Of Mountains and vines

I’M still convinced Steenberg Vineyards exists in its own pocket of reality outside the rest of the world’s. It’s so ridiculously easy to roar past without sparing a glance for the vineyards above you on the mountainside.

But, next time you’re in the mood to slow down and take a detour, do consider the Steenberg Winery, where you’ll find Bistro Sixteen82. It’s well worth the visit, especially if you want to feel like you’re in the winelands without having to drive all the way to Stellenbosch or Paarl.

While you mission up the road to the winery, you’ll see brightly painted modern sculptures. These are by Edoardo Villa, a local artist of Italian descent, who is known for his installations in steel and bronze. The artwork seems at first to jar the senses, but in a way the smooth, almost geometric shapes and the verdant landscaping seem to complement each other.

The Steenberg Winery itself is a venue that will wow you (and you might even consider planning a special event). Even though the architecture seems larger than life, it’s nevertheless warm and inviting. The chandelier in the tasting area is one of the first design elements to grab the attention – what seems like thousands of pieces of ruby-hued, shaped glass pieces cascading from the ceiling. Large windows make you feel as though the spectacular water feature is about to invite itself into the dining area, and of course I couldn’t resist my childlike urge to take a walk along the stepping stones.

This wasn’t my first visit to Bistro Sixteen82 and, after this, I’m quite happy to say it won’t be my last, because executive chef Brad Ball has struck gold with whatever magic he’s weaving here. The mere fact that Bistro Sixteen82 has been buzzing since November 2009 says a lot, especially in Cape Town’s fickle restaurant climate.

Though the bistro serves breakfasts and lunches, we were primarily here for the tapas. Last month chef Brendan November offered an array of Mexican-inspired dishes, and we opted for tacos de pescados, which was served with a spicy tomato salsa; Valerie’s Choice – a cheese platter served with fresh fruit and – get this – candied walnuts (to die for, you absolutely must try them); and the shrimp and monkfish ceviche that was certainly colourful.

Then I made a big mistake. I shared my portion of churros with my husband. Why I did that I don’t know, and I will forever regret this decision. All I’ve done since then is bemoan the fact that I need to try those churros again. For those not in the know (like me, before I had my first churro), this is a Spanish “doughnut” – basically a length of pastry that’s been deep-fried until it’s crispy then dusted in sugar. Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that you dip it in melted chocolate. (Yes, this is one of the few cases where sharing is incredibly stupid, and I will never do it again.)

During this month Bistro Sixteen82 is keeping things fresh by changing the menu (so no more churros for Nerine) and I’ve heard that they’ll be offering a variety of Asian tapas. Of course tapas is for the sharing. There’s no crouching over your individual plates; it’s all about beating your husband’s fingers off the choice bits.

Bistro Sixteen82 is the kind of venue that encourages you to forget about the world outside – rare indeed – and, even better, the staff strike a balance between being unobtrusive and attentive. My verdict: stop putting off a visit to Bistro Sixteen82 and go already. So many of my friends say yes, they’ve heard of it but haven’t been there yet. I can guarantee one thing: you’ll go back – again and again – winter or summer.

Bistro Sixteen82 offers a breakfast and lunch menu, as well as a tapas and children’s menu. Opening hours are 9am to 11am (breakfast); lunch is served from noon to 4pm. Tapas is served in the late afternoon and at sunset, from 4.30pm to 8pm. Call 021 713 2211, e-mail reservations@bistro1682.co.za or visit www.steenberg-vineyards.co.za.

Goths on Safari: Day one

Predictably, we missed the transfer from Sanbona's main gate to the Dwyka Tented Lodge. This meant that we had to mission about 60 or so kilometres along bumpy gravel roads in our trusty Palio. To be fair, the roads here are in better nick than the gravel roads in some parts of Namibia, so this time we did not shake the dashboard loose like the last time, to give our little Italian car some credit.

The Karoo this time of the year is... beautiful. And cold. We checked in and were shown our "tent", which is a term I'll use in the loosest sense of the word. Small house would be better suited. And the bath... Let me not make you jealous.

We were treated to nommies of smoked salmon and avocado on a bed of greens for a light lunch, before Trevor whisked us off on our first game drive in one of the Landies, cracking salty jokes all the way, much to our amusement. To give you some idea of the landscape, it's fairly hilly Little Karoo with typical mix of scrub and fynbos, with folded oxidised sandstone hills shot through with white quartz.

It being the Karoo, we're not going to see vast numbers of game like we would up in Kruger or the northern parts of the country, but today was special. We got to see a free-roaming wild cheetah with her two almost-grown cubs. We stood about 10 metres from her and the trio just lay there, watching us watch them. That was truly special for me since the only other time I encountered cheetah was the time I ran in the cheetah enclosure at Tygerberg Zoo (and we're not going to go into too much detail there, okay?)

Springbok abound, a species I'm more fond of with rosemary steeped in red wine with a dash of garlic, but we did spot some red hartebeest which, I'm told, the white lions enjoy quite raw. The cherry on the cake for the evening game drive was, however, the solitary white rhino bull who grazed merrily about twenty paces from our Landy. For the sake of sounding like a jaded local, I've seen plenty of these chaps before but it was still thrilling to see the great big grey chap schlurp up mouthfuls of herbs.

Back at the lodge and chilled to the bone, I was more than happy to graze on a wonderful selection of dinner, starting with a cheesy melba toast followed by butterfish (om nom nom nom nom) completed by a selection of cheese. Okay, I admit it, I'm a cheese freak. Had a lovely white wine, cannot remember the name but it features artwork by Paul du Toit on the label, who happened to be my ma's neighbour when we still lived in Hout Bay.

Right now, at time of writing, I'm one of the last (annoying) guests to ghost about the general lodge section. My motivation: this bloody lovely gas fire, gorgeous staff who just want to make sure I'm happy, and the wonderful sense of okay, let's just chill 'cos there's absolutely no cellphone reception and if you Skype me I'm probably not going to answer.

Sanbona gets it right and I'm horribly happy here.