V&A Waterfront - MASTER OF THE TRADE ROUTES

Its hard to imagine that just last week I boarded the SA Agulhas II (an ice breaking scientific ship) for a dinner of exquisite proportions.
Thoroughly thrilled and honoured to be a judge for the first round of the competition,  Master of the Trade Routes where 27 restaurants from the V & A Waterfront competed for place as the number 1 restaurant.

HOW IT WORKED
Being 1 of 8 judges in the first round - we each got to eat at 6 restaurants. It was great fun and interesting to try out 6 of the restaurants at the V & A Waterfront over roughly 5 weeks. And we narrowed it down to the TOP 8 Restaurants

THE TOP 8
Dash Restaurant (Queen Victoria Hotel)

Den Anker

Harbour House

Reuben's (One&Only Cape Town)
Sevruga
Signal (Cape Grace Hotel)
The Grand Beach
Willoughby & Co


The final judging took place on board the SA Agulhas II and was decided on the night. 

THE WINNER
I can happily say that I got to eat at the top 2 restaurants and that I had really hoped that my top 2 would win! AND my prediction of my top 2 restaurants came in First and Second just as I had hoped and predicted - in the exact same order!

1ST: Signal Restaurant (Cape Grace Hotel)
2ND: Dash Restaurant (Queen Victoria Hotel)


Congrats to Signal and Dash.
Thanks to the V & A Waterfront  -  It was a great competition which was exciting to be apart of.

PURE restaurant Valentine's Day Menu judging

THE Amazing Springbok that stole my heart! with spiced beetroot puree, baby caramelized onions, cherry tomatoes, red wine sauce

On Friday I had the privilege of being invited to Pure Restaurant at Hout Bay Manor to do a tasting/ help with some dish judging :) I've never been a judge before ... I must say I quite liked it and found it quite fun. Taste , comment, taste, comment, write some notes, ponder - its strenuous work *wink*





It was a great idea: Each person in the Pure kitchen (except the main chef) got to cook and create a dish for the Valentines Day Menu... then one of their dishes will WIN and be the main course for the official V-day menu at Pure. There were 6 entries and they were all very delicious. But there were definitely 2 dishes that stood out!

Delicious duck on carrot puree, plum carpaccio with 3 bean cassoulet and love-oli (minus the duck in this pic)

Now note that I had let Pure know that i wasn't really eating meat (I have been 90% vegetarian for the last 2 and a half months) They very kindly allowed me to judge/taste the food minus the meat but I did elect to taste a small portion of the one and only game meat on the menu which was springbok and it was AMAZING! So much so I asked them if they would include it in their regular menu at Pure. (So that was my teeny tiny meat indulgence for the month.) but I just couldn't do all the duck, beef, pork and springbok of fear that I would fall asleep after living so happily and AWAKE for the last 2 and a half months! *yes I feel amazing being off meat*

Ok so back to the tasting of food.

Mark Coxon - far right

The winner of the Valentines day dish from Pure's kitchen was Mark Coxon - a 3rd year student at Silwood kitchens. His creation was: Plump duck breast, beetroot puree with pomegranate-vanilla reduction & lusty kimchi salad. It was VERY delicious - even minus the duck for me.

Beetroot Puree with pomegranate-vanilla reduction & lusty kimchi salad

My dining companions were: Max Lund (@maximusland), Retha (@Rethavs), Clark Truter, (@clarktruter), Cheyne (@cheyne_reaction) , Matt Mercer (@mattmercerZA), Lara Scott, Aletta Longari and Alexa from Pure (@purerestaurant)

Snapped a pic of someone else plate: crispy pork belly with Strawberry risotto, mange tout fan and granadilla vanilla syrup

Thanks Pure Restaurant and Hout Bay Manor for a very delicious day