14 Lifestyle PRETORIA NEWSFRIDAY FEBRUARY 5 2016

www.Go-Dove.com/southafricaFor more information, visit:

LIVE MULTIPLE PROPERTY AUCTION Date: 23 February 2016 at 12:00PM Venue: The Venue, 17 The High Street, Melrose Arch, JHB

FULLY LET INVESTMENT PROPERTY - PRETORIA

Vonkprop Str, Samcor Park, Silverton

• Zoning: Special (for commercial purposes)

• High security, Blue Chip tenant

• Estimated annual rental income: R4mil (2 tenants)

FULLY LET INVESTMENT PROPERTY - CAPE TOWN

Cnr Jerepiko & van Riebeeck Str, Saxenburg Park 2

•

(GLA: 5744m²)• Zoning: General Business 1• High security, Blue chip tenant• Estimated annual rental income: R2.8mil (1 tenant)

SECURE COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL FACILITY - DURBAN

• 3 storey secure commercial & industrial facility (GLA: 4365m²)• Zoning: General Business 2• Vacant, perfect for owner occupier

R 25 000 Refundable deposit to bid. FICA docs required for registration. AUCTIONEER: GoIndustry DoveBid S.A. (Pty) Ltd

KIM FACLIER: kim.faclier@liquidityservices.com : 082 554 6295

GERMISTON, JOHANNESURG

Along Jack Pienaar Street, Industries East

• Industrial Land ±12,765m²• Located within the south western region of the dense industrial suburb of Germiston South, within the East Rand of Gauteng

VEREENIGING, GAUTENG

Factory Road, Duncanville, Vereeniging

• Approx. 9000m², comprising workshop

• Land size 2.4280ha

• Site services large power, gas line infrastructure

donovan.dalton@liquidityservices.com : 072 591 8882

557 STEVE BIKO ROAD, GEZINA, PRETORIA

• Large retail premises (GLA 1020m²) & 8 residential units • Zoning: Business 1• Investment opportunity, tenanted• Estimated Annual Rental Income: R750k

280 KENT AVENUE, FERNDALE, JHB

Section 1 of 280 Kent Avenue

311m² plus 8 parking bays & 2 storerooms• Close proximity to SARS, Land Claims Court & Department of Labour• Vacant, perfect for owner occupier

SMS ‘PROPERTY’ TO 37544

De Hoek Country House – The Conserv-atory, Off the R563 towards Magaliesburg Village, follow signs to De Hoek Country House, MagaliesburgPhone: 014 577 9600

THIS IS the perfect weekend drive if you want to get out of the city. It’s not too far and yet it takes you almost into another country.

It was my second visit in a few years and the experience was as good the second time round. Both were Sunday lunches.

It’s about an hour’s drive from either Pretoria or Joburg. Once you turn off into the property, you enter a lush and green landscape with trees and a country house.

The main building is quite imposing in country manor style – they have cleverly and stylishly combined chic and comfort.

Dining can be enjoyed inside or out depending on the weather but my sugges-tion will always be outside. There’s just so much nature to indulge in with monkeys having fun in the trees, a swimming pool right next to the dining area and gardens that are quite extraordinary creating a truly bucolic scene.

Some guests, because this is an inn and they’re visiting for the weekend, might be off playing croquet; others target shooting – with arrow and bow. But if you’re here to graze, this will also be something special and well worth the drive.

The restaurant, cleverly titled The Con-servatory, offers a classical formal setting, but under the trees with little gazebos in the beautiful outdoor setting is my best. The table linen is crisp white damask over pink floor-length tablecloths teamed with quality glassware, crockery and cutlery.

Starters on any day will include two or three options, for example, turnip and potato soup with sour cream and but-ter croutons; a salad of warm camem-bert with macerated strawberries, pista-chios and balsamic reduction; handmade

tagliolini with ocean fruits in green Thai sauce or olives, capers, garlic, herbs and a fresh tomato sauce; or risotto with Asian mushrooms and Grana Padano shavings. That’s a grand selection but I will never get beyond the risotto, one of my all-time favourites. It’s the comfort factor that gets me every time but the choice is such that most palates will be pleased.

Main courses vary from Kabeljou or Dutch-style beef fillet with red wine butter, spinach, and rosti with a brandy sauce; grilled Springbok marinated in gin; sau-téed chicken supreme with mignonette potatoes or a rack of lamb with sweet

potato and cumin mash. It is a hearty meal, worthy of coming all this way and allowing for good breaks between courses. I opted for the fish which was light allowing for some fun with the dessert but the dif-ferent meat dishes were also sampled by the rest of the gang, and the food received a huge thumbs up. It’s fine country dining.

The desserts are also classic and spot-light the produce in season. So when berries are abundant, enjoy berry jelly with meringue and a berry parfait or berry Mille-feuille with berry sauce and granadilla jelly. If you’re after something more traditional warms your heart, the warm lemon tart with lime sorbet, wafer tuile and macadamia praline is an easy pick or the Cape brandy pudding with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce will deliciously hit the right spot.

They don’t have a formal wine list, instead encouraging options such as Paul Cluver Gewürztraminer; Meer-lust Chardonnay; Springfield Miss Lucy Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon/Pinot Gris; Hermanuspieterfontein Die Bartho; David Nieuwoudt Ghost Corner; Vondeling Erica Shiraz; Vergelegen Merlot or Meerlust Merlot. That’s quite something and has the necessary weight to add to the cuisine.

