EAT OUT "TOP TEN" ACCOLADE FOR HARTFORD HOUSE

Head Chef Jackie Cameron with the Hartford House Restaurant Team
(Photo : Cooked - Justin Bonello)

“From One Champion Team to Another”

When we last checked the stats, there were more than 70,000 restaurants or eateries in South Africa. That was six years ago, and there are probably many more today, which makes the food business just about the most populous sector in the economy. If you look at the biggest contributors to the Gross Domestic Product, there are not that many mines, it’s doubtful there are that many banks, it’s unlikely there are more farmers, there certainly aren’t  that many car hire companies, and there are many more restaurants than there are hotels.

That means the food game is as competitive, if not more so, than any other sector of the economy, though the title of “best restaurant” is always going to be a subjective issue. Yet there are a few names and places that pop up consistently year after year, and when they do so in a number of competitions adjudicated upon by different judges, then you know that the acclaim is pretty much universal.

The point of all this is that Sunday night in Cape Town, Hartford House once again made the nation’s “Top Ten” at the Eat Out awards, the only restaurant in KZN to do so, and the only one to have made the finals in each of the past six years. Head Chef Jackie Cameron turned 30 on Saturday, which means that besides being voted South Africa’s best restaurant in the Visa/House & Leisure awards in both 2010 and 2011, and Eat Out’s most popular restaurant in the latter year, as a personal milestone, Jackie’s been occupying the place of a finalist since she was 24, which in itself was a record.

She’ll be the first to admit though, that these accolades come courtesy of a team effort, and she’ll point immediately to her long-serving (and long- suffering!) assistant Elaine Boshoff, to a great back-up team in the kitchen, to a marvellously hospitable crew in the front of the house, and to an ambiance and atmosphere that belongs only to an historic property like Hartford and its award-winning gardens. We do need to acknowledge though, that our location puts Hartford at something of a disadvantage. We’re ten kilometres outside a dusty little dorp in the KZN Midlands, at the forgotten end of what the civilizations to the north of us have often referred to as the darkest continent. We do not see anything like the traffic that traverses the winelands and the environs of Table Mountain, nor for that matter, the populations of the greater Johannesburg, Pretoria or Durban areas, which makes this award all the more commendable. That there are just two restaurants outside of the Western Cape in the “Top Ten”, illustrates just how deep the culinary waters are in that part of the world, and equally, how good you have to be to be counted in their illustrious company.

In all of this, we need to pay our respects to those who’ve guided our team over the years in arriving at this day. Fundis like Victor Strugo, Anne Stevens, Eat Out’s Abigail Donnelly, Derek Taylor, Anna Trapido, Paula Mackenzie and the late Lannice Snyman, among critics of the printed media, Justin Bonello of BBC Food’s “Cooked In Africa”, Masterchef’s Pete Goffe-Wood and members of organisations such as Chaine des Rotisseurs have all been inspirations, and let’s not forget the encouragement and the acclaim of our guests. Customers are the lifeblood of our business, and their appreciation of the Hartford food experience has not only nurtured the creative spirit in our kitchen, but it’s reminded the team that sets the tables and carries the plates that in Africa, by contrast with many other places in the world, it remains an honour to serve.

“It has been a dazzling year of fun dining,” said Eat Out editor and judge, Abigail Donnelly. “I have seen local chefs prepare astonishing, world-class food, and the top restaurants in South Africa have shown tremendous talent, continuing to push the boundaries in terms of creativity, confidence and full-on flavour.” International judge Bruce Palling was similarly impressed by the standard of cuisine on offer in this country. The UK-based food columnist, who writes for the Wall Street Journal Europe and is on the judging panel of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, praised the range and dedication of South Africa’s leading chefs. “Some of the chefs would rank in my personal top twenty anywhere in the world.”

As eight-times Champion Racehorse Breeders of South Africa, at Summerhill we know what it takes. Hartford’s award is every bit as momentous. From one champion team to another, we are in awe. Well done, Hartford.

