Yum
By opening Yum three-odd years ago, he spiced up Greenside, bringing a slew of superb restaurants to the area and accelerating its transformation from boring suburbia to happening high street. He's also kept gourmets amazed and amused with his bold taste combinations. The only complaint diners have ever been able to muster is that it is near impossible to get a booking, such is its sweeping popularity! Not much to complain about, I daresay, but enough to spur Dario on to finding a bigger, brighter location.
The reinvented Yum - no more than a short stagger from the old spot - has lost its candle-lit rustic edge. In its place you'll find a contemporary whitewashed space with a fantastic show kitchen from which Dario can preside over his sartorially savvy guests.
The menu, naturally, has also undergone a bit of reconstruction. The purists will be thrilled to note that his all-time favourites remain, but the new additions will really give you a zing - as will Dario's comments, which accompany each dish. He notes, "A lot of people comment that when you come to Yum the food is raw!" His delectable tian of lamb tartare, lime soaked prawns and papino, lightly drizzled with minted basil oil, should put that argument to rest.
It is excellent, as is the torte de fromage, which he describes as a bit like a Bordeaux lunch - slices of salami and ham with cheese, wrapped in baby marrows and brinjals - but it's his fresh salads that really wow. We sampled a seasonal special of sautéed wild mushrooms, chèvre and leaves, sexily dressed with an exquisite Sauternes sabayon.
Menu regulars include the robust farfalle salad with truffles, shiitake mushrooms, parmesan shavings and soy-soaked leeks and the fresh crab, which is combined with aioli, wasabi, tomato, rocket and cress.
Main course dishes offer even more interesting flavour marriages. We were tempted by the roasted squid stuffed with pork sausage, bacon, chorizo and fried onions, served with a black bean chilli reduction and bright green peas, but eventually opted for a special less taxing on the texture front: heavenly, tender debo-ned oxtail, delicately scented with ginger and Merlot and served atop a polenta gnocchi, with a selection of fresh seasonal veggies and Dario's to-lay-down-and-die-for mashed potatoes!
Equally ravishing was the quail stuffed with roast duck, herbs, green onion
and polenta butter, napped with an emulsion of balsamic onions and walnut and
a fresh tomato concasse, and the char-grilled beef fillet, coated in tomato
and crispy pancetta and topped with a sprout purée and piquant sorbet
for added bite.
Desserts are no less stupendous. We went for the eye-popping chocolate platter,
which inclu- ded chocolate cream pie, chocolate mascarpone tart, chocolate ice
and nougat and a chocolate cannelloni, smothered in a chilli chocolate sludge!
The well-chosen winelist sports a lively spread of labels, plus interesting imports, but only some five vintages are listed and no descriptions are given. Local whites span a price spectrum from Hartenberg Weisser Riesling (R50) to Uiterwyk DeWaal Viognier at R90 and Chardonnays (including Mulderbosch) at R110. You'll find Barefoot Farrago 2000 at R85 - or you could splash out on a magnum of Ken Forrester Grenache-Syrah at R280.
Address: 26 Gleneagles Road, Greenside. Tel 011 486 1645. Lunch and dinner Tues-Sat. BYO at owner's discretion. Smoking outside. Guarded street parking.
Food: 5
Wine list4
Ambience: 4
Service: 4
Value: 5
Email: dario@yum.co.za
