Christmastime is here!

Literally stuffed like one of the three turkeys we served at last night's Friendsgiving feast, I am jetting off to the USA tonight until early January.

Looking forward to my first white Christmas in years with both our sons and lots and lots of family and friends; decorating real pine and spruce Christmas trees; skiing on real snow in Colorado; ice-skating outdoors (!); drinking hot gluhwein and cocoa because Jack Frost is nipping at your nose; being dazzled by the Christmas decorations in New York, Philadelphia, Denver, KC and San Fran (Nobody does Christmas like NYC though. No. Bo. Dy.); and reuniting with my jewelry in storage!

Visions of rutabaga, jicama, & Cheese Danish dancing in my head. Tidings of comfort and joy. Comfort and joy. It is going to be the best Christmas ever!

God bless us, everyone.

ice sculptures in the windows at Barney's

gingerbread at Lord & Taylor's

The Met’s Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque crèche

Breck

KC's Crown Center Plaza

Local is lekker

Another local eatery - this one is an Italian coffee roaster, deli and restaurant with the (somewhat unfortunate) name of eatalian.

 

the scene between breakfast and lunch. it was packed for dinner.

Open for about a month, eatalian is located on our favorite little strip in Parkmore right next to JHB Eatery. They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offer a pretty extensive and inventive Italian menu. Colazione, Insalate, Paninis and Ciabattas, Antipasti, Pizza, Focaccia, La Pasta, and Dolci. They even serve gluten free pizza bases and pasta if you prefer.

Their Secondi and Main entrees include Costolette di Vitello and Oxtail alla Romana. Vince and I agreed it was the first time we have seen veal on a menu in South Africa. I heartily recommend the Pollo al Gorgonzola. So tender and delicious!

brick oven pizza

the pizzas are good! thin crust with excellent sauce and fresh mozarella.

they roast their own coffee

they have a nice little Italian deli!

pasta, meats, cheeses and dry goods

They are waiting on their liquor license so in the meantime, BYOB and Buon Appetito!

(PS I am only half kidding about the name. I forgave Mario Batali for eataly!)

Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé au l'Afrique du Sud!

It's Restaurant Week SA again!

And this year we tried a restaurant that has been on our list for quite a long while, Le Petit Sel. We have been wanting to try it ever since we dined in its Big Sister restaurant Sel et Poivre almost three years ago!

Sel et Poivre is in the Quatermain Hotel and Le Petit Bistro is in the adjoining hotel, the Falstaff. Both are presided over by Master Chef Coco Reinharz. Sel et Poivre is the more formal of the two while Le Petit Sel is a casual bistro. In fact, it is actually the perfect bistro for us as it is literally right around the corner from Valley Lodge and well outside the EcoMobility World Festival nonsense in the Sandton CBD.

Vince started with their signature Crunchy Tomato and Mozzarella Croustillant served with Balsamic Vinegar & Olive Oil

I had the Franschhoek Brie wrapped in Phyllo served on a Salad of Herb Roasted Pears & Cape Malay Pickled Shallots

Vince chose Thick Cut Flame-Grilled Pork Chops with a Dijon Mustard Sauce served with Potato Croquettes for his main

I chose the lemony Grilled Tilapia on Spinach served with Sauteed Asparagus with an Herb Butter Sauce

For dessert, Crepe Suzette!

And since we were eating in a bistro and we are on the cusp of Beaujolais Nouveau season in France, we drank South Africa's only locally produced beaujolais, De Toren's newly released Le Jeunesse Delicat.  

Cafe Un Deux Trois in New York

Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé au l'Afrique du Sud!

Titanic lands in Joburg

It may not have been the cleverest idea to visit a Titanic exhibition a mere five months before my Antarctic expedition sets sail in March. We will be crossing the icy Drake Passage by ship after all.

