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A Day in the Wineland's Hidden Valley

 An autumnal lunch at the Long Table restaurant in Stellenbosch.

One of my most favourite things to do in Cape Town, is to escape to the winelands. Depending which way you're headed, you'll be surrounded by vineyards and mountains in an hour. The area is especially exquisite at this time of year, with the trees and vines turning russet-coloured and the warm, if a little shy, autumn sun catching the mountains. We headed on a strategic mission to taste some wines off the Annandale Road in Stellenbosch.

We began the journey with a tasting at the Ernie Els wine estate, with its robust if a little tight reds and celebrated signature red blends. The beautiful weather highlighted the green terraced gardens and the golden vineyards that the tasting room and restaurant overlooks. While only offering red at the moment, the estate plans to launch a white wine range. The hot Stellenbosch region isn't optimal for white varietals, so white grapes will be purchased for the task. 

Next was Rust en Vrede, conveniently down the road! With the lush overhanging trees, deep shadows, hills of vineyards, established cellar and lazy farm dogs, you immediately relax sitting on the terrace. The estate produces renowned delicious, full-bodied red wine exclusively, which is naturally why we made a stop there for a tasting on our way to lunch.

We ended at Long Table for a late, bistro-style lunch. Sold on the lunch specials, the standard menu offers something for everyone with hearty portions. Very full (and rather lazy!) after a full lunch and wine, we skipped dessert and decided to use the drive home to digest our lunch and have some rhubarb and apple crumble when we got home instead.

The roast tomato soup starter, with it's impressive
spider web of cream. (Unfortunately it turned out to be a decorative distraction:
the temperature of the cream actually cooled the soup a little too much.)

A delicious seasonal salad: greens, pomegranates, figs, Gorgonzola and
Parma ham with a bright, fresh dressing.

The terrace of the restaurant is in the shadow of huge trees and
looks onto the vineyard and beautiful mountains.

The pork belly main course served on polenta with seasonal veg.
As can so often happen with pork belly, it was under-seasoned, so the gravy
was an important component of the dish.

Yip, the portions are not small! The oxtail served on risotto with veg.
The risotto was a creamy, subtle base that worked well with
the rich meat and the (slightly too) salty gravy.

We Love Real Beer

Long weekends are made for afternoon naps, brunch, catching up on reading and friendships, taking in a movie, drinking away the evenings and pretty much doing whatever if it is you feel like... which is exactly what I did this weekend. (Kind of appropriate since the long weekend incorporated a national holiday celebrating human rights.)

On balmy Sunday afternoon, we headed over to The Biscuit Mill for the second annual We Love Real Beer festival. It was an amazing opportunity to try artisinal beers that you don't normally have mainstream access to. Among the list were Napier, Camelthorn, Paulaner, Jack Black, Boston, Brewers & Union, Darling Slow Brew, Mitchell's and Birkenhead, as well as some honey mead. I was not going to pass up savouring the delicious food on offer from Oded's Kitchen to Pete Goffe-Wood's Kitchen Cowboy sirloin sandwiches to the stuffed-pig-on-a-spit Porchetta ciabatta from Jardine Bakery. I left having drained a couple of pints (and claimed a couple of pounds!) completely satisfied. We Love Real Beer is set to grow every year, so watch the blog for the next festival.

And if you're really thirsty, and can't wait till next year, the bottle store Tops (located among some gorgeous shops in the Cape Quarter) stocks craft beers. They make for a cool gift idea. Pick up the We Love Real Beer glasses (for 20 bucks) from &Union. Great excuse to stop by for a beer!
PS Check out photographer Andrew Brauteseth's blog for some images that really capture the atmosphere.

Eat-In Night Market

Looking forward to going to the Eat-In market tomorrow night (Thursday 17 March from 5pm) at the Biscuit Mill and consuming lots of local, tasty produce. See you there!

Earth Fair Market

My expectations of produce markets have been ruined – potentially – by the exquisite open-air market I went to in Paris: every imaginable fruit & vegetable in colourful pyramids so bright I had to keep my sunglasses on; French cheese so ripe you started to salivate; pastries so buttery they would have made Julia Child weep; quaint, aged, aproned stall owners so authentic you wanted to hug them. I walked hand-in-hand with mon amour, a fragrant freshly-baked baguette from Paul bakery poking out of my shopper, and picnicked in the Bois de Boulogne. *big sigh*

I truly appreciate the authenticity, freshness, connection and artisanal quality one gets at a market, which is why I have wished there would be a well-stocked and well-supported inner-city market. I'm pleased to report, the Earth Fair Market, popular for their Wednesday Tokai gatherings, has started a market in St George's mall on Thursdays from 12pm to 6pm. City slickers working in the surrounding area flock to the mall for artisanal sausages and chourizo; freshly-baked breads and pies; fresh juices; olives; honey and organic dried fruit... and so much more. And there's dessert – crepes, cupcakes and fudge... I'll be hanging out there every Thursday!

Design Indaba Finds 2011

Yesterday I descended the rabbit hole to soak up the visceral Cape Town Design Route at the annual Design Indaba. I'd been lapping up tweets from the seminars during the week, so was eager to see what the expo had to offer. I'd thought that Sunday may be quieter, but despite the sunshine and blue skies, the crowds were out at the CTICC. As I wondered the maze of the floor plan, being jostled and nudged, I wished that this meeting of cool creatives happened more than once a year. Judging by the turnout, my sentiment was shared.

