Two Eastern Cape restaurants have been hand-picked to take part in an international salute to the French culinary tradition.
Muse in Port Elizabeth’s Stanley Street and Molo Lolo in Addo have been invited to host French-themed dinners in celebration of an initiative called Goût de France/Good France.
Some 5,000 restaurants across five continents – including 36 in SA – are participating in this annual homage to the ability of French cuisine to innovate while remaining true to the values of sharing and the pleasures of eating well.
In addition, Port Elizabeth-based jewellery designer Jenni Gault – who happens to be a cordon bleu-trained chef – received a personal invitation from French ambassador to South Africa Christophe Farnaud to attend the launch of the 2019 Good France programme.
Gault has presented her designs at dozens of international jewellery and fashion shows around the globe, and showed her creations in Paris five times in the last four years.
“During that time, I met the ambassadorial team at the South African embassy in Paris,” Gault said.
Gault was invited to fly up for last Thursday’s opening event at the French ambassadorial residence in Pretoria.
Gault, who speaks French with confidence, wore her medals from the internationally acclaimed Silwood School of Cookery, where she originally trained. However she has not practised as a chef for some years, focusing on her jewellery career instead.
“It was a beautiful, balmy evening,” Gault said, describing the event as “exquisite”.
Food and wine were served cocktail style, breaking with a more formal traditional setting, she added.
“Well-known SA wine personality Edo Heyns, from L’Avenir, served the wines and the embassy’s chef, André Ahiba, from Cote d’Ivóire, presented his menu, highlighting that Brigitte Bardot was the inspiration for the dessert.”
The initiative was inspired by Auguste Escoffier, the so-called “chef of kings and the king of chefs”, who launched his Epicurean Dinners in 1912 with the same menu, on the same day, in several world cities.
Good France was started by chef Alain Ducasse and the French ministry for Europe and foreign affairs.
Allan and Simone Bezuidenhout of Muse said they felt honoured to be taking part for the second time.
“We got involved with Good France through Annelie Oosthuizen from Petronella’s Catering,” Allan said.
“Our first event was in 2018, and we were invited to the French embassy to have dinner cooked by Michelin star chef Vincent Lucas and other restaurants. It was an awesome experience.”
Muse’s Good France dinner was meant to be held on Friday, but load-shedding put paid to that, Allan said.
“We’ve ordered a generator and are waiting for it to arrive, so our dinner will tentatively be rescheduled for April 4. Our main course is confit duck and, with duck being such a sensitive protein, we need that generator asap!”
The delightfully named Molo Lolo is the restaurant and cooking school at Addo African Home, and is headed by Laurence Diaz Armand, from Chamonix in the French Alps.
“Our Good France menu began on Thursday and will be running until next Friday in addition to our usual menu,” she said.
For more on the Muse dinner, contact Allan on 073-991-5011 or follow their Facebook page. Molo Lolo is on 042-233-1244 or visit addoafricanhome.co.za