But I am a sucker for anything Titanic so I left my apprehensions behind and joined a fleet of my friends in Rosebank to see artifacts from the legendary ocean liner once more. Presented in South Africa for the very first time, I saw the same exhibition in New York several years ago and ...  

My commemorative  Centenary scarf

 
... my sister, my niece and I happened to be in Belfast for the Titanic Centenary in 2012 ...

King Queen of the World!

 ... when we visited the brand new Titanic Exhibition space in the city where the Titanic was built. See? Sucker!

















Upon entering the exhibit in Rosebank, you are given a boarding pass. And an identity. On the back is a description of who you are, your cabin assignment and what brought you onto the Titanic in the first place. My identity was Mrs. Frank John Goldsmith, née Emily A. Brown. From Stroud, England in Kent, I was traveling with my husband and 9 year old son to Detroit, Michigan where we hoped Frank will find work as a toolmaker. Unfortunately for us, we were traveling in steerage. Bummer.

About halfway through the exhibit, I found out the eventual fate of Frank and Emily. On a wall was listed the ship manifest divided by class. It was also divided by those who died and those who lived. More than twice the amount of passengers that survived were sadly lost at sea. (I won't give it away in case you assume Emily's identity when you go!) 

We weren't allowed to take photographs inside the exhibition space so I can't give you any photographic evidence, but it was well worth the price of admission. There were recreated cabin accommodations, continuous showings of a History Channel documentary about the latest expeditions to Titanic, as well as actual artifacts exhumed from the ocean floor. There were also sample menus served to First, Second and Third Class guests.

It reminded me of the special menus that were recreated in several of the best restaurants in Belfast in honor of the Centenary in 2012.

inside Deanes Restaurant in Belfast

We ate our ten course menu at Deanes.

Unfortunately, we were not offered a First Class menu for luncheon after we toured the Titanic Exhibition in Rosebank but I did have some awesome pizza at Doppio Zero instead.

Th exhibition runs until November 8; see it before it sets sail for its next location, Cape Town.

We Renewed our Marriage Vows in Africa!

Sunday Brunch & Jazz @ Ten Bompas

Today was the 27th Sunday in the Roman Catholic Liturgical Year, the opening of the Synod on the Family in the Vatican, and the day the Church has chosen to recognize the sanctity of the Sacrament of Marriage.

And so, as part of our regular Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes in Rivonia this morning, Father Peter called up couples in order for us to renew our Marriage vows before the congregation. Vince and I had just celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary a month ago in Tanzania - a real milestone! - so we thought it appropriate to participate in the Marriage renewal ceremony along with four other couples at our local parish.

 

my dessert: crystallised flowers, jasmine cream, hibiscus syrup, raspberry

Afterwards we met up with some friends at a restaurant for Sunday lunch and jazz. We had a jazz band too at our wedding reception in New York 35 years ago!

Darn, we should have brought a wedding cake!








Spreading the love all around the world!

1980 wedding, St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York , USA, North America

30th anniversary wedding renewal in 2010, The American Church in Paris, France, Europe

Thank you Gardiol for my South African beaded bride pin! It sure came in handy.

Searching for Sugar Man ... the book

First it was the 2012 Academy Award-winning documentary film and now it is a book!

On Monday night we went to the book launch of Sugar Man. The Life, Death and Resurrection of Sixto Rodriguez by Craig Bartholomew Strydom and Stephen "Sugar" Segerman, the two fans whose search for Sugar Man after apartheid led to Rodriguez's performing live on stage in South Africa for the very first time in 1998.

The book launch was held at one of Vince's and my favorite tapas restaurants in Cape Town, La Parada (Order the croquetas de jamon!) There, the authors were interviewed by Marianne Thamm, herself an author as well as a columnist, satirist, and the assistant editor of Daily Maverick. After a conversational interview with Marianne, Craig and Sugar entertained questions from the audience and then signed copies of their book.

