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| Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |
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Extraordinary
August 2012 |
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5
Stars & 5 Stripes
Overall - 'Cuisine & Service' |
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The Ultimate Award:
Seven Stars and Stripes® |
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| It is a fantasy; a dream of ethereal magnitude
bordering on the unreal. The main participant is me, in the middle of a
world-class spa, situated in the heart of South Africa surrounded by game of
every conceivable species while I am still able to enjoy a bottle of very
special South African Pinotage, watching the sun melt into the savanna. The
bizarre sights and sounds of the South African veld are laid out in front of me
as if performing a millennium-old dance on demand; all the while I contemplate
my next spa treatment and tasting menu later in the evening. In fact, all what
I have described is real and actually accessible at Karkloof Spa,
Pietermaritzburg, RSA to anyone with a lust for life and romance in their
heart. Few other places on the planet offer more diverse experiences coupled
with the service and cuisine of a world-class player. |
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| Karkloof
Spa - VIEW |
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| The entire menu concept is supported by an on-premises
organic garden capable of supplying the kitchen with the mise en place of
locally grown seasonal vegetables daily. To add to this, other items on the
menu include dry-aged locally culled buffalo as well as trout from the Midlands
of KwaZulu Natal nearby. It seems that Karkloof Spa is riding the wave of
health conscious popularity by committing itself to offering a lifestyle of
inspired culinary wellness, bodywork and adventure all combined into one. Some
people will look at it as a chance for a transformation, while others will see
it as a reinforcement of changes already made. It is even possible to explore
the benefits of a raw food diet, which is provided for those who see weight
loss, improved energy and digestion, strengthening of the immune system and
relief of allergies as their personal goal in life. |
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| Karkloof Spa Restaurant - Cuisine |
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The whole dining
experience is conceived, planned, orchestrated and executed by South African
Executive Chefs Christine Burgess and Brett Hackney. Both Executive Chefs come
from educated professional backgrounds and have brought together their combined
culinary knowledge, kitchen skills and practical experience in a leadership
role to produce the extraordinary results of exceptional cuisine in the midst
of the South African subtropics. |
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| Our dining experience at this incredible
‘Wellness & Wildlife Retreat’ was an exceptional one, complete
with the total sensory perceptions of exotic sights, sounds and flavors all
rolled into one. Indigenous game abounds and it is quite common to be having
breakfast while a heard of Buffalo or the occasional Rhinoceros wander by.
Dinner is also remarkable in that you can experience world-class cuisine, fine
wine pairings and focused, unobtrusive service while planning your next spa
treatment or game viewing. The menu presented to us by Executive Chefs
Christine and Brett was extensive, innovative and nutritious. Portions were
ample, with plate presentation a particular delight and service was delivered
at a pleasant pace with knowledgeable personnel headed up by headwaiter Sipho
Mambo. |
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| The tasting menu being
quite extensive warrants mentioning some notable appetizers in particular, such
as Spiced Slow Roasted Crisp Duck Leg, apple & hazelnut salad, with
honey & soy dressing as well as Buffalo Carpaccio, spiced pineapple
chutney, parmesan shavings, capers, rocket & hazelnuts. The meat on the
duck leg literally ‘fell off the bone’ and upon tasting it the full
flavor of the Chinese five-spice mixture permeated my palate. The buffalo
carpaccio is chiefly special in that it is local wild buffalo that has had its
meat cured overnight in a brine mixture of salt, sugar, juniper berries,
cloves, pepper, lemon and orange zest and then hung up in the cooler for two
weeks, thus producing it unique flavor and texture. |
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| Karkloof Spa Restaurant - Cuisine |
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| For a main course we sampled a very special Slow
Roasted Cutlet of Organic Lamb, seasoned with toasted cumin, and
accompanied by courgette, vine tomato, currant & almond couscous, braised
shallots, onion cream & crisp onion rings with rosemary jus. There was also
a delightfully prepared Filet of Lightly Smoked Drakensberg Trout, with
olive crushed potatoes, sautéed courgette ribbons, and tomato &
onion seed chutney. Both entrées showed creativity, expertise with food
combinations and resourcefulness in utilizing local ingredients wherever
possible. Wellbeing is always on the minds of Executive Chefs Christine and
Brett and together with their kitchen team they have also developed menu items
as part of a ‘raw vegan diet’, never heating the vegetables above
47degrees C, so that the natural enzymes, microorganisms and bacteria are not
destroyed. |
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| Karkloof Spa Restaurant - Cuisine |
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This will work to
enhance the immune system, improve gut flora to aid in proper digestion and
neutralize free radicals to reduce the risk of serious illness. Utilizing
freshly harvested and locally grown organic vegetables for their creations, the
chefs have added Mock Vegetable Linguini, with air-dried tomato and
olives, rocket and pine nut pesto, all of it being raw. |
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| If there is a need for additional dietary requirements
such as gluten-free or food allergy alerts, the chefs are only too eager to
meet with you one-on-one to discuss the issues personally. Dessert is another
exceptional discovery for us when we sampled Lindt Couverture Chocolate Tart, a
devilishly dense moist and chewy chocolate cake topped with a large dollop of
passion fruit sorbetto. The raw food dessert option was called Pavé,
which consisted of thinly sliced sections of apple arranged in alternating
layers with chopped pecans, as if a sort of ‘raw’ Napoleon that had
been marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, mint and locally sourced honey.
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| Being in South Africa
for the first time meant sampling some of its finest wines from the
Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl regions near Capetown. Karkloof Spa prides
itself on offering an extensive list of fine South African wines with
suggestive pairings for each menu item. Pierre Jourdan Tranquille,
Franschhoek, RSA, a blend of pinot noir and chardonnay naturally took on a
somewhat topaz color and showed good structure while exhibiting balance and
freshness as an easy to drink summer beverage. |
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| Karkloof Spa Restaurant - Wine |
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| We savored a bottle of Hartenberg Cabernet
Sauvignon, 2006 Stellenbosch, RSA, winner of several medals of
international distinction, and found it to suggest forestberries and Italian
plums in a full-bodied structure – perfect accompaniment for the Slow
Roasted Cutlet of Organic Lamb as previously described. Next was a
Bordeaux-style blend called Veenwouden Classic 2003, Paarl, RSA implied
chocolate covered espresso beans with a hint of St Germain Alpen elderflowers
in a silky smooth finish which complimented the Buffalo carpaccio. |
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| 2012 -
Karkloof Spa Restaurant - Seven Stars And Stripes - Award |
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| Finally our sampling took us to a very fine dessert
wine named Vin de Constance, Klein Costantia RSA, from the area around
False Bay, Cape Town showed us why this terrificstyle wine was prized by kings,
emperors and literary greats. Using Muscat de Frontignan grapes to create a
complex wine of pure unadulterated pleasure revealing an undercurrent of white
stone fruits, citrus and apricot wrapped in a gentle minerality to produce a
long finish. A perfect ending to a perfect culinary experience at Karkloof Spa,
in the midst of an enigmatic, transcendent environment of peace, tranquility
and renewal. |
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by Edmund & Thorsten Buehrmann
Editor: John
Lomitola
Editor-in-Chief: Ingrid Lemme |
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| © 2012 ~ Seven Stars and Stripes,
Inc. |
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