My new favourite restaurant

Aromas pour from the small kitchens in the quaint restaurant.
Contemporary French food with a hint of the big apple's ambience and vibe.
The owners display their vested interest in their patrons as they describe the tantalizing menu specials at every table.

Customers smile and laugh as they enjoy their delectable gastronomic pleasures.

As my starter of duck livers arrived, I was pleasantly flabbergasted at the presentation.
A few perfectly cooked duck livers appeared spread in a neat line across the center of my plate, decorated with a linear smear of what looked like finely chopped onion, tomato, cucumber and a light jus of sorts across a segment of the plate.

Cream sauce complemented the livers, while a little side bowl of foie gras mousse accompanied the dish. It was subtly gorgeous gastronomy.

A starter of salmon tartare was directly across me, being appreciated by yet another satisfied patron.

My girlfriend and I shared some local bubbly as we smilingly exchanged our thoughts on the just-eaten starters. My excitement confirmed that she had just brought me to a place that I was not going to forget, and a place that was slowly making its way to the top of my list of favourites.

Main course was served in good time.
Across from me, my girlfriend was presented with a dish of lobster pasta, intricately decorated with the tail of a lobster placed in the centre on top the perfectly cooked penne, spiral shavings of spring onions and a few generous dollops of caviar. In the creamy sauce was some mustard seeds and some truffle oil, creating a rare, sublime fusion of flavour.

My duck and berry pot pie was served with a rich gorgonzola sauce on the side.
Upon opening the perfectly baked puffy crust, the small clay pot revealed strips of perfectly cooked duck, little vegetable pieces and just a small lump of finely chopped berries, all in the perfect amount of gravy.

A mouthful of duck pieces drizzled with just a little gorgonzola sauce started a flavour explosion in my mouth. Utterly incredible.

After having gorged myself, I was hard pressed to have to decline dessert.

For an incredible meal, a great vibe and superb finesse, visit Thomas Maxwell's Bistro in Parkmore, Sandton.

Be certain to book in advance!

Head over to www.thomasmaxwell.co.za for more details.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Thomas Maxwell Bistro

Peri-peri friends

Do you have friends you haven't seen in a while?
Friends who were once close perhaps, or acquaintances that climbed the ranks only slightly?


People we see occasionally, but not with great desire or eagerness?
You know, those people you've just seen after a while, to whom you
can't actually say "it was good to see you"?

Most of us will read this with a nod of cognisance.

We tend to cross paths with old friends or acquaintances once in a while.
And we meet up when they're around again..

As time passes with each cocktail or beer, we tend to catch up on stories and events...
We may realise (or remember) that this person is loud. Or pompous. Or arrogant . Or Emo.
Pick one, or a few. Either way, the attributes listed above fall short of "good".

Time passes, and it starts to feel like a needle piercing the flesh..

We begin to understand now why it is that we lost contact (or limited contact) to begin with..
One of those "ah-hah" moments...


The needle called time now pierces the muscle tissue.
It's getting uncomfortable.
We just want to move or stand or... something. Anything but continue much longer.
As we grow more aware of the things about our long lost friends that irritated us in the past,
it begins to burn.

This is where the similarity between this type of friend and eating peri peri sauce becomes apparent.

And don't get me wrong - peri peri sauce is awesome, just like the friends we meet up with occasionally, for short periods of time.

But that's just it - because when we have too much, or too large a dose - sooner or later, it's going to become a pain in the ass..

So for those of you who have such friends, they can now be referred to as peri peri friends.

Great in for a little flavour in life,
but too much of it, and... well, we know the results :)