Yesterday I ate at a restaurant that very much reminded me of Test Kitchen in Cape Town, which is considered the best restaurant on the African continent. 

Test Kitchen is run by a talented chef named Luke Dale Roberts.

TEST KITCHEN IN CAPE TOWN

Interestingly, the Travel Companion actually took me for dinner at Test Kitchen during a very nice holiday in South Africa two years ago, and we’d had a very memorable 13-course degustation.

At that time, Test Kitchen was pretty new but Chef Luke was already well-known, and the Travel Companion had booked this restaurant for us on one of our evenings in Cape Town.

Our dinner at Test Kitchen in Cape Town

In those days, I still remember how everyone in the know whom we spoke to in Cape Town was very impressed we even knew about Test Kitchen — and some people didn’t even know about it yet.

As in, “Test…what?”

But of course, we’d done our homework and made it a point to book all the best restaurants in South Africa for our trip.

 

FIVE HUNDRED IN JOHANNESBURG

Aside from Test Kitchen. two of the restaurants we went to were so new that they were not on anyone’s radar yet then except for the really serious foodies.

We ate at Five Hundred in Johannesburg four days before it opened.

Celebrity chef David Higgs gave us some champagne in his open kitchen and then he had to serve us dinner in a venue next door because so many things were still in boxes.

CAMPHORS AT VERGELEGEN

Then we ate at Camphors at Vergelegen in Somerset West just about two weeks after it opened, and this was also very lovely as well.

The executive chef of Camphors at Vergelegen

Both Five Hundred and Camphors at Vergelegen have since joined Test Kitchen in the roster of the best restaurants in South Africa.

Talk about good teamwork there, between the Travel Companion and myself.

 

The action at Test Kitchen on the night we had dinner there.

 

A REALLY NICE TRIP TO SOUTH AFRICA

We were in these restaurants first, ahead of most of the pack.

And every time I think about this particular trip with the Travel Companion to South Africa, I just have to smile because we had such a good time.

That’s one our courses at La Colombe

As for the others in the top ten list that we visited, these include the lovely La Colombe in Constantia, The Tasting Room in Franschhoek, and Rust en Vrede in Somerset West.

But these are already great dining institutions in the Western Cape.

Sunday lunch at Rust en Vrede, living a Travelife.

 

 

But back to Test Kitchen in Cape Town. 

I heard it’s almost impossible to book Test Kitchen these days.

But two years ago, it was difficult but not impossible with something like two months’ notice. It’s in an industrial suburb of Cape Town, so it’s quite a distance from the CBD, but it was full when we were there.

Dinner at The Tasting Room in Franschhoek

 

 

 

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We were in South Africa for a nice holiday for two weeks last month

We sat right next to the open kitchen at Test Kitchen in Cape Town, and had the 11-course dinner. Test Kitchen was just chosen as South Africa’s best restaurant.

The list of 10 best restaurants in South Africa just came out, and we’re happy to note that Travelife Magazine got every restaurant right, at least for the destinations we visited.

We went to four out of the 10 restaurants, and most of the others were in places we didn’t go to.

The food at Test Kitchen in Cape Town, recently chosen South Africa’s best restaurant, was innovative, experimental and enjoyable. We had an 11-course dinner here.

We also visited 2 very new restaurants that we are so sure will make it to the Top 10 Restaurants of South Africa for 2013 if they keep on cooking in the way we experienced last month, living a TRAVELIFE in South Africa.

The Boss and I are big foodies so restaurants were a top priority for our South Africa trip. And at the same time, I’m big on luxury and we’re keen on best-of-breed experiences, so we basically did the very best of South Africa in two weeks.

The action at Test Kitchen in Cape Town on the night we dined there. Test Kitchen was judged South Africa’s best restaurant.

For restaurants, our top picks in the places we visited in South Africa were:

1) Test Kitchen in Cape Town (2012 Restaurant of the Year)
2) Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek (2012 Chef of the Year)
3) La Colombe in Constantia
4) Rust en Vrede in Stellenbosch (2012 Service Award of the Year)

The Boss picked #1 while I picked #2,3 and 4 although I think he would have picked at least #2 as well. I like fancier more traditional restaurants while he likes modern cutting-edge establishments so between us we have a nice mix for a trip.