The authors (seated) with Thamm in the middle at La Parada

We absolutely loved the movie and we are big fans ourselves of Rodriguez's music as a result of watching it. But while director Malik Benjelloul's Searching for Sugar Man chronicled the book authors' odyssey to find out what had happened to their musical hero from the 1970s and 80s, their book presents a much bigger picture of the Rodriguez saga.

The book is broken up into four parts - The Mystery, The Man, The Music and The Movie and it outlines three separate journeys and the obstacles and triumphs that each presented: Rodriguez's struggle to make a life from his music, the search by two fans to find him, and Benjelloul's pursuit to bring the story to life on the screen.

And apparently there is talk of bringing the movie-turned-book to the stage in the form of a Broadway musical! Produced by Hal Prince no less! What?

Rodriguez is scheduled to perform live on stage again in South Africa next year but unfortunately we won't be here to see him. So the book is going to have to suffice. Until the Broadway musical, that is.

Nikkei in CT

another two dessert night!

The combination of Japanese and Peruvian cuisine, Nikkei has become the latest gastronomic sensation to hit Europe’s culinary capitals. And now Charango (114 Bree Street) has brought Nikkei to Cape Town! (A charango by the way is a stringed instrument traditionally made from the shell of an armadillo.)

The most notable proponent of Nikkei is perhaps Nobu Matsuhisa, who has been using elements of this fusion cuisine since the late 1980s in his various Nobu restaurants throughout the world. Nobu in Tribeca was one of our favorite restaurants! Nobu's signature dish was his black cod in miso and we sampled Charango's version, the "Black Kob" langostine, with quinoa, pak choi and soy. I swear it was just as good!

Although Nobu was an early exponent of Nikkei, it has only recently been picked up by several high profile chefs in Europe, thanks partly to the success of Peruvian food throughout the continent. The most famous of these chefs is Ferran Adrià, the former El Bulli chef whose "molecular gastronomy" revolutionized the culinary scene in the 90s and frequently included elements of Nikkei. El Bulli is closed now but Ferran's younger brother, and former El Bulli chef, Albert Adrià has opened a new restaurant, Platka in Barcelona, with a menu built entirely on Nikkei cuisine. I do remember a particularly good "tuna belly" sushi dish with black currant jelly that was part of the extensive tasting menu at El Bulli and Vince had a Pork Belly dish at Charango made with pineapple jelly which reminded me just a little of it.

Charango has a great vibe too. Along with some beautiful frescoes, there were murals decorating the walls with definitions and fun facts about some of the different food elements. For instance, did you know that Leche de Tigre, a citrus-based ingredient used as a marinade for the Nikkei Ceviche, is both a hangover cure as well as an aphrodisiac? Hell yeah!

There were about six different Ceviches on the menu but since it was our first time, we stuck with the Charango House Ceviche. Fish, butternut, corn, chilli, coriander, aji, limo leche de tigre. Incredible!

excellent Pisco Sour

And Pisco. There were more than a dozen cocktails on the menu that used Pisco as the basis. Originally created in 1641 to dodge the King of Spain's excessive tax on wine, Peruvians call Pisco their native spirit. Meaning "bird" in the indigenous Quechua language, it is a fortified wine that is imbibed at any time of the day, even breakfast! (Hair of the bird?)

There were only three desserts on the menu but I just couldn't decide between the Toasted Quinoa Creme with burnt banana and rum butterscotch sauce, and the Picarones (sweet potatoes with dulce de leche!) So I didn't! I got both. Vince ordered the third dessert, the Blonde Chocolate Pave. Seasonal berries with manjar blanco, a South American blancmange.

We'll be back!

Je suis Africa

It's Friday and Vince and I are packing for a weekend trip to a Big Five game reserve in the Waterberg. As I am sorting through the camera equipment we will bring, I am once again struck by how lucky we are to be able to experience and photograph these majestic creatures in the wild in Africa -  especially against the backdrop of the recent death of Cecil, the much loved and protected lion in Zimbabwe. Lured from his sheltered home by trophy hunters and shot with a bow and arrow, Cecil's slow death has unleashed a firestorm of anger and disgust and has brought the crisis of animal extinction to international attention.

