Dinner at Chez Christophe's

We were inivited on a recent friday evening to indulge ourselves in a well kept secret in town, a place where you can't book and you can't buy your way in, a privilege indeed. We were greeted by Christophe and Christel into a warm and welcoming Dining and Living room in a cold winter night. Preceeded by his famous cooking, Christophe had high expectations to satisfy and did exactly just that!

We started with some meze of pita bread, tzazitki, hummus, taramosalata, salami rolled gherkins and beautiful fat green and calamata olives. We had been holding ourselves from eating much for the rest of the day, knowing the indulgence that awaited us in the evening, and thinking this was the starter, we tucked away. The other couple arrived and after some excellent SA bubbly, and some nice conversation, we then sat in at a beautifully set table. We were in for a ride through the tastes of France!

Salmon and Pea Veloutee

A bright sweet green pea, salmon and creme fraiche veloutee was served for starter. Not only were the colors inviting, but the combination was just warm, yet fresh and sweet, with the fleshy, salty and deep flavor of smoked salmon, with a creamy touch and a the sparkle of Paprika. I'm guessing there was a bit of mint in there, but then again, I'm just guessing, and it'll be up to our fabulous gourmand host to share the secrets to this delicious recipe.

Beef Bourguignon Caserole

The gorgeous smell all over the flat that one could almost taste, meant that the Beef Bourguignon was making its way to the dinner table, nothing like a melt-in-your-mouth Beef Stew, to warm up the cold winter night! Served in a rich, red wine jus, the beef did not need any knife at all, it was so soft, we could have eaten with a spoon! Served with artichoke raviolis topped with parmesan, poured under with the juicy beefy sauce, the meal was a delight! a true work of skill, patience and long, french style, perseverant cooking - just like out of Julia Child's cookbook.

Beef Bourguignon with Artichoke Ravioli

After such a feast, one can easily imagine that the host is not keen for dessert, but I guess we could have known better. How does a French foodie (aren't they all?) end his meal? Yes, you guessed right! with cheese!! and what a nice variety too... I'm not gonna pretend I knew even half the names on that board, but I promise you, they were all worth a few bites, even if you were as full as I certainly was!

We were very grateful to have been invited to indulge ourselves in such wonderful company and magnificent meal. It all made it such a nice evening, Christophe even made an attempt to enlighten me with his Beef Bourginon recipe, which I really wanted to take in, but I guess the excess of wine took my normally rather sharp memory away. In fear of failing to make honor to his great food, I'd rather let the chef tell us himself about the recipes, and that way I can share with you a more accurate (and sober) version of them.

Cheers to Christel and Christophe for their lovely food, wine and hospitality. I hope you would be as lucky as we were to try this amazing combination of ingredients sometime!

Love, iSa

DW eleven 13 - Restaurant Review

Food: Bistro, Fusion.

Wine: Extensive list but pricey.

Service: Less than Average.

Ambiance: Modern, lacks Coziness and Vibe.

In a Nutshell: Highly overrated. The restaurant is OK, but the food and service do not come close to meeting the expectations one would have of a restaurant rated the top 5 in South Africa and to which an outing can turn out pretty pricey.  

City: Johannesburg, South Africa

Address: Dunkeld Shopping Centre, Cnr Jan Smuts Ave and Bompas St. Dunkeld, Sandton. 

Tel: 011 341 0663

The minute I read my Eat Out Magazine 1000 top restaurants in SA 2010 and realised that 2 Restaurants in the Johannesburg area had made it to the Top 10, I naturally became curious and eager to try them. On our second attempt to make a booking we landed a table at DW eleven 13 (DW 11-13) and thought we were heading for the stars. Being such food lovers as we are, we looked forward to trying the Chef's, Marthinus Ferreira, expertise, deriving from his experience at kitchens like that of The Fat Duck and the Boxwood Cafe, both in the UK. 

