NABC - Christmas dinner, 27 November, Gaby's Tosca

The boys gathered for the last dinner of the year at Gaby's Tosca in Durban North , with the exception of Paul B who was in China, Jay had his company Christmas party and Kane? Well we're all still guessing, he'll have to update us at the January dinner, with force if we have to!


Greg, Paulie, Max, Little Sol, Solly, Grey and I were all there and more than made up for it!



The shots are bad and very grainy, but photo quality wasn't the priority of the night.

We had assorted mezzo to start with the usual Portuguese suspects like Peri-Peri chicken livers, grilled calamari, chili steak strips etc.

The food was real simple but really, really great!

Chicken as Peri-Peri spatch-cock or half bird with prawns.

Espatada of beef.
Grilled sardines!

Portuguese steak!

Yum-Yum-Yum!

22 November - Simple Seafood Lunch

Soni had been craving seafood, so whilst doing some shopping I was lucky to find both fresh scallops and clams. It was unbearably hot so there was no way I was spending hours in the kitchen, so this is what we did:

Pan fried Scallops with Mozambican Masavaroo.

Clean the scallops, season with salt and lemon juice and flash fry in butter and olive oil until just done. Put them back in their shells and dress with the chili and serve with lemon wedges.

Spaghetti Vongole

Make a Soffrito:

Take a small bunch of Italian parsley, 3 anchovy fillets and a handful of spring onions, chop finely. Crush 4 garlic cloves and chop roughly. Zest 1 large lemon and braise lightly with all the above.

When the onion is translucent, add white wine to taste (about half a bottle should do), as well as 3 or 4 chopped Roma tomatoes. Season.

In the mean time, whilst the tomatoes soften, ensure the clams are well rinsed and clean. Add the clams to the tomato mix with a handful or so of stoned Calamata olives, seal the pan with a tight fitting lid and steam on a moderate heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until the clams have opened.

Add some freshly chopped parsley and a dash of cream.

Serve on al dente Linguine - Enjoy!

22 November - The best FLATTIE in Durban.

For those who are in the know, in this case Brad Evans, the best flattie (spatchcock chicken) in Durban is at the Ski Boat Club at the Point. In young Brad's own words "Finger licking, best chicken in the whole, entire world! ".

Well he was so right! Juicy, succulent and made even better with a side bowl of the chef's own curry sauce to dip with. Add a few fries and what more could a young man want after a morning in the surf and sun?

The folks all had a few beers to wash this down with, so everyone was happy in the sun!

For those in Durbs, this is a great family venue, no airs and graces, cheap and cheerful, with the best view in Durban.

15 November. Dinner @ Beanbag Bahia

Beanbag Bahia, in Umdloti, north of Durban - The sister restaurant of the Durban stalwart Beanbag in Windermere rd. Soni and I went for dinner with our mates Liz, Greg and Elsie.

The setting is awesome, right across the road from the beach, at night though there is no view, but still the sound of the crashing waves as background.

The interior design is great, a retro feel with tropical wall paper, contemporary lighting and a mix of modern moulded ABS chairs as well as a sence of nostalgia provided by great fifties rattan chairs. This was aproject of the internationally reknowned design team at EGG designs, husband and wife team, Greg and Roche Dry.

We started with a mix of Oyster shots, raw oysters in a Bloody Mary, and the warm Caprese salad, cherry tomatoes and bochoncicni in abalsamic vinegrette on rocket leaves. All Bloody marvelous!

The mains were spicy calamari, served with couscous, Prawn pasta and slow braised rabbit on polenta. Whilst the calamari was great, the balance of the mains were at best ok (WITH ABOUT 3 PRAWNS PER SERVING!), and the rabbit tough and very difficult to eat out of the oversized bowl it was served in.

The service was intermittant, if that.

The evening was great fun tough, due to the copiuos amounts of red wine (great one Liz!) and awesome company and conversation.

I have however, only heard great reports from everyone that has gone there for lunch, it must be the view, so to be fair we'll give it another go - For lunch this time!

Lemony Lamb Shanks - Sunday Lunch - 9 November

It all started with half a bottle or so worth of red wine left from Saturday's lunch. That and the great lamb shanks found at the butchery at Ever fresh, our local organic market.

