Pure
When I last reviewed the restaurant, some three years ago, it was a desperately sad evening. We were the only diners; the décor was drab, the menu uninspired and the cooking and service equally overwhelmed by the unexpected challenge of two visitors.
The hotel and restaurant have since been completely transformed by the new owner, the SA-born and Germany-based Sue Strungmann. Boyd Ferguson from Cecile and Boyd was her designer and Pure is now a very eye-catching and dramatic space – Little Mermaid meets Afro-chic.
The curtains are shantung; the space is made intimate by driftwood dividers; there are standing chandeliers of beaded glass and the centerpiece is a hanging chandelier of blown glass that resembles shifting seaweed. But it all hangs together beautifully and creates a sense of expectation that, thankfully, the menu and the execution of the food matches.
Alexander Mueller is both the hotel’s GM and the executive chef and he’s put together a menu that’s innovative, contemporary and cosmopolitan. We decided to try the five-course tasting menu with wine, and also ordered from the à la carte menu. The amuse bouche arrived first and was one of the highlights – a trio of tomato comprising tomato quiche, a cherry tomato stuff ed with cream cheese and chives, and a tomato-infused foam served in a shot glass – subtle and delicious.
The tasting menu started with a duo of foie gras with fig-chilli jam and brioche. It was unexpected and exquisite – half of it a mousse and the other a crème brûlée of foie gras.
Next up was the only dud of the evening – warm salmon trout on chick peas with coriander foam. The trout had been in the smoker too long and so the smokiness overwhelmed all the other tastes. The mojito sorbet was nicely crunchy and tart, and the pan-fried springbok loin with chocolate, porcini and dates was a very, very good main course, but without quite the wow factor of the foie gras.
The wow was back with the dessert – a rose pelargonium-scented tiramisu which amazed with the combination of delicacy and persistence of flavour. All the wine matches were successful, if a little predictable.
The other side of the table started with a triumphant sashimi of tuna with avocado and wasabi vinegar, followed with a very tasty and elegantly plated lamb loin and oriental spices with an interesting side dish of crunchy butternut cubes and tomato, and finished with what the menu describes as warm chocolate cake – a chocolate fondant. It was yummy, but some of the gloss was taken off the dish by the fact that it took more than half an hour to arrive – double the time predicted by the waiter.
It would be an exaggeration to say that the service was the low point of the evening; perhaps truer to say service doesn’t yet match the otherwise very high standards. I applaud the decision to use locals, but their willingness and warmth do need to have sophistication added. When you’re paying over R1000 for a meal for two without a crayfish or a foreign wine involved, then surely water spilled on the tablecloth by an over-eager pourer shouldn’t be dealt with by simply covering the spill with a cloth, and leaving the cloth there throughout the meal?
The winelist has a good spread. Some big names at big prices – Hamilton Russell Chardonnay ’04 at R500 – but there is also Kanu Chenin Blanc at R100 and Glen Carlou Tortoise Hill Red at R135.
Average cost of a three-course meal with wine: R300.
BY JOHN MAYTHAM
Address: HOUT BAY MANOR, BAVIAANSKLOOF
OFF MAIN ROAD, HOUT BAY.
Tel: (021) 790-0116.
Food:
Wine list
Ambience:
Service:
Value:
