Moveable Feast Guy Willoughby
SITUATED as the hadedah flies between the chaste Presidensie and the showy American Embassy in Pretoria, the Gerard Moerdyk restaurant is a favourite meeting-place for governmental and diplomatic movers and shakers. Since its opening two years ago, the GM has hosted all manner of mandarins and diplomatic bigwigs; once a favourite spot for Pik Botha’s overseas guests, its oh-so-tasteful lime-green portals have, however, yet to be graced by Alfred Nzo.
The GM specialises in egte boerekos of a rather grand kind, but boerekos nevertheless. Less adventurous than its jollier Jo’burg equivalent, Gramadoelas, the accent here is on the fresh-boiled, bredied or blommetjied. The dishes have names like “snoek pat, Houtbaai” and “ostrich Oudshoorn” _ all as old South African as Sarie Marais.
It is situated in a solid, rather prim 1922 house that’s “a fine example of Cape-Dutch revival” and thus a “prized piece of Pretoriana” (menu note). It was designed by the said Gerard Moerdyk, designer of “some 90 churches throughout South Africa”, for a certain Douw Gerbrand van der Merwe, then MPC for Lichtenberg, who was married to Gezina, granddaughter of Oom Paul Kruger.
The evening we visited you could have heard the late DG van der Merwe’s ghostly footfall in the voerkamer-cum-dining room of his erstwhile home: the accent was on stilte.
True to diplomatic custom, various consular fellow diners were whispering while a set of tasteful young men in matching cummerbands, snorre and bow-ties bobbed about with crystal decanters.
“Philip” was our attendant that evening, and he was impeccably attentive. We thought a faint sigh of disappointment escaped him once he realised we were mere locals: when my friend asked for some medicinal brandy, Philip sweetly asked: “And Coke?”
Across the room, while we quaffed snoek with quail’s eggs and “pondweed soup” (waterblommetjiesop), we analysed our fellow diners. There were three tablesworth: a sober-suited foursome of North American diplomats (no women), a brightly-coloured bevy of South American diplomats (plenty ladies), and two grey-flannelled directors-general of something or other.
The latter departed early (no doubt to check on their gratuities). As the night wore on, the cha-cha-cha consuls grew ever more merry, while the boys from Washington DC and Ottawa got quieter. No overture was made across the Oregon floorboards between North and South America. Whatever happened to continental drift?
Our ever-present Philip _ when will South African waiters learn the difference between attention and intrusion? _ brought us an excellent 1989 Zonnebloem Cabernet Sauvignon to help wash down my Cape Country Sample _ a medley of Boland pondweed stew, Kaapsche chicken pie and _ eina! _ District Six bobotie _ and a haunch of springbok cooked with youngberries for my friend. No doubt the youngberries hailed from Kaapsche Town, whence come all good gastronomic things in the Gerard Moerdyk cookbook.
David enjoyed himself immensely, as they gave him the menu without the prices; cost of a three-course meal for two was R156, plus wine.
By the time we left, North America was ready for bed, while south of the border in mariachi country, the evening was clearly but a pup. How could I break it to them that, this being Pretoria, there was nowhere south of the Carousel Sun to go on to?
The Gerard Moerdyk is open for lunch and dinner every day except Mondays. Tel: (012) 344-4856.
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THE WEEKLY e-MAIL INTERNET SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE Issue dated July 8 1994
NEWS & OPINION SECTION
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