Top 10 Restaurants in South Africa

THE TEST KITCHEN BY LUKE DALE-ROBERTS	Cape Town - Western Cape
TASTING ROOM AT LE QUARTIER FRANCAIS	Franschhoek - Western Cape
JORDAN RESTAURANT	Stellenbosch - Western Cape
OVERTURE	Stellenbosch - Western Cape
RUST EN VREDE RESTAURANT	Stellenbosch - Western Cape
DW ELEVEN-13	Johannesburg - Gauteng
LA COLOMBE	Cape Town - Western Cape
THE GREENHOUSE	Cape Town - Western Cape
TERROIR	Stellenbosch - Western Cape
HARTFORD HOUSE	Mooi River - KwaZulu-Natal

For more information, please visit :

www.hartford.co.za

Form is temporary : CLASS IS PERMANENT

Hartford House Executive Chef Jackie Cameron

There’s an old saying in the racing world that you might fluke the odd big performance, but it’s the ability to consistently achieve at the top level that’s the real mark of quality. The magnitude of Hartford House’s Top Ten Restaurant Award last Sunday evening, is only just beginning to sink in, and the extent of it is quietly coming home to us.

The reality is that none of these achievements are overnight occurrences, and they’re no different to winning Breeders’ Championships. We know what it took to put a team together capable of landing the spoils in the horse business, and the sustained record of four consecutive championships has been the product of almost 30 years of blood, sweat and tears.

In Hartford’s case, the journey started almost eight years ago, with the recruitment of a man by the name of Richard Carstens, who came to us with the option of working at Hartford or at our new venture at the time, Lynton Hall. As it turned out, despite Hartford’s own requirements, we felt that Lynton’s need was the greater because it was in its infancy, and after eight months at Hartford, Richard relocated to the coastal resort, where he took Lynton to a top ten finish in the national awards, and in the end, was elected the nation’s top chef.

As Richard was departing for Lynton Hall, we discovered a waif-like Thespian, who had already spent a year at the Mount Grace Country House & Spa, in the form of Pietermaritzburg born and raised Jackie Cameron, and she proceeded to beaver away as industriously as anyone we’ve ever come across in an already industrious team. Though wet behind the ears, Jackie quickly revealed an underlying potential that’s rare not only in people of her age, but uncommonly so in older people too. It wasn’t long before local critics nabbed onto her coattails, and began to invest in her growth. People like Mechthild Yorke-Mitchell, then restaurant critic for Wine Magazine, Anne Stevens of The Mercury, Derek Taylor of the Sunday Tribune, and latterly and very significantly, Victor Strugo of The Saturday Star, who has been a powerful personal mentor to Jackie. All of them caught onto the fire that was raging at Hartford.

Of course, there’s been many other accolades, and last year the Hartford restaurant made the Dine Top 10: Deluxe 2008 voted by Diners club international & Wine magazine, but the Prudential Eat-Out Restaurant Awards are the summit of them all, and to have achieved this is the ultimate for any young chef or restaurant anywhere.

The point of this is that under Cheryl’s tutelage, in the relatively short space of 12 years, we’ve seen the emergence of two national celebrities in the culinary game, and it’s all a result of a sustained obsession that goes beyond perfection.

There’s no team in the world that can appreciate the significance of Hartford better than that at Summerhill. We know what it takes, and we understand what it is that keeps you there. Class, class and more class, and nothing less than class.

Click here to visit the new
HARTFORD HOUSE BLOG

Prudential Eat Out Restaurant Awards

Jackie Cameron
(Hartford House/Patrick Royal)

After months of adjudication across the length and breadth of South Africa, a shortlist of 20 restaurants has been released for the coveted Prudential Eat Out Restaurant Awards 2008.

Hartford House is one of the 20 nominees for the ‘Oscars of Cuisine’ and Executive Chef Jackie Cameron and her team are delighted to be amongst the finalists.

The awards evening, where accolades will be presented for Chef of the Year, Top 10 Restaurants in South Africa and Restaurant of the Year, takes place at the Westin Grand in Cape Town on Sunday 30 November 2008.