Haas

A friend told me about Haas a few months ago but I never had an opportunity to pop in. As the last few days of summer are fading quicker than we are anticipating I used it as an excuse to visit them and  make a day out of it by participating in some putt-putt at Mouille Point for only R19 a game afterwards! Bargain!

Haas is one of the few coffee shops in town that are open on a Sunday. I am so relieved I finally visited them  because now I want to make them my regular Sunday coffee spot.

Everything about it is just cool. A cool look, cool people, cool vibe and even cooler food :) Each corner of Haas has an interesting element that draws you to it. Art, ceramics and jewellery are displayed over the entire shop. Antique and modern eclectic pieces are all mixed together so Haas does not only ensure a culinary experience but a visual one as well.

Above are some tongue in the cheek ceramics! I loved the heart shaped dishes with messages on them such as "I totes adore you"

 

Unique jewellery pieces you wont find in your chain accessories stores

 

You can chill outside on the couches and admire the iconic rainbow coloured Bo-Kaap buildings or find yourself nestled in a corner inside the coffee shop.Service is friendly and efficient.

I loved these cups! Will definitely get them for my practice one day :)

 

 

Coffee is their speciality so be sure to test them on their knowledge. They are also running an initiative where you can sponsor coffee for a stranger, aka suspended coffee, and then Haas distributes it to those who need it. Their coffee is nice and strong just as I like it!

For breakfast I had a croissant with flash grilled brie and fig preserve. The boyfriend enjoyed a Haas omelette served with their special pepper sauce and toast. By the looks of it the omelette was the clear breakfast winner the morning we visited as the waiters whizzed past us to serve all the hungry fellow diners. The omelettes are fluffy and filled to the brim with your choice of filling served with delicious crisp toast and real butter :) My fig croissant was just as nice but next time I'm also going for the omelette.

Fig croissant (R38)

 

Protein omelettes are R56 and the vegetarian option is R50.

 

Other breakfast options are French toast(R45), muesli(R42), croquet monsieur(R46) and croissant with various fillings(R18 and upwards). The breakfast menu is diverse so all visitors will find something they like.

 

They also serve light meals such as curry and rice (R56) or a rustic salad with roast vegetables and your choice of protein which includes  salmon, tuna or chicken with some bread on the side(R58).  Oh and seeing as you are in the Bo-Kaap the menu cant be complete without the presence of a bunny chow (R56).

 

They bake their muffins(R22) fresh everyday and your choice of cake changes regularly.

This is a coffee shop you have to move to the top of your to-do list! Let me know if you have been there :)

Visit them at 67 Rose street, Bo-Kaap
They are open Mondays-Fridays 07:00 - 17:00 and Saturdays-Sundays 08:00 - 15:00
For more information visit their website ,like them on Facebook or follow them on twitter @Haascollective

 

Root 44 Market

I am loving the current market craze. Every few months a new one pops up and each one seems to bring something different to the table.

Last weekend I visited the Root 44 market to catch up with my awesome first year varsity roommate.

 I was really impressed with how well organised the market was. There are signs everywhere indicating numerous areas such as a kiddies play-park, wine-tasting and the necessary powder rooms.

There are two tents. The first one is the 'stalletjies' tent. I scanned through it quickly but nothing really caught my eye so I strolled onto the next one :)

I then reached the food and beverage tent and boy was I impressed. I loved the diversity of everything on offer. Be prepared to be wowed by the following :

• Pancakes with numerous fillings available. A standard cinnamon pancake is R5.
• Vetkoeke which I thoroughly enjoyed (R35). I cant remember the last time I had one! The texture of the vetkoek and mince filling with coleslaw on top was delicious. I wanted more :)
• Delicious cheesy pressed ciabattas
• Oysters and champagne
• Fish and chips
• Sushi
• Different flavoured popcorn
• Bratwurst
• Assortment of salads
• Sweet treats such as cupcakes, brownies and tarts
• Asian and Chinese dishes such as stirfry and sweet and sour pork
• Traditional Afrikaans dishes such as 'sagopoeding', boerierolls and koeksisters

Big tent with loads of yummy dishes

 

Fresh produce

 

Just one of the numerous sweet treat stalls

 

Cheesy ciabattas

 

The must have vetkoeke :)

 

Yummy

 

French loaf topped with tomato, haloumi, parmaham and basil

Something I noticed that set the Route 44 market apart was that the majority of the stalls had tasting options of their produce. I love this as I sometimes can't decide what I want to eat so a taster usually is a deal clincher.
 
Drink-wise you can enjoy freshly brewed coffee, wine from the Audacia farm, craft beers as well as bubble tea which I previously mentioned. If you want to enjoy some wine you will pay a R20 deposit for a glass which you can redeem afterwards.