Remains of dinner and wine at Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek. LQF was chosen South Africa’s #2 best restaurant, and Chef Margot Jansen was chosen South Africa’s best chef.

In the above restaurants list, #2 to #4 are considered among the best in Africa and the Middle East, and this is why we made sure to eat here during our trip. Fantastic food and truly enjoyable meals.

Meanwhile, Test Kitchen (#1 on the Travelife list and in the Top 10 list) is relatively new although it has a famous owner chef. It didn’t receive any major accolades yet because of its newness, but we decided to book dinner here on one of our two evenings in Cape Town. We certainly got that one right.

The food at La Colombe in Constantia. La Colombe has long been recognized as one of the best restaurants in the world.

Margot Jansen of Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek is South Africa’s chef of the year for 2012

In addition, Chef Margot Janssen of Le Quartier Francais was chosen South Africa’s Chef of the Year for 2012. We really enjoyed her food, and dinner here was on par with Test Kitchen for us, although in a different way.

But I’ll let someone else explain the details of these wonderful meals in an upcoming issue of Travelife Magazine.

Table with a view at Le Quartier Francais. South Africa’s #2 best restaurant also has beautiful accommodations, so you can dine, drink and sleep. And not have to drive.

No one travels like us. Or eats like us. Or writes like us.

When we booked these restaurants for our South Africa trip last month, the Top 10 Restaurants in South Africa list had not yet been released.

So we’re quite happy to note that we called things right. We do seriously like food, after all.

We really liked La Colombe in Constantia as well. My meal here coincides with one of my favorite days on the trip.

We’re also pretty sure that two restaurants we additionally picked will make it to the 2013 list. They didn’t make it this year only because they’re too new to do so.

Our top contenders for newbies on the 2013 list are Five Hundred at the Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg and Camphors at Vergelegen in Somerset West, very near Stellenbosch and Cape Town.

On our 2nd night in South Africa, we visited Chef David Higgs of Five Hundred, Johannesburg’s newest fine dining restaurant, in his kitchen. Afterwards we had an amazing meal. We’re so sure he’ll make the list in 2013.

We actually visited internationally famous chef David Higgs of Five Hundred in his kitchen, when Five Hundred was still filled with boxes. This was my pick, by the way, and I remember we were incredibly tired from a very long day by the time we got here — but the food certainly perked us up.

We’d come for dinner at the Saxon Hotel exactly ten days before Five Hundred was going to formally open; but we’d wanted to try his food so much so David Higgs instead created a wonderful tasting menu just for us and served it in a temporary but very beautiful venue in the hotel.

David Higgs explains our tasting menu to us

It was an excellent meal and we were both in raptures. If this is a sign of things to come — Five Hundred is now officially open in Johannesburg, by the way — then Five Hundred will definitely be in the Top 10 list for 2013.

Incidentally, David Higgs used to be the chef for Rust en Vrede, long considered one of South Africa’s best restaurants, and also one of the best restaurants in the world according to the S. Pellegrino.

So we’re glad to see Rust en Vrede still in the Top 10 list as well, even with a different chef at the helm. We very much enjoyed our meal here — this was where I first had a Chalmers steak — and we also liked Rust en Vrede’s boutique wines.

I hope Camphors at Vergelegen in Somerset West will make it to the list next year.

My second choice for a top new restaurant for 2013 is Camphors at Vergelegen, which is the fine dining restaurant of the beautiful Vergelegen Winery. We had a wonderful meal here, accompanied by their equally memorable wines.

This is the restaurant proper of Camphors at Vergelegen. As it was such a fine day when we visited, we had a three-hour+ lunch on the patio instead.

This time, Camphors at Vergelegen had just been open for two weeks; so it was still undergoing birth pains and finalizing lots of things, and we were among its first customers. But what we had on that day was definitely impressive.

I’m sure this will soon be one of the Cape’s top dining venues.

The chef at Camphors at Vergelegen

So there you have it. We’re so happy we got our restaurant selections in South Africa right. And if we had had more dinner slots to fill, in our never-ending TRAVELIFE, here’s what I would have added to our South Africa trip: the Greenhouse at The Cellars-Hohenhort, which is also another place I wanted to stay in, and Jordan in Stellenbosch. Just have to save these for next time.

I don’t want to sound repetetive here but I just can’t help it.

No one travels like us. Or eats like us. Or writes like us. And that’s why we’re #1.









