La Colombe-Cape Town, South Africa
I can’t say enough about Cape Town. It’s such an awesome Oceanside town. Laid back, rich in culture and sight-seeing, and the food is out of this world. We had the pleasure of eating at a few different seaside establishments in Hout Bay and the atmosphere was more relaxing than a spa massage. We can see the dolphins playing in the ocean while you eat. The food was always incredibly good, but the stand-out restaurant is slightly inland and also ranks 12th on San Pellegrino’s 50 Best Restaurants of the World. For those of you that don’t mind a little celebrity buzz, we were told Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart had dined there earlier in the week.
French countryside immediately comes to mind with La Colombe. Pink and white shabby chic fabrics adorn the tables and chairs. White wrought iron chandeliers deliver a warm white glow. We were a very large dinner group of about 15 people, so they offered us our own room to the back with a large square table set-up. Our servers were extremely attentive, proud and happy…making sure to serve everyone in a swift manor so that no one sat around without a plate in front of them. If you are serving a master sommelier, you had better know your stuff when you try to sell wine. The house sommelier lacked the basic knowledge and skills that we expected with a #12 ranked restaurant and subsequently lost our attention for the rest of the evening. Our wines are proudly featured as pairings with some of the courses on the menu already. We did pretty well picking out a few others to sample and enjoy with our meal.
In the wine business, you travel to your wineries in the winter. It is the only time of the year that you can actually speak with the winemakers and owners without them being submerged in their harvest and production. Thus, we enjoyed the dinner menu at La Colombe. The presentation is top notch and even exceeding expectations on some dishes. The cook on the proteins were superb and a huge indication of why this restaurant places so highly in the world’s top 50. To put out that kind of quality with a completely packed restaurant, in addition to our 15 people all at once, is nothing short of fantastic.
Jerusalem artichoke veloute, wild mushroom and foie gras sphere, confit duck leg and lentil puree- Paired beautifully with our very own Mullineux Kloof Street Chenin Blanc 2009!
Salmon Carpaccio and tartare, pickled shitake mushroom, sesame creama, salsa verde and nori puff.
Pan fried hake, Asian lentil salad, cashew and lemongrass puree, coconut and lime veloute.
Grilled Chalamar beef fillet, Boulangere potato, wild garlic puree, carrots, bone marrow, black pepper & truffle café au lait.
Parsnip cake, chocolate and parsnip cremeux, quince butter, smoked almond ice cream, naartijie reduction and crumble.
Selection of local and international cheeses.
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