Inspiration from a foodie
Sampling tastes of KZN and John Cleese’s brand of dark humour
HUNGRY was the right thing to be as I walked into a restaurant full of foodies, chefs and farmers at Durban’s Suncoast Hotel on Tuesday night.
The gathering was to toast the launch of East Coast Tables — The Inland Edition.
As the book jacket proclaims: “The flavours of inland KZN, brought to you by the sound of KZN — East Coast Radio” (ECR). FOOD FANS: Author Erica Platter admitted she “didn’t know what a radio station had to do with a cook book”. It does seem an incongruous fit. However, as ECR manager Trish Taylor explained, their first foray into the publishing world was an “astonishing” success, prompting this delightfully insightful, beautifully photographed and historically rich foodie-inspired book. Incidentally, it has a lovely foreword from our columnist and Carte Blanche reporter Devi Sankaree Govender. OVERALL: There were three dishes from the recipe book to sample and it would have been great to taste more. But maybe I’m just going to have to try making them myself. THE next event that night was at Durban’s International Convention Centre, where 1 000 fans gathered to see the guru of black humour, John Cleese. VIPs got a chance to network and chat over wine and nibbles before watching the soldout performance. TOWER OF HUMOUR: Cleese’s tour coincided with shooting his latest film, Spud 3 — he is currently on screens as The Guv in Spud 2: The Madness Continues. His live show has had successful runs in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg, with the tour culminating in Durban. OVERALL: The star of AFish Called Wanda was a hoot, but his set could have done without the question-and-answer interaction with radio presenter John Maytham. Nevertheless, Cleese is a consummate performer and an amazing storyteller, who brought the house down with his brand of humour.