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Test Kitchen is located in a somewhat industrial district of Cape Town

Tonight in Cape Town, living a TRAVELIFE, The Boss took me out to dinner at a cutting-edge new restaurant he’d been hankering to try in South Africa. It’s run by South Africa’s most famous chef and restaurant reservations are extremely difficult to come by.

But The Boss had made the reservations about two or three months ago, and that was how we got the best table in the house on a Saturday night in the best restaurant in Cape Town.

The bread and the menu at Test Kitchen

The evening started out very nicely with champagne — yes, more champagne. We met up very briefly with a couple living in Cape Town, in the lovely gardens of the iconic Mount Nelson Hotel right in the center of the city.

Test Kitchen is very casual in vibe, and their wines are all young and stored in cabinets on top

As usual, we were terribly pressed for time, so we could only sit with them for about 30 minutes before heading out to dinner. Throughout this trip, we’ve been meeting people we know in South Africa for about 15 minutes to 30 minutes each, as we seem to have no time at all on this trip.

The beautiful Mount Nelson Hotel. Perhaps South Africa’s most famous hotel institution.

We met someone for 15 minutes in Joburg, and another person for about 20 minutes in Franschhoek, which is about an hour from Cape Town.

This time, though, having drinks with this couple in Cape Town, it was a big shame as The Boss and I both liked them and had a very animated time discussing travel and experiences in different countries.

At just before 7, The Boss began signaling me that it was time to go. The restaurant we were headed for is in a new trendy commercial/ warehouse district about 20 minutes away from the Mount Nelson, and he was afraid that we were going to lose our reservation if we appeared late.

Otherwise, we would have stayed on talking into the night with champagne and all.

Test Kitchen is under pressure to make it fast as a top restaurant locally and internationally. It’s owner-chef used to run La Colombe,  South Africa’s most famous restaurant, until he broke off and decided to go on his own. We’re eating at La Colombe tomorrow, by the way.

So after hurried goodbyes, we jumped into a taxi and headed across town to this hot new restaurant. I can’t tell you too many details as it’s appearing in an upcoming issue of Travelife Magazine, but it’s called Test Kitchen and it’s run by Luke Dale Roberts, arguably South Africa’s most famous chef.

We made it in time and we got the best table, which was a table for two right by the kitchen. The Boss was really excited, and I was quite excited too, since he’d told me about it and talked up the merits of the chef.

There are only three course choices at Test Kitchen: a three-course meal, a five-course meal, and an 11-course degustation meal.

We chose to have the grand 11-course menu and then to share a wine pairing for one person between us. The first time we’d done a wine pairing in South Africa, it had been for a seven-course meal and we’d drank so much. So since then, we’ve decided to just split one wine pairing between us, and it’s been working fine.

The meal was the most cutting-edge we’ve had so far in South Africa — and that’s a pretty big statement considering we’ve eaten or are eating in almost all of South Africa’s top restaurants. Almost all our meals have been very enjoyable, but some have been more cutting-edge than others.

Our 11-course meal at Test Kitchen was very enjoyable. 11 courses took us over three hours to finish, and in-between we watched the action in the open kitchen, took lots of photos and observed what people in other tables were doing.

That’s the open kitchen set-up for Test Kitchen. We were right next to the action.

Across us was a couple seated sideways almost the entire time so that they faced the kitchen instead of each other. They hardly talked.

I said: “What do you think’s the story there?“

Without hesitation, The Boss replied, sure as usual of everything in his world: “They’ve been together for a long time so they’ve run out of things to talk about.“

It certainly looked that way. And on our way back to the hotel, I remembered this earlier conversation and said: “Hey, we’ve been together in South Africa for eight days now and I’m not too tired of you yet.”

An interesting set of appetizers

We had a running joke about who would tire of whom first, and what was the time frame we were talking about: 8 minutes, 8 hours, or 8 days. The Boss is on the hyper side and he has a fairly short attention span, whereas I have a long attention span but only for things I like.

Put a boring thing or person in front of me, and I shut down in about two minutes. But we’ve been laughing and I think we’re enjoying much of the trip even if he’ll never really admit this to me directly.

Not one to miss a beat, The Boss said: “More importantly, you haven’t asked me whether I’m tired of you yet…”

I retorted: “No need to ask a question I know the answer to already.”

Just another day in our never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.

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