Our appetizer was burnt on rooikrans logs and presented to us prior to serving.
Trout Tataki; fynbos teriyaki, ginger tahini, and granny smith apple.
Asparagus; Miso and hazelnut hollandaise, porcini puree, compressed wild mushrooms, and parmesan wafer.
Beef Fillet; Cafe au Lait sauce.
Duckfat roasted potatoes, potato churros, broccoli, fennel fondant.
Caramelized Lemon Tart; Strawberry and amasi ice cream.
Chocolate Soufflé; Hazelnut and grand marnier parfait.
All Things Spring; Naartje, pistachio and mielie meal sponge, mozzarella and lavender ice cream, raw honey with citrus granita and bee pollen.
Open kitchen
My first evening in Cape Town included a visit to The Shortmarket Club, one of the three restaurants of The Test Kitchen’s Luke Dale-Roberts. It just opened two months prior and certainly lived up to the hype!
The Shortmarket Club
Not only did I get upgraded to Business Class on my trip from Frankfurt to Johannesburg, it got also assigned Lufthansa’s latest Siegerflieger! It’s the aircraft they scheduled to carry Germany’s Olympic athletes back home from Brazil.
Siegerflieger
Chef’s Table
Eska is also a bakery!
Open kitchen, greeting you right when you enter the restaurant
Bread and Butter
Burnt potato in ash with potato espuma
Fermented red wheat with sous-vide egg and button mushrooms
Zemlovka: Bread pudding with apples in an espuma of vanilla and rum
Smoked beef tartar, shallot, mustard, grilled bread, from lunch two days later
At my team’s meetup in Prague this month we went on a four-hour food tour, organized by Taste of Prague. Jan, our guide, was great, taking us from blue-collar, traditional Czech food, to the Vietnamese influence, to Czech wine, and finally to a higher-end place that combines old Czech cuisine with the new.
Eska, the final restaurant we went to, was outstanding. From the design, to the way the kitchen is set up, to the food presentation, it left a lasting impression. An impression so good that we came back for lunch a couple of days later. This post should probably be titled “Eska” since all pictures are from that stop, but they are just the most shareable.
If you’re ever in Prague, make sure to get in touch with Jan and Taste of Prague, and let them take you beyond the tourist traps around Charles Bridge.
Konstantin Obenland 