THE other night we, a group of media, were treated to a meal at Vue Shortmarket Rooftop Restaurant and Bar, preceded by cocktails at the delightfully snug little The Drinkery. In this case, I’m using snug as an adjective not a noun but it still works.
To put you in the picture, The Drinkery is upstairs at Heritage Square and overlooks the courtyard. Some of us there that night reminisced as to what used to be in the venue, like The Fez and Po Na Na. Who else remembers? As with most cocktail bars, The Drinkery offers a range of its own clever beverages as well as some classics. I thoroughly enjoyed my first Bee’s Knees, made with gin, honey and lemon. I know, it sounds dreadfully medicinal but it tastes nothing like over-the-pharmacy-counter cold and flu remedies. It was on its way off the menu so I’m glad I had a chance to taste it and now I don’t have to try making it at home.
From there, we repaired to Vue, which is down the stairs, out the door, in another door and up quite a lot of stairs but that’s the price you pay for rooftop dining. It was night so there was no view for us but I can imagine how spectacular it must be during the daytime, with its wraparound balcony. Darren Allsopp is the new chef in the kitchen and he and his team sent out a string of dishes for us to try. The menu offers winter warmers and approachable globally inspired dishes, perfect for easy-going lunches, casual dinners, sundowners, all around grazing and a new Sunday afternoon lunch with a vibe. At this point, I must say I was very sad to see the place was empty because it so deserves to have diners on those seats. Maybe it’s the day night thing?
According to the press release, “the ethos is around sharing – the view, the dishes and Cape Town as a multi-cultural melting pot. Allsopp is an ideal fit, bringing fresh ideas and varied experience – from fine dining to homey trattoria – as well as a generous heart to the kitchen.”
He says: “I like to push myself a little out of my comfort zone when it comes to technique and ingredients, but the soul of the food should be always be in one’s comfort zone.” In his case, this soul stems from solid food-oriented family memories.
Darren has a few stories to tell too. “A chef with an interesting pedigree – Isola (a former Italian gem now home to Open Wine), Folk Café and Deli and the upmarket bistro at Durbanville wine farm Groot Phesantekraal – he also founded pop-up wine shop/tasting room The Queen and Peasant, to engage more with winemakers.
“Always hungry for knowledge about the food he is cooking, he has worked on a dairy farm, fishery and fishing boat, as well as a butchery. Not surprisingly, quality of ingredients is paramount to Allsopp, who personally goes to fish markets daily to procure the day’s catch (always line caught and sustainable), regularly visits farms and actively cultivates strong relationships with suppliers. At Vue Shortmarket, all meat is grass fed and free range, and Allsopp is aiming to run as close to a zero waste kitchen as possible.”
Among the delicious dishes we sampled were traditional Nordic beetroot three-day cured trout, with thin slices served with tea-smoked salmon roe, dill crème fraîche, dill oil and crispy shards of trout skin; and Parmesan and Smoke, a parmesan-rich tartare lightly smoked in a jar with an emulsified café de Paris butter.
“A menu highlight is Mushroom Faux-Gras, a play on foie gras made with five species of mushrooms – gable, pine ring, oyster, chestnut and shiitake. This is Allsopp’s meatless but no less rich and silky mushroom-intense parfait infused with a reduction of port, brandy, sherry and mirin and served with pickled shimeji mushrooms and onion, along with a cute baby loaf of brioche.” This is an incredible dish, and makes a strong argument for going vegetarian, even for just a moment. Staying with this point of view, the butternut gnocchi with burnt sage butter was sublime.
But let us not linger there too long lest I lose my reputation. The ‘braaied’ kingklip with apricot beurre blanc unfortunately did not make it past my lips (sharing table, you know?) but everyone else raved about it. I did, however, do the sirloin, beef shin and pork belly justice.
For dessert, we had a bit of everything because Darren points out he is not a pastry chef, but bless him, he does make his mother’s dark and fudgy chocolate torte, which he puts on the menu wherever he goes. There’s bread and butter pudding made with brioche, homemade carrot, lemon and vanilla marmalade, and layered with dark chocolate and chocolate custard. The bourbon cremeux stuffed with caramelised white chocolate are “almost like a luxury version of a PS white chocolate bar” says Darren. And he doesn’t cook off the bourbon so you get a decent hit of it. Rich and decadent, this was my favourite dessert. No wait. The torte. Maybe the bread…no, definitely the torte.
Check it out at your earliest convenience.
“Vue Shortmarket is owned by Günter Boisits and Aidan Mautschke. If their names sound familiar, it’s because they also run The Drinkery as well as The Sandwich Revolution, also in Heritage Square.” Vue Shortmarket Rooftop Restaurant & Bar is at 108 Shortmarket Street, Heritage Square, Cape Town.
- Lunch Wednesdays to Saturdays and late Sunday lunch
- Dinner Mondays to Saturdays
- Book online
