Bogged Down

This week’s article brings us to a subject that we’ve been debating for a long time. Does the cleanliness of a restaurant’s toilet relate to the cleanliness of the establishment’s kitchen? Think about it for a second... apart from display kitchens and tepanyaki restaurants, we don’t know what is happening behind the closed doors of the kitchen. Or where the staff wash up! But if care is taken to keep the toilets clean then it’s likely that similar care is taken to keep the kitchen clean as well. It basically comes down to the way owners or managers care for all areas of their establishments, especially the back of house.

Some bathrooms that impressed us include the bog by the little herb garden at Thomas Maxwell in Benmore and the toilets at The Local Grill in Parktown North. And if you recall we had awesome meals at both these restaurant. Check out their reviews at http://www.yourtastebuds.com/

Until we eat again,

Your Taste Buds,

DimitrIon

P.S.: Next time you’re out for a meal, sneak a peak at the kitchen, compare it to the toilet and let us know if our theory should be flushed down the toilet… e-mail us at: best@yourtastebuds.com

Cuccina de Ciro

Salud

Finding a good Italian restaurant is a little tricky. Its like find a good clean public toilet, there are many around but few are well kept.

When you enter Cuccina de Ciro, in Parktown North, you walk into the open plan area with the kitchen in front of you. It feels like you are walking into an Italian home with the mama cooking, but in this case its Ciro, a chef with the passion of cooking inscribed in his face.

We started with a green salad with Parmesan shavings. We would have liked to have warm bread rolls to accompany the salad but we were not in luck. We then ordered our mains; Dimitri went for the fillet sautéde in red wine, Sasha (Dimitri’s wife and accomplice in food tasting) ordered the Salmon with salsa and vegetables. The fillet was perfectly cooked with an awesome aftertaste of satisfaction; the Salmon was fresh and amazing.

We then ordered a first time for DimitrION, a chocolate crème brulée, and one word to describe it, orgasmic! We walked away from this rustic restaurant with a smile.

This week we would like to know if you have a favorite crème brulée, email us at: best@yourtastebuds.com

Until we eat again,

DimitrION

Two Thousand and ATE

As the festive season draws to a close and the Gauteng restaurants start re-stocking with fresh ingredients, we are excited to start the New Year with one of our favourite restaurants in Cape Town, called Pigalle. Many of our friends, family and readers have been asking us to highlight the best of the best. Pigalle (the Cape Town branch) is the best restaurant to go to if you looking for an above average dinner with live music and dancing.

From the moment you walk through the sliding doors onto the red carpet you are wowed with the décor. We started our experience with a Byerskloof red wine and a salad. Rico, our friend and restaurant owner of San Marco joined us. Dimitri ordered the T-Bone, Ion the line fish and Rico the prawns. All of our mains were outstanding and well presented. The best value for money was the T-Bone, a 600g piece of meat perfectly cooked but the prawns did come a close second but a little pricy.

Pigalle in CT is the best restaurant for dancing and live swinging music.

Let us know where your best restaurant for 2007 was by emailing us at: best@yourtastebuds.com

Until we eat again,

DimitrION