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The Winchester Mansions TrailPaul Murray There are not many eateries in this part of the city. La Fontana of the fifties and sixties, owned by the Inzadi family, used to be among the first of Cape Italic restaurants, until it moved to become the Harlequin Restaurant in Parow where to this day it provides patrons with a feast of slow cooking style treats. Dishes like rabbit, wild boar and pigeon still feature in the bill of fare. A current landmark along the Atlantic Seaboard, further down from the Winchester, is La Perla. The architects created a building in style, very much according to the Italian patterns of “la misura d’uomo” (according to the scale of man). Proportions are a Renaissance thing, born out of Greek and later Roman Classicism. La Perla has them abounding. People love dining there, with panoramic views of Cape Town’s bay. The same can be said for Harvey’s at the Winchester. On the night of
the Grapes, Gastronomy and Gallery Evening hosted by the hotel as an antidote
to the intense summer heat, guests felt the cool balm-like sea air coming off
the Atlantic. Fine cuisine is a feature at the Mansions under the skilled hand of Executive Chef Jonathan Staley. "Garlic, olive oil, olives, truffles and herbes de Provence are the spirit of Provençal cooking, while Asian influences lend a new twist to time-honoured dishes," says Staley, back from a chef exchange programme at the Hotel Le Saint Paul in Saint Paul de Vence. Staley is reshaping Cape cookery by adding French and Asian influences, historically certainly not foreign to our region.
Lucienne Saurwein’s warm welcome on the night and the friendly greeting from Maitre de Table Angelo Casù reflected the hotel’s professional and cordial approach sent out in the invitation to come to dine. When guests arrived, a glass of dry bubbly for aperitif in the company of other guests preparing themselves for dinner, served as a suitable ice-breaker. Last seen in Rome and Venice on a tour to Italy, John and Mariëtte Hulme
were present. An unusual request from the reviewer to get a glimpse of the “inner
sanctum” and see Jonathan and team at work in the kitchen was heartily
met.
There is a lot in common between Cape Town and Rome. The produce we use here to cook is Mediterranean to a large extent – olives, grapes and wheat. The name Sterhuis (“Star House”) dates back to the 17th century when, looking east, Capetonians mistook the shimmering light of the farmhouse for Venus, the evening star. It was a great privilege for the writer of this column to be seated between the winemaker and his prophetic father, André. Today the elegant farmhouse and wine estate are in relaxed surrounds on the Bottleray Road above Kuilsrivier. The soothing sea air provides the grapes with the cool effect needed to control the sugar content, rendering a less watery wine, and a wine with dense viscosity. Unable to restrain his comments about the tender fillet of beef, wine-farm owner André had to listen to a history lesson which explained the Zulu Wars of Destruction of the 1820s. Centuries ago the Nguni came to the (KwaZulu-) Natal area, having migrated southwards from North and Central Africa. Their heads of cattle determined their wealth. Cattle were their prize possession. The Zulu protected their sweet grasslands to the hilt and their defence structures proved too strong for any contending tribe. The Kololo were sent fleeing back into Central Africa.
Mzilikaze defied the great Shaka and fled for his life into present-day Zimbabwe.
The Shangaan had to make way for the Zulu and left for Mozambique under Soshangane.
The Xhosa moved into the land south of the Kei, which is their traditional home.
Pressure was placed on the fleeing Tlokwa and Hlubi. Shaka’s forebears,
Jobe and Soshangane after him, laid the foundations for a society based on cattle
possession. The quest for the best cut of beef, fed on the sweetest grass, determined
South Africa’s demography in the early 1800s! Primary to the survival
of the herds was the sweet grasslands of Natal. Afrikaner farmers Piet Retief
and others had coveted the very land, only to be decimated by Shaka’s
half-brother, Dingane. Discussion on the merits of grain-fed versus grass-fed beef followed. The dispute about which produced the better beef – beef stock standing whilst feeding on grain, or roaming and feeding off sweet grass – was unresolved. It did not really matter for now, as long as patrons could partake of the most delectable piece of fillet served up on a plate with the initials WH and drink from some of the choice of wines for the Sterhuis. Meanwhile, Goethe’s lines “Little star, little star, one day you too will come to rest” were declaimed, in German, as a counterpoise to the Sterhuis’s wines, whose star will shine forever! André’s vision for purchasing the farm in 1980 for his retirement from his legal practice started the family on “an unswerving mission of upgrading the infrastructure and establishing the most appropriate plantings of noble cultivars and clones on the various slopes”. The richness of the evening’s dining lay in the different dishes having their own wines: Chardonnay with the consommé, Sauvignon Blanc with the fish and Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with the meat. The Chenin Blanc has weathered more than thirty-three vintages.
For bookings or more information contact Winchester Mansions at tel. (+27) 21 434 2351, send an email to welcome@winchester.co.za, or visit www.winchester.co.za.
Have your say! To comment on this Food Trail, write to webvoet@litnet.co.za, and become a part of our interactive opinion page.
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The
19th-century courtyard of one of Cape Town’s historic hotels, the Winchester
Mansions, was the ideal setting for a memorable meal. Passing it by means missing
seeing the inside courtyard, dominated by the Italian fountain, and that’s
a travesty. The building’s decorative Cape Dutch-gabled façade
underscores its larger than life appearance along Cape Town’s Platinum
Mile.
Managing
Director Nils Heckscher’s welcoming words to the seated guests set the
tone for the gourmet dinner. Some thoughts from the Sterhuis’s Johan Kruger
followed. He is the son in the owner-son team that are making wines to die for.
The
Grapes, Gourmet and Gallery Evening at the Winchester provided an evening and
experience to remember. In a special way it brought together amazing resources
of place and style, energy and acumen. The evening could not have been a success
without the artistry of chef and winemaker, manager and visionary wine-farm-proprietor.
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