My Favorite Jac

This is the Jacaranda in front of Vince's office in Sandton.

I love this tree.

IBM is moving to another space in the new year sometime.

So next October I won't be seeing as much of this tree.

I will miss it!

So I thought I'd take a few pictures to remember it by.

Sandton City from IBM's parking lot on Rivonia Rd.

The Westcliff Stairs

Gauteng is one big map of micro-climates. Even the climate in Greater Johannesburg itself can vary widely from suburb to suburb. I heard that our thunderstorm in Sandton a few days ago produced hail in Parkview.

The most obvious metric for measuring these micro-climates though is the Jacaranda bloom. Pretoria was purple way before Johannesburg. The Jacarandas began blooming in early October in Sandton and have been full blown bloomed for weeks now in the northern suburbs. But in the western suburbs like West Cliff and Parkview, the Jacs are still  being shy.

map of the Westcliff Stairs

We tried to coordinate our walk of the Westcliff Stairs with the peak of the Jacaranda bloom in Parkview and West Cliff but it is a moving target. The Jacs were really just starting to bloom for our walk. At least Mother Nature gave us a nice cool day for it. Thanks Mom!

Watch your step on the stone stairs!

Our walking team ...

West Cliff is full of heritage buildings and blue plaques which made for some interesting sights along the way.

Like these 17th century Dutch cannons built into the side of a wall at Kanonklip.

And the equally historic Ridge School.

Cool ironwork!

A detail of the Jozi skyline with its famous lightning storms.

The view from the top, breathtaking.

The view from the bottom, equally breath-taking. To be totally truthful, we walked very few steps up. Marguerite planned our walk to maximize the heritage sight spotting and therefore we mostly walked down the steps. That was okay with me as Marguerite is very familiar with the stairs having used them to train for her and her husband Jim's climb up Kilimanjaro!

We broke stopped in at Glenshiel to see the famous rose garden blooming.

The Jacs were just beginning to bloom ...

jacs and coral trees

detail of a coral tree

jacs and brugmansia

This will be magnificent in about a week or two. Vince and I will be back ... and this time we will walk all the way up the stairs!

Farm to Table

The concept of Farm to Table dining, or bringing garden fresh ingredients as quickly and freshly as possible from a local farm to your plate seems like a no-brainer, and is in fact an ancient concept. Yet for a long time, the mass produced American corporate culinary machine supplanted that idea in lieu of giving the American restaurant diner consistent, safe and affordable cuisine, even if the quality of the food suffered.

A culinary revolution was needed and that’s exactly what Alice Waters provided in 1971 when she created Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California - one of our all time favorite restaurants.

From the beginning, Chez Panisse sourced the highest quality food available. Today, this entails sourcing food that is locally, organically, and sustainably grown. The menu is dictated by what is fresh and in season, and the restaurant has a network of farmers, ranchers, and dairies that produce and supply the food that is then cooked and served at Chez Panisse. Alice's revolution had a broad influence on American cuisine and restaurant dining.




We were able to experience Alice's influence even here in South Africa at an alfresco lunch this weekend on the grounds of L'Antico Lanseria produced by The Forum Company. Alice's Farm to Table "Farm" ...














... but in this case the "Table" was not inside in a restaurant but outside in the open air and under the blooming jacarandas of a garden ornament factory. 

with a colourful array of fresh and local produce

Read more at: http://www.whatson.co.za/details.php?id=150331&event=Farm%20to%20Table%20Lunch
Copyright © What's On Publishing SA

It was an enchanting setting!

We brought Lou & Serge!

Jacaranda carpet

Walking around the grounds of L'Antico with its bubbling fountains and ...

... rows of statuary.

under the bowers

"Farm to Table"

"Vince to table"

I cannot print the whole menu. It was quite extensive but it ended with farm picked blueberry pannacotta, decadent meringue roulade with summer berries and light custard, really good cinnamon and toffee candied apples and...












 ... some pretty credible homemade s'mores or as they called it, "carmelized marshmallows and dark chocolate served with homemade sweet biscuits."

Behind the scenes ...

inside the catering kitchen

friendly staff

bright conservatory event space

the buffet tables

Lou and Serge making friends.

Lou & Serge  wanted to make dinner out of this bullfrog! "Pond to Table?"

Serge is smitten.














Children rode their bikes and went on pony rides on the grounds of L'Antica.

For our "departure" ... the bill and some pistachio and lavender white chocolate chards. This was The Forum Company's last Farm to Table lunch of the season but check out their website for next year's schedule.