The morning (at Cnr Café) after the night before (at Tallulah and Tiger’s)

by Tara-Zee

So, this one time, we woke up from a great Christmas party at Tallulah and Tiger’s – I for one got out of bed still wearing my Christmas apron (the one that matches my Christmas oven gloves and serviettes – what, not everyone has a set?) over my clothes! And we (the eight of us who’d spent the night) were in need of a good breakfast.

Once we were all showered and dressed (Tallulah ensured that Jan put on some proper shorts over his teeny tinies), we headed to Cnr Café Bistro & Deli. The previous time we had been there (just me, Tilly and Tallulah for some Fat Bastard and light snacks), Tallulah had convinced us to walk, but on this morning, the rain bucketed down and we were happy to drive.

There is nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread and hot coffee, which – along with friendly staff and a cozy table – was what greeted us as we escaped the storm outside. Our waitress was attentive and soon had fresh fruit juices (Tilly loved their strawberry juice and my orange juice hit the spot), coffees, water – and even an alcoholic beverage for the one of the eight of us (the one with the most bloodshot eyes, I might add) who felt it was best to get over the night before by continuing where we’d left off.

Half of us went for the breakfast roll option – served either on panini, ciabatta or health bread (all of them made on the premises) with bacon, egg (fried or poached), rocket, lettuce and tomato – I am salivating just thinking about it! (Tilly and Mr T-Z will tell you that this is a common thing for me when I think about food.) Other choices included the fry-up (with potato fritters, which we tried to convince Tiger are the same as hash browns) and French toast. And as our tummies filled, so the conversation increased and we came to life.

We all headed off to face the day, which meant a bit of work, a little Christmas shopping, some cricket on TV and loads of stories about the night before.

I’m looking forward to many more meals shared with friends in the New Year. For now though, I am counting down the hours to a week of relaxing in the Eastern Cape (and probably at least one glass of FB at Michaela’s). Until we meet and eat again, I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas (filled with good food and drinks) and a great start to 2011.

Meet & Whine

by Tara-Zee

So this one time, Tilly and I had to go to a workshop in Pretoria. Yes, P-town. Tilly came through to my place at the crack of dawn (well 07h15 felt like it that day, as we hadn’t got up at the real crack of dawn for gym), we packed the car (you need to ensure that you have water and snacks for the long drive) and headed off to the executive capital city.

Workshop done, it was time for a pedi. We made our way to Brooklyn Design Square (not to be confused with the Design Quarter in Fourways) and had our toes transformed into a perfect 10. And then we were thirsty and craving something sweet. We stopped in at Lila’s bistro.

Our waiter: “I’m new here.”

Me: “So are we.”

Silence

Our waiter: “Can I get you something to drink?”

Me: “A mojito for Tilly” (she’s not big on sickly sweet cocktails), “and a cosmo for me.” (Mr T-Z and I have just finished watching the entire Sex and the City box set and I was reminded about how much I fancy cosmos.)

We decided we felt like more than they had on offer to eat, so drank up and did a little shopping before settling on MooMoo Wine Bar & Grill. Good choice, us. 

Hmm, what to drink? – Yay, they serve Fat Bastard by the glass (and in wine glasses – an improvement on the beer glasses at JD’s). 

What to eat? – Definitely a platter (remember, when you’re sharing, you’re halving the calories).

Me: “We’ll get the Meet & Snack platter to share.”

Our waitress: “For two, I assume.”

Perceptive, their staff is.

Man, that platter was good! Cubes of aged beef and sweet chilli chicken thighs on skewers, haloumi sticks, boerewors (and I’m not even a boerie fan) and shoestring fries. Served with cheese, peri-peri and sweet chilli sauces on the side.

Tilly: “So, how do they make cheese sauce?”

Me: “You start by melting butter, then add some flour and then-”

Tilly: “What?! Flour? Yuck. Cheese sauce should be made from cheese.”

Me: “Well yes, then you add milk and then the cheese.”

Tilly: “Flour? Really?”

Me: “So the sweet chilli sauce is good.” (I know I’m not going to get the flour out of her head.)

We finished off with another glass of FB and MooMoo’s chocolate volcano – melt in your mouth chocolate pudding served with ice cream – and their mini cinnamon rolls – nyom, nyom, nyom.

Satisfied, we raced off to The State Theatre to see The Nutcracker (which was followed by more dining, but that’s for another time). Overall, a lovely experience and great to know that such good eating establishments with great service exist in the capital; eating establishments that agree that fine food and wine should not be reserved for special occasions.