THE RESTAURANT
The chef may be a Yankee but she must please never go home, write Andre and Bryan van Niekerk
We heard, via the cakevine, that a new restaurant had popped up in Braamies, run by a foreign lady, nogal, and that for dessert there is only cake. If a chef is willing to limit her options to that extent, she must be confident that her koek is koning.
The restaurant on the ground floor of the newly revamped Bannister Hotel is run by Carole Greenwood, formerly of Washington DC, who attended the Cordon Bleu school in Paris, worked with Jonathan Waxman and Wolfgang Puck in the US, and was once nominated for a James Beard Award (the Oscar for chefs).
It’s a farm-to-table jol with a small menu: soup or baked ricotta for starters; fried chicken and waffles, farm salad, spicy meatballs, woodgrilled lamb or sirloin for mains; and two types of cake for dessert.
We tried it all. The soup was a pleasing blend of lentils, vegetables, bacon and red wine, the flavours reminiscent of a good coq au vin. The home-made ricotta was probably the most disappointing dish, an island of cheese swimming in rosemary and garlic-infused oil. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t that interesting.
Chicken and waffles is an unlikely combination for South Africans, who associate waffles with Milky Lane and raspberry syrup. Fried chicken and waffles is a southern US speciality, Greenwood explained, a kind of brunch for folks who have spent the morning in church. It works, even for heathens.
The farm salad contained broccoli, aubergine, sweet potato and basmati rice, with a ginger dressing. The meatballs came with a Japanese pancake.
The wood-fire-grilled meats were outstanding — this is not a braai in the kitchen. The lamb was beautifully flavoured, crisp on the outside and pink on the inside. The sirloin was done the Argentine way: smoky and lathered in salt, with sweet potato fries on the side. Delish.
And then the cakes. Rich, moist French chocolate cake and a vanilla bean cake with caramelised apples. Imagine a tarte tatin with vanilla sponge instead of pastry. The cake was so good, it was worth a kyk weer.
The wine list is limited but carefully crafted. We had a very drinkable bottle of the 2009 Tamboerskloof Syrah.
THE CAKE WAS SO GOOD, IT WAS WORTH A ‘KYK WEER’
We booked a table mid-week, and were met with a very empty restaurant. It’s only a matter of time before Braamfontein becomes popular beyond its bar scene and weekend trade, but we hope that the smattering of eateries start generating consistent diners, because no amount of obnoxiously loud swing music makes a place seem fuller.
Greenwood was alone in the kitchen, so the food was a little slow to arrive, but once the starters were served, the pace picked up. We recommend ordering a bit of everything — it’s worth giving the whole menu a taste.
The restaurant’s motto is “How we eat can change the world” (Alice Waters, Chez Panisse). Consistent with this credo, Greenwood sources sustainable local produce and is a keen supporter of urban organic gardening. This is not fine dining, but it’s not meant to be. It’s honest food prepared with fine and fresh ingredients, offered at a reasonable price.
Postscript: We returned for a Saturday lunch and were sadly disappointed. The portions were miserly and completely inconsistent with the meal we’d had only three days previously. Pity.