Rosanne Buchanan Food
Gautengers can indulge and revel during Wine and Dine week, from October 1 to 8, when a network of about 70 restaurants will be offering fine fare at discounted prices. Inspired by the South African Chefs’ Association (Saca), the event is aimed at encouraging Gauteng residents to eat out more often and also to promote different culinary experiences. Saca’s history is interesting. Twenty-six years ago, a small group of chefs dreamt of an association that would promote the art and science of cookery in South Africa and provide the country with a recognised authority on food. Today Saca is recognised as the authority on food in South Africa. It is a professional culinary association of more than 2000 members, with eight established branches throughout the country. Its members include catering and hotel company directors, restaurateurs, chefs, cooks, culinary educators, apprentices and trainees and can be found in every type of catering activity, from staff restaurants to fine dining to in-flight catering.
Participating restaurants will draw up special menus during the week-long promotion, lunch priced at around R60 a head and dinner ranging between R80 and R120 a head. A few of the big names involved in Wine and Dine Week include Chagall’s in Pretoria, Linger Longer in Sandton and most of the Five Star hotels in the area.
Other highlights during the week include the Sheraton in Pretoria, which will be hosting South African born Peter Gottgens, chef-patron at The Springbok Caf in London, who will be demonstrating his specialities and the Sandton Sun and Towers Inter-Continental, which will be doing a Dubai food promotion.
Restaurants in the Melville area will be participating with a Melville Gourmet Experience, where groups of people will be able to book and be treated to a different course at each of the restaurants involved – Pomegranate, Chaplins, Horatios, Buzz 9 and Yo Sushi. The evening will kick off with cocktails on the roof of the Grafitti Art Gallery. The promotional week will culminate in The Star Feast, a festival of food and drink from October 6 to 8 at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Saca will provide the anchor for the show – a chefs’ arena at the centre of the exhibition space, providing entertaining cooking demonstrations and displays as well as more serious competitions between some of South Africa’s finest chefs. The line up will also include the celebrity challenge, featuring some of the country’s best-known media and sports personalities in a test of culinary skills, with the proceeds being donated to the winner’s charity of choice. Another highlight will be an introduction to the Raps/South African Airways South African National Culinary Team, who will be competing in the Culinary Olympics in Germany at the end of October. Top local chefs like Bruce Burns, who has been selected to compete in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or competition being held in France next year, will be preparing his entry dish for the general public. The youth team will be demonstrating dishes that won them a gold medal at the Youth Championship 2000 in Holland, held earlier this year. As a fitting conclusion to a festival of food and wine appreciation, Saca will be hosting a fundraising banquet at the convention centre on October 8. Serious food fundies will be able to enjoy a meal of Olympic proportions prepared by South Africa’s culinary elite – the Ama-Koeke-Koeke, the national team, who will prepare a sneak preview of their creations that they will be serving at the Culinary Olympics, an event held every four years. For more information contact Saca on Tel: (011) 7874113