I wanted to do a site inspection at CapeTown's newest, chicest and most expensive hotel, The Silo, so we arranged to have dinner afterward at their Granary Café located on the lobby level of the 6th floor of what used to be a grain silo on the harbor here. The two story floor to ceiling windows gave us a glorious sunset view over Table Mountain as we dined on copper tables with napkins almost big enough to cover the table itself. The service was excellent from our Zimbabwean waiter, Coetzee, and we had some amazing bites beforehand in the bar as well as several glasses of different South African wines.
Here we ordered a bottle of Radford Dale "Black Rock" 2014 from Pederberg in the Swartland region. It was an amazing blend of Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache and Viognier that was so Rhone, yet so South African. The wines in the bar and restaurant are all served in Riedel crystal and are really given loving treatment as one of the shining stars of this country, which we intend to enjoy nightly!
Warm bread appeared in the form of lavash with chilli flakes, rolls and baguettes that were toasty warm French epis and accompanied by a mushroom butter, an olive tapenade and a cream cheese and butter mixture that tasted more like a slightly sour butter. It was all a treat and of course we asked for more.
Will started with the Tuna Tartare with Beetroot, Avocado and Horseradish which as always he said was good, but not as good as mine made at home. I had four delicious Knysna Oysters with a light mignonette, caviar ad champagne froth, the perfect light start to a meal that got very heavy. Samuel loved his Cauliflower Tartare with Pistachio Dukka, Smoked Cheddar and Raisin Gel. We thought it could not get any better.
For the mains Sam chose the Cauliflower and Chestnut Gnocchi with Sage & Beurre Noisette that he adored, especially after his last pasta meal in the UK that was so rich he could not eat it. Will tried his first ever Springbok (the small local antelope which is the national symbol) in the form of a Shank with Creamed Potatoes, Heirloom Vegetables and Braising Jus. I think he might give up Osso Buco for this!
My Cape Seafood Curry was also quite rich but deliciously amazing as I love the spice in the Cape Malay cuisine. There were mussels, prawns, calamari, local red drum(bass) fish and more in a rich curry sauce with two side seasoning sauces of Green Banana Sambal and Lemon Atchar which was simply a preserved lemon sauce that was out of this world. I went back and forth between the two and also used them to season the delicious rice which Coetzee suggested would complement the richness of the dish (he was right).
One Apple Terrine served us all for dessert with Calvados, Sultana Puree and Burnt Toffee Ice Cream which I was not crazy about as it had a somewhat marzipan taste, I called it Quasi-pan. We headed home to bed after our first exhausting day of nothing but unpacking, shopping, walking around and a site inspection culminating in a brilliant evening.
