Wine Magazine - April
2006
By John Maytham
Photographs by John Maytham
‘Tapas are a fun way of eating. Of course, we do tapas differently
in South Africa than they do in the Spanish birthplace of the tradition.
Here we tend to do it seated, and with slightly larger portions,
and the physical environment is given more attention. But the basic
philosophy remains the same-lots of different bite-sized portions
feeding both the inner man and the ongoing, lively conversation.
And a new entrant to the market, Fork, delivers very well on that
philosophy.
It’s an up-and-down building in Long Street, with the smokers
down and the non up. Basic but elegant décor, with comfortable
couches and tables downstairs, tables and booths upstairs, and
a balcony area very popular on balmy Cape Town evenings.
The menu is electric, with Italian, Levantine and Pacific Rim being
the prime areas of influence. Full marks to all the dishes we scarfed
up over three hours-tomato, mozzarella and rocket tower with oreganum
oil; diced tuna loin with cannelloni bean salad; mixed seafood
sosatie with ginger and lemongrass dressing; grilled tiger prawns
wrapped with pancetta; kudu mini fillets with orange potato puree
and chilli spinach; Moroccan meatballs (with an olive at the center);
two exquisitely tender and tasty grilled lamb cutlets with cumin
and coriander sauce; and a very satisfying ginger mousse with raspberries.
At the end of it all, we were full without being satiated, our
tastebuds had been most pleasantly titillated, and we were (almost)
all talked out. Mission accomplished.
The winelist is unusual in that it’s organized by place of
origin, rather than by the more normal grape variety, so it takes
a little more time to make a choice. But there’s a good spread
of intelligently chosen wines, including some big names and some
more out-of-the-ordinary wineries, at reasonable mark-ups. La Couronne
Sauvignon Blanc R55, Nitida Semillon is R93 and the most expensive
white wine is a Chardonnay from Joubert-Tradauw at R120. Red choices
include Vrede en Lust red blend for R55, Jagger’s Peak Shiraz
for R100 and Herold Pinot Noir for R175. Six wines are available
by the glass, and they don’t allow bring-on-own. The red
wine was served too cold-a change from the more normal and less
pleasant too warm, but still a very minor blemish on an otherwise
extremely enjoyable evening.
Dishes cost between R20 and R50, and there is no minimum charge.
Food Delicious
Ambience Lots of chatter, lots of cool folk
Service Laid-back, without losing efficiency
Winelist Some nice surprises
Value I made another booking after signing the bill
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