I recently got to spend some time with my cousin Alistair and his wife, Tenney when they were visiting from Australia. They are both chefs and they own a restaurant called EAT at Whalers in Victor Harbour in Adelaide.
I was intent on wowing them with our excellent local wines and food scene, so when Keenan and I headed up the West Coast to meet them for a weekend of catching up, I took six of the best bottles of wine from my wine rack. We ended up working through them (and more!) on the first night! The clear hits of the weekend were the Steenberg Nebbiolo (a light red with delicious fruity flavours, slightly jammy), Haut Espoir Gentle Giant (possibly my favourite red blend of all time) and the Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve.
They ended up with just one free night for foodie endeavours, which happened to be a Monday night. Unfortunately Monday nights in the middle of winter are not Cape Town’s finest moments for food enthusiasts and classic highlights like The Test Kitchen and Pot Luck Club were closed (they would have been fully booked anyway). But I really wanted them to experience food that’s fresh, delicious, ethical, exciting and a showcase for what’s great about eating in Cape Town right now… and I knew just the place.
Graciales at Peddlars & Co.
I was invited to eat at the newly-opened Graciales a couple of months ago and we had an amazing night! I discovered Cape Point Vineyards Chardonnay that night and it has has since become my current favourite white. We were treated to plates of sticky ribs, spicy beef tataki and flipping delicious pork belly, amongst other things. I also chatted to Chef Brad Ball about his decision to source local and ethical, which I really admire. I wish more chefs would go to the effort he goes to in order to find the best quality produce from people who care about the environment and the people who are eating what they produce.
This time, we ordered literally every single thing on the food menu and a good few bottles of wine. In fact, we had ordered so much food and so much wine that by the time we were ready for dessert, the kitchen had already closed. My favourite dishes were the Chicharonnes (pork crackling) with hot sauce, red lentil dhal, spicy chicken livers, sticky pork belly and the lamb flat breads. I have to mention that the service was excellent too.
I was so relieved when both Alistair and Tenney were super impressed with everything that came to the table – and they absolutely loved the wine. It can be nerve wrecking recommending restaurants to chefs!
Peddlars & Co.
The whole of Peddlars & Co. has recently been renovated and is really worth a visit. We took an Uber from town and it was under R120. I’m actually planning on having my birthday celebrations at Graciales next month.
Volare at Peddlars
We visited Volare, another restaurant in the Peddlars collection a few months ago. You can read about that here.
