Eric from One&Only Cape Town
It was with much excitement that Frances Sauvage, Chris Rawlinson, Therese and myself found ourselves handing our keys over to the valets at One&Only Cape Town for an evening with Eric, renowned sommelier and dinner at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant, maze. Just read Eric’s story:
“Eric moved from the Northern Cape to Cape Town in 1994/1995 and got a job at a bottle store. The bottle store was often quiet, so he used to read the back of wine labels and this is where his interest in wine developed. He managed to get his hands on a John Platter guide and through studying it, learnt more about the topic. Via the John Platter guide, Eric heard about the Cape Wine Academy and over time, Eric entered himself for courses at the Cape Wine Academy at this own expense. Eric left the bottle store and joined Woolworths as a shelf packer. He requested to work in the food & beverage section, and eventually his path crossed with Alan Mullins, legendary wine consultant for Woolworths. Alan took Eric under his wing, and the rest is history. Today Eric lives in Woodstock with his mother and his children, and he’s studying for a Diploma in Wine through the Cape Wine Academy.”
How fantastic is that! Our gracious hosts, Etienne and Adele, informed us that first we’d have a brief tour of One&Only Cape Town’s cellar, which holds over 5 000 bottles - just think about that! It’s a collection that took over 7 years in the making, which makes it older than the hotel itself.
Into the cellar, Frances leading the way
The most expensive bottle of wine in the collection is the Cheval Blanc from France, which will cost you a cool R17 000. So we ordered 5 bottles of that, just to kick off the mood.We proceeded to taste 4 different types of wine, including a Pinot Noir, a Cab Sauv, a Gewurtztraminer and a Chardonnay. Eric really put the pressure on the tasting notes which caused Etienne and Frances Sauvage to giggle like naughty children in the corner.
The Glen Carlou Pinot Noir
For starters we all sampled various dishes including wood fired prawns (amazing), Kentucky Fried Quail and Coleslaw (delicious) and the ultimate dish from the starters if you ask me, the soft-shell crab claws, which we all eyed greedily (oh you have it, no no, please, go ahead through gritted teeth).
For mains I ate the roasted kingklip on crayfish risotoo with bouillabaise sauce on a bed of garlic and parsley mussels. It tasted as good as it sounds. The others ate from the impressive meat selection – I will most definitely be ordering a steak next time. maze is, in fact, a grill restaurant, so steaks are their speciality.
The fillet
We were then granted the special privilege of a kitchen tour by maze head chef Phil Carmichael. Frances could not control herself, and proceeded to ply him with a slew of questions, from ‘What do you cook for yourself when you’re at home?’ and ‘What’s your last minute backup plan if you stuff everything up?’. Phil handled her like a pro, citing ‘A cheese and tomato sandwich’ and ’spaghetti bolognese’ as his answers.
with Phil Carmichael, the head chef at maze
Post kitchen tour we were presented with a spread of various desserts. The maze breakfast was an unusual if delicious take on cereal (unbelievably good, you have to try it), while the chocolate orange fondant was just out of this world, as was the peanut butter and jelly ice cream bar. The raspberry sorbet was refreshing and delicious, and the vanilla rice pudding was gentle and creamy. With all that wine in us, there was little conscience left to stop us pigging out, which is exactly what we did. And it was awesome!
Mmmm dessert
With our coffee came these tiny moist squares of brownie goodness, as well as some handmade orange turkish delight jellies.
Brownie delights!
There wasn’t room in my stomach, but I made room. The service was out of this world! It also looks awesome. The triple volume ceiling and the oversized lightbulbs create a sense of drama.
Frances Sauvage holding a Baked Alaska also creates a sense of drama
I’m definitely going back! Who’s with me? Click here to book yourself a dinner at maze.
Just order your own Soft-shell Crab Claws. I’m being serious.