Onto my finds - a mere taste of all that was available. I have a passion for Skermunkil jewellery, so I didn't need any prompting to add another piece to my collection - a tiny copper heart, fired in blue on one wide and a minty green on the other. Two unusual perfect colours that will blend in and stand out in their own way. Hearts predominate, but you will also be charmed by the birds, kites, flags, hot air balloons, rabbits... (Check out the Skermunkil blog or buy some gems from the Beatnik Bazaar online shop. In fact, you'll find a lot of beautiful, hand-made goodies that were available at the Indaba there.)

The wooden heart earrings and beautiful bicycle-etched heart brooch are by the talented Durban designer Genevieve Motley. Overheard in her stand: "I wish this stall was bigger"! So to make way for her fans, I went with two classic pieces, but was seriously tempted by the bird pendants and earrings, rabbits, bird cages, foxes, flowers... I can't do it all justice. Check out Genevieve's designs on her site.

I've been looking for a comfortable, leather bag in a neutral, versatile colour. Enter Klone - Urban African Design - and their unfussy, well-crafted designs. The style of the bag I chose is called Flying Springbok, in soft "dessert" leather. Klone has collaborated with the iconic visuals of Karin Miller to create bags using modern water-based, eco-friendly inks and recyclable fabric.

Finally, after meandering around the show, getting inspired by the creativity and talent the Indaba attracts and enjoying some sushi from the Earth Fair Market. I ended up at Sarah Jane Webber's I Love Leroy stall and bought a soft, blue, elastic waisted, vest dress with side pockets. Then I left before the CTICC parking and my post-payday revelry bankrupted me...

Until next year!

PS I picked up a fun shirt for The Boyfriend from the creatives at On Top Of The World - putting Cape Town on the map! They've flipped the world - literally! - on its head with maps depicting Cape Town on top of the world!

Rhubarb Room

It was great to escape the office at lunchtime last week, explore a cool Cape Town boutique and get some inspiration. Rhubarb Room overlooks busy Buitengracht Street, and is stocked with all-manner of gorgeous, unusual home trinkets, gifts, ribbon, notebooks and cards, pewter pieces and clothes. (Baby Birdie spotted this birdcage moneybox – the perfect way to save for my wishlist – which I think I'll have to go back for.) We parked on the steep, cobbled streets of colourful Bo Kaap, and on our walk to the shop, got some respite from the humid February weather with a short shower of huge summer raindrops.

Worm Farm

South Africa, sadly, is far behind the rest of the world when it comes to recycling. In relation to the population, there's a small percentage of conscious consumers that make an effort. I'm occassionally comforted to spot craft made of recycled goods, hear the muncipality is collecting recycling in certain suburbs or seeing a recycling depot open in a community. We have an independent, non-profit recycling company that we pay to collect plastic, glass and paper weekly, but have been wanting to get a worm farm for our organic matter. (If you're in Cape Town, check out Abundance Recycling here.) There are quite a few out there, of varying sizes and prices, but I found this worm farm from Global Worming! It came with compost and worms in the middle box, and we could start putting in scraps immediately (though it mentioned in the instructions that the worms may not eat at first and lose some weight "from the stress of travel"!). Two weeks later, and the worms seem to be thriving. The weather's been very warm, so we keep showering them with water to keep the environment nice and damp. Apparently worms eat upwards, so once we've filled the middle box, we'll begin on the top one, and they'll move upstairs, leaving freshly made compost for the garden. The tap at the bottom is for "worm tea" – a civilised colonial drink especially for plants!

Put A Bird On It

Hilarious commentary on current design trend – "just put a bird on it!" (via Myloveforyou blog)

Wandering Long Street

During my lunch-time stroll around town, and general appreciation of the Mother City, I came across a new building I hadn't spotted before. It's located towards lower Long Street, near The Grand Daddy Hotel.

It's wedged between two tatty-looking, off-white blocks...

It's called Merchants. Look at that huge window and gold lettering. An inner-city gem.

I do

I love wedding blogs. While I believe in marriage, I believe more in commitment. And while I had day dreams about a wedding, I've never been desperate to be a bride. So this is not a life-long scrap book obsession culminating in one day; it's more a passion. I get lost in gorgeous wedding blogs, in wedding photographs and ideas. I'm a details person, so I do love and appreciate the sentiment and tradition (whether upheld or subverted in a quirky way), ritual and creative elements of a wedding. And I love seeing people's unique interpretations and how those are captured in great imagery.

One that I've enjoyed exploring, from its template and icons to its layout, pictures and inspiring ideas, is a local The Pretty Blog. And an all-time favourite is Snippet & Ink. Enjoy!

The Biscuit Mill

The Neighbour Goods Market forms the Saturday ritual of many foodie Capetonians and trendy tourists alike. So, like a good tour guide, I initiated another visiting friend with a trip to the B-Mill. The overcast weather was a blessing, as it had kept away the hoards, though I was still elbowed and trodden on enough times to make me feel like I got the full experience. Speaking of experiences, you have to go hungry and I wasn't disappointed with a lamb souvlaki made by the chuckling-authentic-Greek-guy, and amazing cinnamon and caramalised sugar crepe for dessert, washed down with a lemon iced tea.



The visit was concluded with a trip to my favourite stall, Skermunkil Design Studio, for the beautiful, heart-shaped pendant – a little Women's Day giftie for moi – I've been lusting after!