Level Four, the restaurant in the 54 on Bath hotel — which a lot of people still call the “old Grace”, is now about a year old, and it seems to have finally been discovered by well-heeled Johannesburg.
On a recent evening, many of the people looked vaguely familiar, and seemed to be minor celebrities: for a moment, I thought I had seen Julius Malema.
Following the hotel’s prosaic naming convention, the restaurant is on the fourth floor. But first you have to walk through what they call the champagne bar, which has many bottles of Veuve Clicquot on display.
It is a long, narrow room with a fireplace. Some of the walls have deep-red wallpaper, silver skirting and there are black and white tiles on the floor. It seems modern, with photographs, paintings and contemporary prints. It leads on to a lawn and garden on the roof, which is a wonderful place to eat when it is warmer, above the jacarandas of Rosebank.
At first reading, the menu seems traditional, or old school — with an emphasis on meat — reflecting the taste of the clientele, mostly businessmen.
The beetroot tart (R65), served with a dollop of crimson beetroot foam, looks dramatic and a little showy. Marinated disks of beetroot and goat cheese are piled onto a delicate piece of puff pastry that collapses at the slightest touch of a fork. Marooned off to the side of the plate are two tiny goat cheese croquettes on a square of beetroot dust.
The Thai spiced prawns (R130) are a clever take on the old prawn cocktail. A few small peeled prawns, infused with chilli, soy, lemongrass and a little sugar, are poached and form the foundation for a quarter avocado, which is filled with moist crab and dill remoulade. Leaning against all this is hot tempura prawn, which is in pleasing contrast to the cold and spicy prawns down below.
The terrine of shredded pork belly (R75) is encased in parma ham and complemented by poached pears, dressed red cabbage coleslaw and a blob of rooibos jelly, which serves to cut the richness.
Once in your life, visit this restaurant and order the lobster bisque (R135). It has a very good chocolaty colour, like the upholstery of an old Datsun. It comes with two pieces of baby lobster in the centre of the bowl, and a single tortellini with minced sea bass and dill. It is creamy and intensely flavoured with lobster, citrus, brandy, cream and butter.
The oxtail (R140) is dark and rich and comes served in a little pot, at the bottom of which you’ll find shreds of the meat, which is very soft and must have been cooked sous-vide for hours. It comes with mashed potato, as does the pork belly (R170). The foundation for this dish is a layer of earthy Kenyan beans cooked in beef stock. There’s also a little apple baked with cinnamon, and a smear of apple purée.
For dessert, try the apple frangipane tart, with crème anglaise and fig ice cream, or the citrus cheesecake. Unusually, the name of the chef responsible for each dish appears on the menu, perhaps as much of an acknowledgement as a revelation of who to blame.
Other than the beetroot tart, there are a few items for those who don’t eat meat, chicken or fish. There is grilled haloumi with compressed melon and citrus jelly, and a butternut soup, served with “feta mousse”. The remaining dish for vegetarians is a mushroom risotto, with a ricotta fritter, and mushroom foam.
Because this is a hotel, which will presumably cater for off-the-menu items executive chef Gerard Vingerling, says they will try to make you something that you enjoy. He says a diner once said he was fond of brinjal and potato, so these were curried for him. Vingerling says they are trying to keep things simple, and avoid painstakingly constructing a dish with 20 different flavours that just falls apart, leaving you with what he calls a “dog’s breakfast”.
He also says it is important that a diner recognise the dish they are eating, which could be interpreted as a sly dig at chefs who dwell at the molecular end of the business.
Level Four, 54 Bath Avenue, Rosebank. Call 011 344 8500