Genuine happiness on a luxury train
● I’d be silly to turn down an offer to spend an evening on one of the world’s most luxurious trains. And when the occasion is to mark the launch of a culinary association committed to embodying the spirit of a famed French chef who believed that “Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness”, you know it will be a gastronomic journey.
And so I left the polo before the game ended to make my way to Pretoria to catch the Rovos Rail train for the launch of the local chapter of Disciples Escoffier International, a gathering of chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers, industry suppliers and winemakers.
At the station I am greeted by Marie Christine Giblot Ducray.
Those with long memories will remember that the bubbly French gastronome was responsible for catering all the leading Gallic occasions back when Gwen Gill ruled the social scene, but tonight she is overseeing festivities as the new South African Disciples Escoffier president.
The night starts with the handing over of a trophy
There is something special about travelling in plush wood-panelled carriages
to Marie Christine to reflect her new responsibilities.
Then, Bernard-Louis Jaunet, the secretary-general of the international association who has been specially flown in from France, declares the chapter open and the first members are inducted.
They include Emma Chen, the chef behind the Red Chamber Mandarin restaurant in Hyde Park; James Khoza, the Sandton Convention Centre executive chef who was recently made president of the South African Chefs Association; and Adrian Vigus-Brown of the South African Chefs Association Young Chefs Club.
Then it’s onto the train along with guests including jeweller Christopher Greig and his wife, Susan. They seem to be a fixture at luxury train events — the last time I saw them was on the Blue Train for the launch of the Massive Mandela Masterpiece. MTN’s group chief human resources and corporate affairs head, Paul Norman, and two diplomats, Swiss ambassador Helene Budliger Artieda and French consul-general Sonia Doña Pérez, are also there.
Our three-hour circular route around Pretoria isn’t particularly picturesque, but there is something truly special about travelling in plush, wood-panelled carriages pulled by a locomotive.
We tuck into a lavish meal overseen by another Disciples Escoffier inductee, Robert Baxa of the famed Johannesburg restaurant Les Délices de France. Think sweet potato and lychee soup with peanut cream starter, pan-fried scallops on a leek compote and slow-cooked leg of duck with orange sauce, before a crème brûlée with seasonal fruits.