophy always engages with what it means to be African in the global context of gourmet.