On arrival, a welcoming drink is pre-sented with a choice between a De Hoek Refresher of lime, lemonade, soda and ginger beer or a Pink Port with tonic water and Maraschino cherries. It’s a good start.

Service is extraordinary with everyone looking out for diners and their pleasure.

The staff, most of who have been here for years are well trained. With a large contingent of diners especially on celebra-tory days but really any weekend, families included, they know their stuff.

It’s the ambience, cross-section of South African diners and finely prepared and presented food that makes this special.

They have also added a new restaurant, The Bridge Bistro, which is below the ori-ginal house. It is a modern space very dif-ferent to the existing De Hoek’s interior. It has a clean open feel with the outside truly the strongest feature with the large floor to ceiling doors drawing your eye to the expanse of open green fields right ahead.

It operates separately from The Con-servatory – the conference venue – and is great for weddings and other celebrations.

Open: Breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday to Sunday, R345 for a 3-course meal including coffee/tea Lunch; Break-fast, R205 per person; Dinner, 5-course meal, R405.

Nurture your palate in nature

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Diane de Beer

De Hoek dining allows patrons to merge with nature while enjoying delectable fare.

Sumptuous meals in country setting

De hoek risotto

The Kievits Kroon Cape Dutch-style Manor House.

Cuisine the crown jewel at Kievits KroonGranita, Kievits Kroon, Country Estate, Plot 41, Reier Rd, Kameeldrift EastPhone: 086 0543 848

IF YOU’re looking for a quick escape, this is it. It is only 30 minutes from the city but it feels further, as if one has escaped to the countryside.

The front stoep is fabulous for a pre-din-ner drink and a coffee at the conclusion. While this is a popular conference centre, not too many have discovered the smart dining room which now boasts yet another rising star. The only problem is that as soon as they start shining too brightly, they’re poached.

Hopefully this one will stick around for a while, mindful of the amazing oppor-tunity handed to him – his own kitchen to play in.

This is a smart yet not stiff dining room because of a relaxed approach by the staff.

The tables are smartly dressed in white linen with stylish dinnerware and as a focal point, local artists like Heidi Fourie and Ronel Kellerman are celebrated and displayed to colourful impact.

It’s still rare today – even in 2016 – to have a black chef heading a team in one of our fine dining restaurants. But that’s starting to change – slowly – with Kievits Kroon leading the way.

Because they’re thin on the ground (or so it seems), the talented ones are quickly spotted and lured to greener pastures.

In 2014, Shimmy Sello was the chef running this kitchen brilliantly but he has been replaced by young sous chef Thabo Letsholo who has been tasked with the Granita fine dining menus.

Enthusiasm is there in abundance and so is the skill. It will be exciting to watch this young chef develop and grow. Hope-fully he will hang on for a while and give himself the time to blossom and bloom, also to develop a cuisine signature which is already emerging.

Letsholo hasn’t been in charge all that long but already his summer menus are dashing. It’s important to step into the game smartly because those first impres-sions count.

But Granita need not worry. Letsholo has been clever with his choices, keeping it light to suit our high temperatures but also interesting and complex with some depth of flavour which seems to be the fine dining barometer at the moment.

A bite size caprese salad as an amuse bouche sets the tone, followed by delicious goat’s cheese custard with tiny dollops of

roasted beetroot and red wine reduction to start, or a richly flavoured tomato soup with a cooked egg yolk, or seared tuna with turnip puree, pickles and wasabi foam, all exquisitely executed and served, pretty as paintings and equal to the test in taste. Your choice could be any of these depending on your preference.

The mains stuck to a more traditional formula with the options of grilled beef fil-let or confit duck leg, a smear of butternut puree, bok choy and pomme puree with port jus. It proved that the chef has what it takes to deliver the goods.

Dessert is always a conclusive flourish or failure depending on the play of the night. It is the thought that leaves with diners and Letsholo made sure he got it right with a mix of vanilla rum mousse, coconut sand and quinoa wafers. It wasn’t too complicated yet it has a nostalgic, sweet note that promises to linger.

The chef ’s youthfulness is a bonus and with confidence growing as the months march on, his depth of flavour will develop even further which will add to his initial

promise which is already enough to exe-cute a fine meal.

This is a restaurant that through the years keeps moving in the right direction. It’s off the beaten track, but easy to access and worth exploring with many different types of meals or celebrations.

On the night, the pairings of Haute Cab-riere Unwooded Pinot Noir (2013), Darling Cellars Bush Vine Sauvignon Blanc, Die-mersfontein Pinotage 2013 and Thelema Muscat de Frontignan (2014) reflected the wine list, balancing the modern with the classic as does the food. The list also stocks bin ends and older vintages – quite a rarity these days.

They have for years built a reputation on charming service and that has not been neglected. They have perfected a fine balance with the staff focused on both the cuisine and customer in equal measure. It was a night to remember.

● Times: Lunch and dinner, Monday to Sunday at R455 with wine pairing, R305 without. The Sunday lunch menu is R310 per person with options of wine per glass.

Duck confit starred on the menu. The delicious soup sets the tone.

The dessert ended the meal with a flourish.The seared tuna with turnip puree, pickles and wasabi foam was a highlight.

If the stresses of the New Year are already threatening to overwhelm you, why not try one of two country escapes for some time out. Even

if it just for a meal, it will offer salivatingly-worthy relief:

De hoek kabeljou