Satori

Not every regional eatery in your neighbourhood makes it into the neighbourhood restaurant category, though. There are rules. The place must be well-priced; the atmosphere must be bright and convivial; the menu must have old favourites as well some specials for the nights when the old favourites seem staid; and it always helps if the owner is on the premises and greets you by name like an old friend on your third return visit.

Satori is a new entrant to the Main Road, Kalk Bay food market. Derek Harrison sold his similarly named restaurant in the Johannesburg suburb of Linden as soon as his daughter turned 21, and made the long-planned move to the Cape. He took over the rather dark and dingy premises that had traded under the name Café Matisse and created a much brighter, light-filled Mediterranean-styled space. It’s not fancy, but it is comfortable and welcoming, and there’s some engaging local art on the walls.

The menu is simple – salads, pizza, with lots of variations, pasta with dried pasta imported from Italy and served with sauces made on the premises, and then dishes like ravioli, cannelloni and panzerotti which are bought in. The salads are tomato, lettuce and mozzarella-based with additions like tuna, avo, peppadews, pesto or anchovies. They are sized for the hearty eater, and one salad provides plenty for two. They’d be improved with a higher quality mozzarella.

One of our party ordered ravioli as a main course and this was the evening’s main disappointment. It looked and tasted as if it had been bulk prepared in a factory. The gnocchi with pesto cream sauce was greeted with a little more enthusiasm, but not unreservedly so. The verdict was “pleasant, tasty, but not memorable”.

The loudest applause came from the two who ordered pizza. The bases were exactly the way we like them – thin and crispy. The margherita with bacon was simple and perfect, and the more ambitious paradiso – with pear, brie and rocket – was equally satisfactory. The pizzas come in two sizes, medium and large. Order the large, and if you can’t finish it, well, cold pizza the morning after is one of life’s underappreciated joys. For afters, the chocolate brownies went down a treat. Next time we’ll try the tiramisu which Harrison says he’s very proud of, and the burnt almond ice cream with Bar One sauce is also on the “to do” list.

There are 10 wines on the printed list. Five of them are from Boland Cellars, two from Spier and two from Porcupine Ridge, and the tenth is a Durbanville Hills Chardonnay. There is also a regularly changing blackboard selection put together by near-neighbour Lisa Griggs of Lisa’s Little Wine Shop. This offers a little more adventure and choice, like the Ernst & Co Chenin Blanc for R70 and the Groote Post Old Man’s Blend for R75.

Satori is the spiritual goal of Zen Buddhism. The Japanese word translates roughly as “enlightenment” or “a fl ash of awareness that leads to understanding”. I’m not sure quite what the link is between Buddha and pizza, but perhaps my conviction that this place very firmly qualifies as a neighbourhood restaurant worth repeat visits is enlightenment of a kind.

Average cost of a three course meal without wine: R110.
Address: Main Road, Kalk Bay
Tel: 021 788-1123
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