I marinated the shanks in:

half bottle(or so) of red

2 tablespoons of soy and 1 of brown sugar

2 lemons cut into chunks

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

thumb size node of fresh ginger, grated

a splash of balsamic

1 cup of olive oil

lime juice, salt and pepper to taste

Marinade for at least 4/5 hours, and then the real trick - slow roast over night at 100 to 120 degrees Celsius (low, warm oven) with all the lemon pieces, until the meat is literary falling off the bone.

I served this with pan juices, thickened into gravy and couscous with dried cranberries and toasted pine nuts.

Dessert is a summer time classic in South Africa:

Freshly picked cling peaches, cut in half and stoned. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. grill till the peaches are soft and the honey sticky and bubbling. serve with fresh custard, clotted cream or just a simple home made vanilla ice cream.

Simple thing that give us warm fuzzies - Enjoy!

Dinner with Miss Jones - Saturday 8 November

Miss Jones was in town, and seeing we haven't had her around in years, due to her relocation to Cape Town, this was a major occasion, calling for a special meal cooked by yours truly.

The menu was simple with a few hidden surprises.

We started with a Garden Salad:

• Selected mixed greens of your choice layered on a shallow platter.
• Crunchy, firm Pears of your choice (approx 1 apple to 2 guests)
• Creamy, rough skin Avocado (Optional if not in season)
• A handful of Rosa tomatoes, halved.
• Finely chopped shallot.
• Strong cheese of your choice. (I used crumbly textured Simonsberg blue)
• Toasted Pine nuts to dress.

Layer all the ingredients on a shallow platter and dress just before serving with olive oil and balsamic, season to taste and scatter pine nuts over.

The Main was an old standby - Fillet of Beef, wrapped in in mushroom and Parma ham, served with Minted Pea Mash, mixed, buttered garden greens and topped with potato sticks.

For the Mash, boil one medium potato and Quarter cup of frozen peas, per guest, in salted water until tender, mash with a generous knob of butter and enough milk to render into a creamy finish. Fluff with a fork and mix in ciffonade mint to taste.

For the Beef Parma:

• Good quality organic beef fillet - 200 to 250g per guest
• Mushrooms of choice
• Parma ham slices to cover the fillet
• minced garlic
• small green chili

Saute the mushrooms, garlic and chili in olive oil till soft, put aside.

On a clean, dry work surface, lay cling film long and wide enough to roll up the fillet. (I did forget to take pics of this process - sorry, you'll have to wait for a next time) Lay the parma ham in overlapping fashion and spread with the mushroom mix.

Brown the fillet in a griddle pan, while you heat the oven to a moderately hot temperature.

Place the fillet on the parma/mushrooms and carefully roll up, using the cling film, rest foe a few minutes, remove the cling film and place in the hot oven and grill for 15 to 20 minutes, rest for 10 and carve.

Serve with the hot buttered green and Minty Pea Mash. Mmmmmmmmm...

NABC - Dinner 4

I've been hectic, things are CRAZY, but it's no reason for not posting, so apologies!

About four months ago a bunch of us started a dinner club - NABC - it's a revenge club for us to counter act the wives's book clubs! Not Another Book Club!! Initially there was F... floating around the middle as well, but we thought we'll keep things tidy!

So this is how things work is there are 10 of us, each month a different guy acts as host on the last Thursday evening. The host chooses the restaurant, makes the booking, circulates the details and basically makes it happen. Sounds like fun?? You bet!


We've done four so far:

• July, I hosted at Market.
• August, Max hosted at Dish.
• September, Solly Jr hosted at 9th Ave Bistro.
• October, Graham hosted at Cafe 1999.

I've got no pics of the first three, but lots memories of great food and fun times, but I'm not gonna back track, I will however commit to post details of our meals (or at least those sitting around me and my own) from here on.

Cafe 1999

What a vibe!!!!!

