PRETTY IN PINK
Shanthini Naidoo visits a Joburg gem born on a spring day and always in blossom
T wee has developed a bad name. It feels silly and fluffy in life and in the culinary world, where innovation and sophistication are applauded. But the dainty, cute and delicate things are fun, at least in small doses.
At La Vie en Rose, twee is en vogue all year round, but especially in spring time, which must surely be the twee-est of the seasons. The restaurant, set in a pretty rose garden, prides itself on being abundantly and unashamedly twee — from serviettes tied with pink ribbon bows, to pink salt and pepper, to flowers potted in giant teacups.
Co-owner Yanky Woolf said La Vie, which celebrates its third birthday today (Spring Day), was styled to be an escape from the concrete of Sandton. “We are so anti-shopping-centre. We want it to be a space that is always a happy place for people.”
The name, also an Edith Piaf ballad, refers to shades of pink and to living life looking through rose-tinted glasses. “Almost everything on the menu is named after a pink rose,” says Woolf.
It was fitting then that my lunch companion was an English Rose, who felt quite wilted from interacting with thorny corporate types (pardon the twee). We sat in the sun and unravelled with pink bubbles, Pierre Jourdan Belle Rosé (R45 a flute).
While complimentary bread baskets are disappearing or diminishing, theirs is served with tzatziki, olives, a balsamic vinegar and olive oil mix, and fresh basil aïoli.
An inspired salad idea is My Choice. Tick off your choice from a printed “salad selector”, a selection of greens, cooked veg, fresh veg, cheese, meat, poultry or fish and a range of dressings (R89 for a single salad or R140 for the table).
Needing some comfort food, we chose the Inner Wheel starter. A pan-fried camembert dipped in rose syrup and sesame seeds (R49) is skewered between hunks of bread and served with rocket and diced strawberry. It was subtle and delightful.
The Middle Eastern flavours come from the other owner, Rony Ezerzer, who “fused her Moroccan background with extensive gastronomic experiences of India, Germany and New York”. Sandwiches, burgers and wraps are so generous, we saw many packed away for later in cute foil hand baskets.
Smiling at the whimsical rose-named menu items, my considerably happier companion chose the Lady Di wrap. Seared tuna wrapped in rocket and basil, spring-rolled with carrots and Spanish onion, with a homemade lime mayonnaise (R92). It was prettily layered, like sushi, fresh and tasty, but could have been punchier on flavour.
My pasta, Chic, was a perfect homemade pappardelle, with a mild sauce of wild mushrooms and walnuts, fragrant garlic and rich with crème fraîche (R79).
Torn between flash-fried Toblerone (R42) or a recommended Toblerone milkshake for dessert, I tried the former, named after a Careless Love rose. Essentially a kind of spring roll — the chocolate is wrapped in phyllo pastry — it was unsurprisingly indulgent, and sickeningly sweet after the first few bites. But it could inspire a craving on a challenging day.
The X-Rated, pitted black cherries flambéed in Cointreau and finished with buckets of mascarpone cheese (R49), was certainly obscene. My companion happily picked out the cherries, which could have used more orange from the liqueur.
Like a Piaf song, we left with lighter hearts, wrapped in pink clouds of happiness, a joyful spring in our steps . . .
OK, enough of that. A twee-rific Spring Day to all. ................................................... Open 7am to 10pm, Tuesday to Sunday. 48 Melville Road, Illovo, Joburg, 011 268 6144, info@lavieenrose.co.za