The restaurant is very centrally located in the back alley of a small and old shopping centre in the Dunkeld area, but don't get me wrong, they have done the facade nicely and so it takes on a bit of a secretive and retro feel. we ordered some water and looked at the Menu for our food choices first, so we could then choose just the perfect wine to go with. As I tend to do, when I go to a restaurant of this nature I figure the Chef must have wine pairing recommendations, so I enquired about the suggestion of wine for our meals but was answered with an empty smile. I tried by taking on another approach and explaining to the waiter that we were having the Lamb and Pork for mains and we weren't sure which wine would go best, so I even asked which varietal was a safer choice, again the waiter smiled and completely dodged the question. I gave up on his understanding of the subject and went on to order a Paradyskloof Pinot Noir, which I thought would be soft enough for our starter, yet with enough body to take on our mains. 

We were greeted with a small appetizer compliments of the house, a crostini topped with a nice dullop of Duck Liver Pate, which to me seemed like a great start to our food experience at DW eleven 13. Hence we begun our journey choices, for Starter we chose to share the scallops, since I'm a fan and hadn't had them for such a long time. Also, the waiter mentioned that it was a signature dish of the restaurant. I also ordered one of the signature dishes for main, the Duo of Lamb, and my husband went for the Marinated Pork. The Menu is not extensive, but a short menu in a restaurant with a fame to live up to, usually means that everything in the menu is a specialty, hence we were comfortable with our choices, thinking we couldn't go wrong. 

While waiting for our order, we were offered a choice of bread between Olive, Halloumi and Plain. We went for the Halloumi and the Olive respectively, but when we gave each other a try I was so blown away by the Olive loaf I had to ask for a piece for myself! Then our wine came, and upon tasting it, I realized it would probably do well with the starter, but might then be crashed by the mains as it was very young and lacked body and complexity in flavor. I regretted the waiter's lack of advise and hoped for the best.

The Scallops were beautifully presented, and came with a complex mix of flavors, served with Horseradish cream, Porcini mushrooms and some other concoctions. The Scallops themselves were cooked to perfection with a tender fleshy centre, but then we found the sauce completely overpowered the delicate texture and taste of the Scallops. So much for the first Signature dish!

Time passed a bit slowly as our mains took a while to come out, but the excitement, now slightly reduced but still persistent, kept us eager to try some more. Finally the mains arrived, looking rather dashing. However once we started digging in, the strength of the mix of flavors hit us with full force. My Duo of Lamb consisted of extremely tender braised lamb shoulder and Lamb rack on a bed of mashed minted peas, cubed potatoes and drizzled with gravy. Both lamb preparations were cooked beautifully, but each carried a strong flavor of its own, which matched with the minty bite of the peas and the saltiness of the gravy, built with each bite a bit of palate resistance. The dish as a whole, however, was good enough, but did not blow me away for being a signature dish.

My husband, as you may recall, ordered the Marinated Pork, but to his huge regret, it was nothing like what he expected. He carries the belief that Pork meat is underrated and hence, tries to prove his point by giving it a chance from time to time, usually bearing positive outcomes. He also often ends up ordering the nicer meal of the two of us, since my adventurous palate chooses to go for risky options time and time again. This time around though, it wasn't his lucky night. The pork's marinade was certainly overbearing, killing any chance of giving the pork's meat a chance to shine by itself. Full of lemon and salt, the marinade tasted more like salad dressing. Additionally, The pork chop was topped by a huge pile of Borlotti Beans which took full control of the meal, making it excessively earthy flavored. My husband usually does not complain much about his food, but this time, he disliked it so much he stopped eating, and since I wasn't completely unhappy about the flavor, we switched meals. Normally, when we're not happy simply return it, but in an effort to keep our cool, we opted to let it go. We really cannot recall the last time we had to switch meals because one of us hated the food we were served so much! I mean, my husband even said something like "just because they're trying to pull off an earthy flavor, does not mean the meal should literally taste like earth!" The funniest part of it all is that the waiter asked how our meals were, I told him we weren't happy and he just smiled and turned away! More importantly though, we were determined not let the restaurant's performance ruin our evening and still had a good time.

We were there celebrating my husband's birthday and it was really quite disappointing that the DW eleven 13 restaurant, together with its food and its staff, did not live up to its fame, nor to it's prices, and left us feeling like we should not even risk dessert!

Please feel free to share your experience at this restaurant, comments are welcome!

Love, iSa