Root 44 has loads to offer

 

Crafts beers

 

Get your wine here

 

Imported beers

 

There are seating areas outside and inside the marque tents. If you enjoy the outside area you will be entertained by different live acts each weekend performing in the amphitheatre.

As I have mentioned everything is under marque tents so the market is open during sunny and rainy weather.

In the pipeline for the Root 44 market is safe 5km runs hosted by Parkrun for everyone to take part in. Just something else that sets this market apart from all the others.

Its located on the Audacia Red wine boutique winery that is located between Stellenbosch and Somerset-West
Visit the market Saturdays an Sundays 09:00 - 15:30
Like them on Facebook
Check out their Website




Remember also in this area is the Blaauwklippen market I have previously mentioned.

Taste of Cape Town 2013

I can't begin to describe the amount of fun we had at TOCT last night! This is an event that will from now on see me every year.

On arrival I was very jittery. Too much to see, taste, drink and enjoy!!! My first tip would be to get yourself a glass of wine and do a tour of the grounds to see what everyone offers and then prepare the spending of your crowns according to that. These crowns are the currency that's used at the festival. One crown will cost you R5 and you can purchase them all over the festival. Look out for the people with the pink shirts.

So we started with a glass of wine and some sneaky shooter tastings and then headed over to Signal restaurant from The Cape Grace. There we indulged in slow roasted beef short rib, grilled rib eye, goat cheese arincini, miso-roasted sweet corn, pickled beetroot and smoked BBQ jus. The goat cheese arincini was delicious and I especially appreciated how well seasoned everything was.

 

Signal restaurant

 

One thing of the festival you have to remember is that the portion are small but you pay for excellent seasoning and great flavour combinations. The festival really is a treat to your palate and will maybe expose you to food that you wont try everyday.

Then we quickly popped into the Lindt shop. There you can enjoy delicious Lindt hot chocolate (4 crowns), buy Lindt slabs(5 crowns), truffles or Lindt balls (2 for 1 crown)! The Lindt hot chocolate was so rich and chocolaty that a sugar-rush is guaranteed.

Lindt ball heaven

 

Truffles in the making

 

One dish I decided that I had try before we went to the festival was the parmesan and chorizo risotto with rocket, sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes(7 crowns) from 96 Winery. This was my favourite dish of the evening and the biggest portion of the night. The creaminess of the risotto and the dash of salt from the chorizo was heaven!

As you walk through the festival you can explore numerous traders that are also there to sell some products such as pesto's, salad dressings and olive oil. Some of the wine tastings are free and at other you will pay 1 crown. From all the wine stall vendors you can buy glasses or bottles of wine. All the individual wine vendors differ in price.

The boys then visited the free Jack Daniel's whiskey tasting area. I tried to enjoy the whiskey but unfortunately is does not sit right with me so we had some fun with Mr Jack Daniel's himself :)

The Pot Luck Club was one of the pop up restaurants of the festival. As there are 6 sessions during this weekend there will be a different restaurant at each session at the pop up stall. Lucky for us we chose the night The Pot Luck Club was there as this is one of restaurant that is on the top of my 'To do list' that I still want to visit.

We tasted the Pork belly with XO and red cabbage slaw (7 crowns) and the fried chicken (4 crowns). I enjoyed the Asian flavours alot and the pork belly was so tender I could eat it with a spoon.

Pork belly

Pork belly and fried chicken

 

Our taste buds now were on a roll and we strolled to the Asara bistro box. There you get a glass of wine with a burger for 5 crowns or a macaroon for 4 crowns. We enjoyed the mushroom and truffle burger.

The burger and macaroons are each paired with an Asara wine

 

Some live music :)

 

Asara bistro box

 

Mushroom and truffle burger



 After the vast amount of savoury we consumed it was time to treat the sweet taste buds and to our delight my favourite Queen of tarts was there. We enjoyed vanilla cupcakes(3crowns) and the best vanilla cakepops (1crown).

The highlight of the evening however was the wine pairing and canapés making at the Pick and Pay tent. When you get to the festival be sure to go and book yourselves a spot for 3 crowns. You are then treated to 3 glasses of wine and the making of your own canapés under the guidance of a chef. We made a pesto tomato puff pastry tart, seared poppy seed beef skewer and ginger and strawberry cheesecake. If was so much fun to be able to make everything  yourself !

 

Still finishing our Queen of tarts cupcakes and getting ready for the canapés experience

 

Excited :)

 

The Italian making sure everything is flavoured to perfection

 

The cheesecake, beef skewer and pesto and tomato tart

 

Proud chef :)

 

There are still two session today and one session tomorrow. You can find all the info here. Your weekend wont be complete without a visit! Below is the festival menu to convince you!

