Taste of Joburg, Monte Casino

The Taste of Joburg is an annual food festival that celebrated its 5^th year in 2011.  Run over four days, visitors can experience the best that Joburg restaurants have to offer, as well as get a chance to purchase tasty treats and delights from the many stalls showcasing mostly handmade and organic crafts and eats.

Tickets are pre-purchased through Computicket or the brave can take their chances and buy at the venue. 

The outdoor Tuscan-styled Monte Casino dotted with white tents beneath clear blue skies provided the setting for this event, mapped out with pause areas – astro-turfed tables to set your food or drink down and gather your thoughts before indulging in your recently purchased delicacy.



Celebrating five years of food and wine



One can always do with a little red-carpet treatment and on this day we weren’t disappointed.  The festival attracts the high-end connoisseur with lavish restaurants showcasing their best dishes, each offering a starter, mains and dessert taster.  Whilst the carnivores had plenty to choose from, there were limited options for the leaf-eaters.  I did, however, come across a delicious coconut-curried chickpea dish from Thava, an Indian restaurant located in Norwood.  The dish was flavoured with India’s best spices and accompanied with a delectable doughy naan.  Later that afternoon, I had a sampling of spinach (not potato) gnocchi rolled in oodles of gorgonzola sauce from Oliva Restaurant and Bar – a new tapas fusion restaurant in the heart of Illovo.  The spinach balls melted in my mouth on contact and the strong-flavoured cheese sauce did not overpower the dish.

D1 enjoyed a sampling of salad from Vivace Restaurant situated at the Radisson Blu hotel in the heart of Sandton.  A crisp bed of lettuce, green beans and rocket, parmesan shavings, olives and peppers provided sharp tastes to contrast the saltiness of the see-through parmaham slivers.



A thumbs-up entrée

Cue R2, fashionably late but undeterred with the abundance of food and drink still being churned out.  Eventually deciding on the mini burgers on offer from Piccolo Mondo at the Michelangelo Hotel.  Fresh mini buns and patties which were wolfed down in two bites.  Dessert came in the form of three light-as-air crepes, traditionally made with sprinklings of cinnamon and sugar, from the Snowflake stand.  Definitely too fresh to flop.

Not to be outdone with solids alone, there were plenty of liquids to entice the tastebuds in the form of champagnes, wines and cocktails.  Nederberg Sauvignon Blanc was the staple for most of the day, but the three musketeers also had samplings of caramel vodka, Patron in chocolate shooter glasses and candy cocktails - a mixture of fruit juices, vodka and candy floss.  Each stand making the effort to invite passerby’s with their unique atmosphere, music and set design.



A cauldron of toil and trouble



A couple of goodies went into our bags to take home: raw honey, sugar wands – crystallised sugar on bamboo sticks, and Sally Williams nougat – the macadamia nut being the clear winner.



Effective and enticing amusements



All retailers accept Crowns only – the currency at the festival, sold in booklets of R100.00 with 1 Crown equivalent to R5.00.  Dishes ranged from 4 to 8 Crowns each and drinks between 3 and 10 Crowns.  Overall the event is well run, however, there are downfalls:  1. The festival hours – there is not enough time to go around to each stand to see what is on offer. 2. Next year I hope to see more restaurants offering up samples of their dishes.  To me it seemed as if there were more stores offering wines than food.

A fantastic afternoon spent with friends previewing a variety of restaurants before deciding on where you can best spend your hard earned cash on a full three-course meal.  With all the support the festival received this year, I can see it growing exponentially for many years to come.  Watch this space............