CUVEE
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Gourmet menus with luxury ingredients
Simonsig Wine Estate, Kromme Rhee Road between the R44 and R304, Koelenhof
Koelenhof: 021 888 4932
Lunch Tues to Sat 10am-3pm; Sun 10am-2pm; dinner Fri 7pm-10pm, Closed Monday
cuvee@simong.co.za www.simonsig.co.za
GPS: 33.87180 S, 18.82069
JOS BAKER
ON THAT scorching day last week, when those on holiday were pool-lounging or aiming for the beach, I was heading against that bumper-to-bumper crawl. My destination was Stellenbosch, where the mercury was hovering around 40ºC. But as I was lunching at Simonsig, home of Kaapse Vonkel, I pictured cooling glasses of the Cape’s first MCC as a most palatable antidote.
What could have been purgatory in that blanketing heat, turned out to be unmitigated pleasure. The newly redecorated Cuvée restaurant is deliciously airconditioned, and that imagined glass was brought automatically to the table. But the surprise was still to come: an eating adventure that has revolutionised the former, more formal lunch menu.
Just-appointed head chef Carolize Coetzee, a young, poised blonde with layers of experience, has been cooking since a teenager when, with a working mother, she cooked for the family. “It was no chore – I just love cooking,” she explains.
“There was never anything else I wanted to do.” This passion rocketed her up the promotion ladder: she was previously sous chef at Cuvée; trained at Delaire-Graff under Christiaan Campbell, and on joining Haute Cabrière was swiftly promoted to sous chef.
With her appointment has come the radical menu change. I loved the concept. But it seems not all regulars are happy to move away from a three-course menu to the freedom of making their own selection. A pity, because it’s fun to experiment, and the choices are alluring.
The large menu, bursting with full-colour photographs, is the most obvious innovation. There’s no fine dining reticence here. Instead, there’s an invigorating emphasis on flavours rather than dishes. Though the restaurant name derives from the French cuve, for a vat or barrel, or tête de cuvée, signifying the first and best juice to flow from the press, wine is not the main emphasis.
Carolize confesses that she doesn’t enjoy wine. She must have seen my eyebrows shoot skywards and hastily qualified her statement with a quick clarification: “Not to drink, but of course to pair with food.” No partisan, she’s able to view wine as an ingredient in the total mix.
This is evident in the way wine is integrated into the menu. Take the cocktails that introduce the food. Under the heading “Simonsig Remixed – we prepare delicious cocktails inspired by our fine wines” are listed three refreshing cocktails, all mixed with fresh fruit.
And yes, stifling my purist inhibitions, I sampled one. Not diluting the iconic bubbles already in my glass, with fresh watermelon juice and a squeeze of lime, but selecting Vin de Liza (straw wine) – sipped through a straw, no less. I chose it specifically to see if the crushed ice, fresh granadilla and soda would offset the sweetness, and it does – though not enough for my dry palate. But offered a sip, my companion enthused, opting for the mix without the wine.
Paging through the menu is a delight – especially while nibbling the chunky just-baked bread, dipping it in olive oil and balsamic, sprinkled with a little coarse salt.
There’s no ostentation. Headings are as simple as the flavour-packed food. “Garden to table” is just that, but start reading and your tastebuds will spring to attention.
Your choice encompasses grills - from burgers to a selection of matured meats with your choice of sauces and sides – to appetising open sandwiches on lightly toasted homemade farm bread. Or, on melting summer days, shift your focus to deceptively simple salads.
Fresh garden asparagus with buffalo milk cheese, rocket and lemon is delicious solo – but should you feel creative, you could add shaved local ham, lightly smoked trout, tempura prawns, lightly smoked trout, or soy marinated beef.
You can also add these salad-builders to delights like papaya and avocado with fresh radish and ginger-chilli dressing; or garden tomatoes, stone fruit, young beetroot, gorgonzola and black pepper praline.
But if you wish to taste the most creative take on Caesar salad I’ve encountered here or abroad, order the lettuce hearts.
You’ll find a playful interchange of colours and flavours in the lettuce leaves from frilly to more sedate (never underestimate lettuce) with shaved parmesan, crisply fried crumbs flavoured with lemon zest, soft poached egg and Caesar dressing.
My friend homed in on the grilled boerewors, punted in the menu as a “winelands classic”. “Awesome!” she breathed between bites. “No gristle and full of flavour.” Her order came with home-made Kaapse Vonkel mayonnaise, and the optional soft-dried Boland peaches with coriander yoghurt rounded off the flavour spectrum.
As Cape salmon was the fish of the day under the tempting heading “Eat Summer”, this was my choice, for cooking fish is Carolize’s favourite area of expertise. Flaky and tender, it proved a textbook example of the art. She also passed the classic crème brûlée test for chefs with flying colours: my critical London Cordon Bleu companion enthused about the delicacy of her crème brûlée with almond water.
I lingered happily over roasted stone fruit with almond nougatine, honeycomb and mint.
Children are welcomed. Given a special children’s menu to colour-in and take home, and have an inviting play area under the eye of anxious mums.