Images of endangered species will be projected on the
Empire State Building in NYC this weekend  to raise awareness

Canned hunting, poaching and bushmeat snares. The scourge of Africa. Yes there are other scourges. Boko Haram, ISIS, Ebola, Human Trafficking. They all deserve attention, policing and positive action to eradicate.

But Cecil's death is an opportunity to capitalize on the world's focused attention. It will take concentrated international political will to stop the extinction of African animals. I hope the opportunity is not squandered and Cecil's death will not be in vain.

Cecil projected onto the Empire State Building!

I Married Adventure!

my GWM Facebook profile picture (a.k.a Osa Johnson)

I first became aware of the name "Osa Johnson" at the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse in Manhattan many years ago. The KBDS is an annual fundraising event that benefits the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club in New York and a spring visit to it was part of my annual calendar for about 25 years.

One of the designers that year decorated a room as a "pilot's study"with an imaginary explorer / adventurer as his muse. And in the room on a coffee table he placed a zebra print-covered book entitled I MARRIED Adventure by Osa Johnson. Great title! I was intrigued. "Who was this Osa Johnson?" I wondered.


Later I found first edition copies of both I MARRIED Adventure and Osa's giraffe print-covered book FOUR YEARS IN PARADISE in a vintage bookstore somewhere. I immediately purchased them and used them as a style element in my own downstairs study at home in New Jersey. The book covers looked great alongside my globes, vintage destination label-covered leather suitcases, trunks, and hatboxes, Maasai shields, spears and framed beaded jewelry, Australian boomerangs, Amazonian tangas, Venetian masks and other travel-related details and souvenirs that decorated the room.

Shamefully, I didn't read the books. But I did read the author's biography inside. I found out that Osa Johnson was a documentary filmmaker who traveled extensively to Africa with her husband Martin ... and she was from southeastern Kansas!

When my husband and I decided to move to South Africa in 2012 for his work, "I MARRIED Adventure" became the unofficial mantra of our great migration to Joburg and Osa became my muse. My blog page designer even used Osa's picture on my blog masthead (look up ⬆) and I similarly use her image as my GWM Facebook profile picture.

Flash forward to July 2015. During my month-long stay in the USA I took a 3338 mile road trip to visit family and friends starting from Denver, Colorado through New Mexico to Marfa and Austin, Texas through Oklahoma to Kansas City, Kansas and then back to Denver. That was an adventure!

Oklahoma-Kansas border

As it turns out I would be driving fairly close to Chanute, Kansas which is the home of the Martin & Osa Johnson Safari Museum.

Well worth a stop, the Safari Museum tells the story of Martin and Osa, their meeting and marriage and their life-long adventures as film makers, lecturers, photographers, explorers, naturalists, authors and native Kansans.

I found out that Martin's boyhood idol was Jack London and when he was about 17, he answered a call to assist London on an around the world sea voyage to the South Sea Islands and Africa. Unfortunately, the trip was scuttled in Borneo due to disease and mechanical problems. But by then Martin had contracted the travel bug. He went back to Kansas, married Osa and convinced her to continue the voyage without Jack London. The rest as they say is history.

Although not a member of  The Explorers Club, Martin was a member of the Adventurers Club, an extant club of about the same age, also founded in New York, with a scientific mission.

galleries of artifacts from their travel through the South Sea islands and Africa

Osa wore zebra-skin pumps!

vintage editions for sale at the museum

and a gift shop! I bought a mug and ...

... a couple of cushions that I used to decorate my niece's South African-themed birthday party.
They will look swell at home in Joburg!

The museum showed a History Channel-produced documentary about the life of Osa and Martin and many of the documentaries they produced were available to watch as well. Now I definitely have to read her books!