A taste of Vanilla

When the Cape Quarter opened to much fanfare last year, WINE paid the trendy shopping centre a visit, only to find a number of empty shops and restaurants still finding their feet. Now, six months later, WINE has returned to sample Vanilla and experience Kleine Zalze's autumn collection.

The interior of Vanilla Restaurant at the Cape Quarter in Cape Town.

 

The Newhouse family, who also own Tuscany on the Camps Bay beachfront, has spared no experience in creating their latest culinary venture, Vanilla. The restaurant, with its Manhattan-glamour décor, reportedly cost R7 million to construct and includes a glass platform suspended between the first and second levels, replete with a baby piano in vanilla!

For some people Vanilla may be "a little extravagant and over the top," says Nigel Newhouse. "But it is certainly unforgettable and wow. Maybe its madness, but it's pure passion."

And while Nigel is perhaps correct in saying that the uniquely contemporary interior design may not appeal to everyone, the menu certainly will.

Consultant Matthew Gordon - of Haute Cabrière and French Connection fame - was matched with executive chef Evan Coosner to produce a menu that has elevated the restaurant into the upper echelons of fine dining in Cape Town, featuring the likes of seared Norwegian salmon served on a citrus and vanilla risotto with a shaved baby fennel salad and pepper-crusted sirloin with caramelized onion tart tatin, grain mustard butter and beef jus.

Our starter, the potato gnocchi paired with the Kleine Zalze Barrel-Fermented Vineyard Selection Chenin Blanc 2009, was a perfect start to a sweltering summer's afternoon. The concentrated aromas of tropical honeysuckle fruit and well-balanced oak perfectly complemented the creaminess of the parmesan spuma and the delicate flavours a mélange of mushrooms. The Kleine Zalze Pinotage 2008 followed with its intense plum, mulberry and black fruit flavours, together with springbok loin served with spiced butternut strudel and blackberry compote. Finally, we ended with a partnership made in heaven; a chocolate torte topped with chocolate sorbet paired with the velvety Merlot 2008.

Although the slick, bright décor at Vanilla may not be everyone's cup of tea, the restaurant is well frequented by a glamorous after-work crowd who enjoy the extensive cocktail menu together with some marvelous sushi.

The only downside to Vanilla is that it's hard to get away from that shopping centre feel, but the location does allow one to escape a gusting Southeaster - at a price, though, with mains between R89 and R165.

Tel: 021 421 1391
E-mail: reservations@vanillarestaurant.co.za
www.vanillarestaurant.co.za