I hadn't been to Cafe 1999 in a long time. This restaurant has been around for a while, as the name suggests, as a matter of fact the last time was when Andre Schubert was still the owner (he is now the proprietor of Market, and Arts Cafe at ACKZN Gallery). It was like nothing (except a barely noticeable decor update) has changed. A Tapas style menu, as good as always and way ahead of the trendy fashion curve, still had almost all the guys ordering the same meal - it never happens! So in the main it was Grilled calamari on glass noodles for most, with Paulie doing deep fried Anchovies and myself having parma wrapped figs, stuffed with bleu.

For Mains it was a full-house of Pan fried Lamb Fillet, served on herbed mash with a spicy tommato sauce, topped with Gremolata. Graham, who's a regular, suggested a substitution of the mash with the porcini risotto, which most of the guys opted for.

Great food, great company!!!!

Eating business in Hong Kong and China

As mentioned in my previous post, I've been on business in China and Hong Kong. some of the gastronomical highlights, not that we had much time for anything but work, were:

AQUA - Hong Kong

Located in Kowloon's new designer fashion capital, One Peking Road, Aqua redefines destination dining with its ultra-stylish interiors, stunning harbour and city views, and its innovative combination of Italian and Japanese cuisine.

Aqua presents to the right of the sultry, mirrored entrance, Aqua Roma, a contemporary tribute to Italian style with seamlessly tiered banquette seating that guarantees an uninterrupted harbour view from every table.

Dinner was courtesy of Shaz and her team from Home Habitz, with the ever charming Sunny, their Hong Kong agent playing perfect host.

We started with a shared platter of super fresh, well prepared sushi - Yum!!!

Whilst the ribeye steak proved a popular choice for mains, Shaz opted for the pigeon breast which sounded and looked scruptious, Shirley had the sundried tomato pesto on Penne and I chose the Slow braised Beef Cheeks served with Sweetcorn Polenta, seared Foie Grass and Porcini jus. Heaven - yes the Aqua way!

The G @ the Grand Hyatt - Guangzhou

Located on Level 22 and famous for its steak and seafood, grilled to perfection in wood-fired ovens, G is a stylish and contemporary restaurant with panoramic views of the city’s new Central Business District.

We started with a sumptious, crisp Ceasar Salad, accompanied with one of the most surprising whites I've had in a long time, an Oyster Bay Savignon Blanc form New Zealand - double YUM!

Various cuts of steak abounded, with yours truly opting for a simple ribeye with rocket and roasted rosa tomatoes, blanched asparagus and grilled seasonal veggies, all of which I shared with our host Jaya. Thanks Jay, the fare was awesome and the company even better!

On the way home to SA, the ever green favourite for a refeul on a long haul is the Wild Fire in Hong Kong airport, were all is good and the only thing better will be to get home faster!

The burger did hit the spot!! I'll be back to normal posting for the next few weeks.

Sunday 19 October - Happy Birthday Max!!!

It has been a very busy weekend! no less than two 4oth birthdays! Happy birthday to Liz on Saturday, we had a blast at the Haloween party on saturday night!



Happy Birthday to our old friend Max today! It is almost unbelievable that we've been great mates for almost half of that time (19 years to be exact).



We spent the afternoon with Max, Nikki, Graydon and Ashton, as well as all their close family and friends at their charming home and what a feast we had!



Max and Nikki never fail to outdo themselves with superbly fresh and lovingly prepared spreads, for this special occasion they served a lushious medium rare fillet dressed with caramelised onions, roasted tomatoes and pine nuts - YUM. Pesto fettucine, fisy balls, Lasagne, apple and feta salad and crispy fresh baguette completed the buffet spread.



How scruptious does all of this look?! Everone tucked in...






The true show stoppers were the amazing desserts! Nikki was the mistress of the kitchen and produced almost like magic, a new take on the classic Pavlova, check this out.




Then the creamiest Creme Caramel...






We were utterly seduced by the sweet treats, which also offered an amazing almond tart, by Nikki's Mum Barbara, and a fruit and nut fridge tart. Watch this space, as I will be getting my hands on the Almond tart receipe and will post it step by step in the near future.

Enjoy whatever makes your taste buds tingle during the next two weeks, I'll be away in China on business and will post again Sunday two weeks from now ... Ciao