Forum Homini Luxury Hotel

Ahh.......the accommodation at Forum Homini Hotel.  After the fabulous food and wine pairing dinner at Roots Restaurant, you have the option of staying over at Forum Homini Hotel.  Half our party decided to do this and we took a sneak preview at the accommodation, which is (as to be expected) outstanding! 

The suites are cut into the side of the earth and the roofs are covered in grass, very eco-friendly.  The suites have stunning views of the bush and hills.

The suite has its own outdoor/indoor shower, so you can shower and look at the stars, but you are still in your suite. Awesome!

 

King size beds and a lounge area with a fireplace, definitely a place to go in the winter.

This would be a toss up for me - do I shower or do I take a bath.....both I think!

 



Roots Restaurant Wine and Food Pairing Dinner

Well what a wonderful year we have had with our wine club.   For our December evening we decided to do something a little bit different, so we gathered our partners and made the way out to Roots Restaurant at Forum Homini for a food and wine pairing evening.  We simply could not have chosen a better way to spend the evening.

 

 

Executive chef, Adriaan Maree menu was truly inspiring, using only the best of ingredients, it was fabulously light and simple and packed full of flavour. Wow!!   And the best is the 6 course menu is selected for you, which for me is great, I can never make up my mind what to order.

 

 

As we settle down at our table, baskets of different types of bread are placed in the centre together with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and ducks liver pate with dukkah spices. The squid ink bread is quite fabulous! And so onto the first course..... 

 

 

I'm afraid you'll have to settle for a photo of the menu as when the first course arrived, silence fell across the table.  Nobody remembered to take a pic!! We were too busy savouring every mouthful.  The soup was "Roast pear & chestnut soup, prawn toast, orange puree and cauliflower". No wonder the soup got the most votes as the best dish at the end of the evening. It was paired with Weltevrede "Vanilla Chardonnay" 2011 wine.  Hum...fabulous!

 

 

The second course was "Roast monkfish & Octopus, Pea & mint, grilled cucumber, braised fennel, broad beans, liquorice, confit lime".  First time for me to eat monkfish and it was perfect.  The liquorice became a debate as it wasn't to everyone's palate, I love liquorice so no problem there.  It was paired with Jordan, Riesling, 2011 wine.  The grapes are hand-harvested and was awarded the Silver at the 2011 Veritas Awards as well as Top Riesling at the Novare Terroir Wine Awards in 2012.

 

 

Third course was the "Quail, crayfish & pork belly, Squid ink jellies, verjus, roast parsnip, smoked tomato, quail broth". Another first for me was quail and encase you don't know, Verjus or Verjuice is a sort of vinegar made from unripe grapes.  The course was paired with Zorgvleit, Cabernet Franc, 2009. An elegant red wine with hints of cinnamon.

 

 

And yet, another first, Springbok! What a different dish this was.  This was the fourth course, "Duo of springbok, Red cabbage puree, capers & anchovy, parsley, potato & mushroom mille-feuille, sauce charcuterie".  Anchovy...yum! The wine with this course was Morgenhof, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009. Beatuifully smooth and spicey.  I have been to Morgenhof and am particulaly fond of their Fantail range.

 

 

Who doesn't love cheese!!  The fifth course was the spectacular, "Tasting of goat cheese, Brioche, salted caramel, grapes, rose"  The goats chevin with the salted caramel was pure perfection! Bouchard Finlayson, San Barrique, 2010 was the wine paired to the cheese course.  Bouchard Finlayson is a boutique winery, situated in a valley called Hemel-en-aarde (Heaven and Earth) and is on the southernmost point of Africa. The San Barriue has hints of kiwi fruit and guava. Sadly the 2010 vintage has sold out but the 2011 San Barriue Chardonnay is available.

 

 

The sixth and last course was the decadent "Roots chocolate plate, chocolate delice, white chocolate sorbet, mint, passion fruit, coffee pomegranate, brandy snaps". The white chocolate sorbet was outstanding.  The final wine of the evening was the Cederberg, Bukettraube, 2012.

 

Voting for the best course and wine was interesting, with eleven people making all sorts of noises, it was finally decided as follows,

 

Best Course goes to the Roast pear and chestnut soup, followed by the Tasting of Goats Cheese a close second with the Roots chocolate plate third.

 

Best Wine goes to the Cederberg Bukettraube, followed by the Bouchard Finlayson San Barrique. And the Weltevrede Vanilla Chardonnay in third place.

 

Special thanks to Adriaan Maree (Executive Chef) and Leon Coetzee (Restaurant Manager and Host) for a splendid evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garden Art at Forum Homini

With Christmas just a few weeks away, we went to Forum Homini Boutique Hotel

and Roots Restaurant to their food and wine pairing evening in celebration of our wine club (more about that later). The Hotel is situated in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage area, near the Sterkfontein Caves and the Rhino and Lion Park. 

 

Once you leave the tarred road into the estate, you wind your way slowly on a gravel road to the path that leads you down to the restaurant.  The sculptures of various forms and material are magnificent and make you stop and ponder.  The huge metal head that starts as an ape head in the centre and transforms into a human head towers over you at the entrance, while the metal sculpture fire pit gets you going up for a closer look, and yes it is people that move around the entire piece. Wow!!

 

Well it's best you take a look for yourself.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

Groenriviersmond, Northern Cape

Now there's this place called Groenriviersmond, which I had never heard of...hum...definitely need to check it out. These photos come from a friend, Gareth, who recently travelled the road up to Groenriviersmond, which is near Garies on business.  He was taken aback by the stark beauty of the uninhabited landscape, the sunsets and the way of life.  

Groenriviersmond (translates as "Mouth of the green river") is way up along the West Coast in the Northern Cape.  It's one of the towns in Namaqualand, which is hugely popular during the spring when the wildflowers bloom. 

Gareth stayed over at Groenriviersmond Accommodation.  And oh yes.....I want to stay in the cottage in the field, with not another soul around!

So needless to say this has definitely been added to the wish list. 

Coordinates are  30°45'42.99"S; 17°37'44.58"E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo's by Gareth Lottreaux