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Slick and simply fab
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February 7, 2010
By Bianca Coleman
VANILLA
Where: Cape Quarter Extension, Somerset Road, Green Point.
Tel: 021 421 1391
When: Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
Licence: Yes
Smoking: Yes
Corkage: R50
The origin of vanilla as described in an Inca love story, along with a passion for orchids, is the inspiration behind this restaurant in the swanky new Cape Quarter Extension.
You'd think then, that vanilla - the second most expensive spice after saffron - would feature prominently on the menu. There's nothing wrong with the food at all, but it just seems like such a missed opportunity. Or maybe it's just too obvious? You will find it in the cocktails though.
Anyway, Vanilla is owned by the Newhouse family, who also own Tuscany Beach in Camps Bay. Their intention was to create a smart, slick place with plenty of wow, with the emphasis on fine dining without the high price tag.do the macaroni
The restaurant spills out on to the piazza where we've enjoyed a couple of lunches in the past week or so, and those are ever so slightly more affordable than the evening dining option. Look out in particular for the same dishes at inflated prices after dark. Can someone explain this please?
A double-level restaurant, Vanilla was built with a budget that ran into several millions of rands. It is chic and classy, with silver and charcoal being offset with hot acid pink, luxurious fabrics on the chairs, and a solid glass staircase leading upstairs to where a pianist tickles the ivories at a baby grand suspended on a glass platform between the two floors. Subtly lit at night, this is where bands might play, or you can entertain someone special at one of two intimate tables offering the chef's menu for special occasions. There is fine attention to details, from etched glass coasters to tableware, and a cut glass chandelier adds a touch of the dramatic.
So yes, it is rather impressive to look at. We liked the food too, which is a bonus, and the service is spot on.
The wine list is comprehensive with plenty of choices available by the glass. At the moment, I can't get enough of Haute Cabriere chardonnay pinot noir which is R38 a glass. Damn, it is one of the most delicious wines you can hope to drink. "Good choice," the waiter always says when I order. "Most people start with a glass and end with a bottle."
I don't think their enthusiasm has anything to do with the fact Matthew Gordon - owner of Haute Cabriere and The French Connection in Franschhoek - was commissioned as consultant chef at Vanilla, assisting with the design of the menu and the kitchen along with executive chef Evan Coosner and second in line, Greg Baverstock.
The first time I went, I had a fab Caesar salad (R60) to start - Coosner makes an anchovy mayo and dresses the cos lettuce with it, layers on heaps of grated Parmesan, and adds chargrilled chicken and garlic croutons. Good enough to order the second time as well, and it's safe to say I'm hooked; I can be that woman who goes out for a salad and a glass of wine at lunch time, oh yeah. For the review meal, my son had the lamb burger (R75) - a juicy patty grilled to order (medium rare) with tzatziki, battered onion rings and a sundae glass full of skinny fries. I had a taste and it was yummy.
Previously, we had mussels in garlic, white wine and cream, for which I'd recently had an inexplicable hankering, and the fish and chips pea purée and tartar sauce. Both got a double thumbs up, as did the Caprese salad with avo and little beetroot fold-overs stuffed with mozzarella, like a tiny ravioli.
The review bill, with a glass of Haute and a hangover Coca Cola came to R186 without a tip.
All Good Weekend restaurant reviews are unannounced and paid for in full.
The vanilla legend: Inca Princess Xanat was forbidden by her father to marry a mere mortal, so she fled to the forest with her lover. The two lovers were captured and beheaded, and where their blood touched the ground, a vine of the tropical vanilla orchid grew. And so vanilla was born.
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