Wine tasting at Durbanville Hills

Myself and the flatmate recently visited Durbanville Hills. Weeks of studying and being cooped up in the flat was just too much for us. So we opted to start the weekend with a few glasses of wine. You don't get better motivation than a glass of wine no?

It was a rainy day and the view of Cape Town on top of Durbanville Hills was breath-taking. The tasting room has various areas for you to relax at. You can sit by the window and appreciate the view, enjoy the tasting on their couches, sit at the bar or be more formal and reside at the tables.

I was pleasantly surprised by the tasting option they had :

• 8 wines including the crystal wine glass - R40
• Chocolate and wine tasting - R60
• Biltong and wine tasting - R70

We opted for the biltong and wine tasting. I was impressed with the amount of biltong you receive. For the amount you pay for the tasting you won't even receive half that portion of the biltong at a shop.

5 wines are paired with 5 types of biltong which include kudu, chilli bites, chicken and more. Yes you read right, CHICKEN biltong. Most of my friends know my fear of chickens. I only do chicken fillets, but I must say I enjoyed the chicken biltong immensely.

Here I already consumed a lot of the biltong! The chicken biltong is on your right!

The majority of the wines are red with the exception of a rose and a chenin blanc. The wines really complimented the biltong and you receive a chart that explains all the flavours you are supposed to experience.

 I looked forward to my next visit to try out the chocolate tasting!


Visit their website

Like them on Facebook

Tasting times

• Monday to Friday: 9am to 4pm
• Saturday: 10am to 3pm
• Sunday: 11am to 3pm
• Public Holidays: 10am to 3pm

 

Directions

From Cape Town, take the N1 (north in the direction of Paarl). Take exit 10, then exit 13, followed by exit 13A to get onto the N7, in the direction of Malmesbury.

Take the Plattekloof Road off-ramp at exit 17. At the top of the ramp, turn right onto the M14 and continue until you reach a round-about. Take the first turn left onto the M13. After about 3km, you will find Durbanville Hills on your right-hand side.

 

*The opening picture was borrowed from Durbanville Hills Facebook page and I take no credit for it.

 

Food heroes of Stanford

All my posts about the Overberg has been featured on the website Countrylove . This website wants to showcase all the Overbeg area has to offer and I personally have discovered so much more about the  area I sometimes call home. This website is also a great source if you plan on getting married in the Overberg or host a function. 

Countrylove focuses on a variety of aspects such as weddings, feasting :) , suppliers, venues and everything that's lovely and pretty from the Overberg. I write feasting features for them.

A few weeks ago I was honoured to visit and feast at the personal home of Innes and Brydon from Havercroft's . The food was out of this world, as it always is, but there I met Cath who introduced me to Food heroes. Food heroes focus on creating a platform for food producers of the Overberg area, especially Stanford, to reach their full potential.

We always rely on the big supermarkets to get our necessities but why not buy directly from the producer ,save money and get everything as fresh as it possibly can be. I would especially keep this in mind if I am staying, vacationing or planning a function in the Overberg area. 

 

Below you will find some more information provided by Cath about Food Heroes. I personally have sampled some of the food produce below as some of them are stationed at the Saturday morning market in Stanford. I can 100 % guarantee top produce and quality.

Bringing the local back into our homes

Just east from Hermanus is a rich and fertile valley nestled between the Kleinrivierberg mountain range and the sea. The Kleine River valley has long been known as the ‘pantry of the Cape’ and its fertile potential continually attracts and inspires individuals to start up food activities.

But it is often difficult for these small-scale food producers to raise awareness of what they do. You can sometimes find them at local markets but the rest of the time you are forced to buy mass-produced food products from those huge supermarkets we both love and hate.

In Stanford, a small town on the Klein River, two women have started up a campaign to bring local consumers and food producers together. By knowing who to contact to buy local cheese, eggs, breads, meats, honey and preserves, they believe it should be easier for consumers to buy locally and easier for these local food producers to make a better living.

They also believe it’s time to bring the local back into our homes. Why buy a lettuce grown just 4kms from your home but shipped across the country and back to your local supermarket. Wouldn’t you rather buy it direct from the producer? It’s not good for the producer who receives little for their product, it’s not good for the consumer who pays more for something less fresh, and it’s not good for the environment thanks to the resources used to ship it round the country.

There are already 15 local Food Heroes on the Stanford Food Hero list and this number is growing. A brochure has been distributed with photos, stories and contact details of all the Heroes and they are running a market stall to promote the campaign. And this is just the beginning.

For more information about the campaign, contact Cath Croxton on croxton@gmail.com (078 254 5693) or Jenny Sauer on jennysauer40@yahoo.co.uk (076 257 9983)