Dish’s spice girls cook a butter chicken that lays claims to being one of Cape Town’s finest curries. Paired with basmati rice and a deliciously flaky roti, it makes a fabulous meal. And good value at its usual price of R65 per person, even if we say so ourselves.

Now you can take Tuesday nights off … and save over 60% in the process!

Simply order our four-person butter chicken meal, complete with rice and rotis, for only R100.

And, add Meringue Roulade filled with Chantilly Crème and crumbled chocolate brownie for an extra R50.

If you want your order delivered to you on Tuesday you’ll need to place it on Monday. Orders for collection at Dish can be placed until 10.30am on Tuesday morning.

Click here to order now.

Our next Tuesdays-only special brings freshly baked pizza with the crispiest base into your own kitchen. We provide four pizza bases, complete with grated cheese and our own concentrated tomato sauce. Make up your own topping from the five options provided (smoked chicken, pickled grilled aubergine, slow-roasted tomatoes, pitted olives and fresh rocket), and pop your pizza into a really hot oven for a few minutes (we’ll have our wood-burning pizza oven fired up at the kitchen, so we can cook them for you if you’d rather not do it yourself).

Now you can take Tuesday nights off … and save over 60% in the process!

Simply order our four-person Pizza Party, for only R100. And, add Coffee-poached pears with Crème Anglaise for an extra R50.

If you want your order delivered to you on Tuesday you’ll need to place it on Monday. Orders for collection at Dish can be placed until 10.30am on Tuesday morning. The collection point for Tuesday specials has changed to our new premises at 423 Main Road Observatory (collections in Obs are between 2.00 and 6.00pm). Click here for the Google map.

If you are unable to get to Observatory, delivery is an option, or by special arrangement you can collect from our Sidmouth Ave (Oranjezicht) between 5.00 and 7.00 pm.

Click here to order now.

Make sure you’re at the front of the queue every week by signing up (here) for our weekly reminder email.

I am usually wary of attempting a recreation of someone’s favourite restaurant meal, especially without the benefit of a proper recipe. But, when the request is being made by my dearest darling daughter, in her birthday week, how can I refuse?

So, yesterday afternoon I got stuck into the kitchen, making Chicken Katsu with curry sauce and sticky rice, which she had eaten at Wagamamma. The boys wisely disappeared to a forest somewhere in search of mushrooms (for all I know they went to the movies, because they returned empty-handed), leaving me to work through a three-page recipe (including the method).

On a trip to Tokyo a few years ago I had eaten Katsu for lunch. Basically, it’s deep-fried chunks of chicken, and the version we had was quite delicious. The Wagamamma version calls for frying entire chicken breasts that have been crumbed with panko.

The curry sauce includes Granny Smith apples and bananas, which made me a bit dubious about the whole thing. Basically, anyone who doesn’t like the taste of cooked banana in their dinner would be in trouble.

Overall, the meal was a success, and the sauce actually worked well (banana and all), although the husband irritatingly pointed out that perhaps I should have had the sauce around the sticky rice, rather than spooning it over the crispy chicken, thereby making it soggy.

Um, yes, but thank goodness we weren’t planning a mushroom risotto for dinner.

Anyone who knows me even casually would know that, after about six or seven in the evening, I am certain to be found in the close proximity of a glass of red wine. In fact, during my first pregnancy my gynae allowed me to maintain a moderate consumption, on the basis that the stress caused by abstinence would be more damaging.

I am sure that the company who provide our waiters train their team about my red wine requirement (a glass at the end of the evening, when the work has been completed) before they teach them how to carry a tray.

I’m happy to drink it, but red wine is almost always sold within a couple of years of the vintage. Good wines are nice to drink at every stage of their lives, but it makes a huge difference to have one that’s mature. I say this apropos the 2005 Lynchpin, which is currently the subject of a special offer at Cloofwines.co.za, and seriously delicious. It’s quite a grown-up style of wine, which makes a change from the chunky young shiraz (nothing wrong with that) that seems to find its way into my glass most often.

Now you can take Tuesday nights off … and save over 60% in the process!

Dish’s spice girls cook a butter chicken that lays claims to being one of Cape Town’s finest curries. Paired with basmati rice and a deliciously flaky roti, it makes a fabulous meal. And good value at R65 per person, even if we say so ourselves.

Simply order our four-person butter chicken meal, complete with rice and rotis, for only R100.

Place your order on Monday for home/office delivery, or on Tuesday mornings (by 10.30 am) for collection at Dish (this offer is available for deliveries on Tuesdays only).

Click here to order now.

We’re hosting the next in our series of tastings of premium brandy and matching canapés on 18 April, at Sidedish Theatre Bistro. Attendance is free, but space is limited, so contact us by email if you’re interested.

flight of the fish eagle…

Honey and sesame glazed chicken satay served in a spicy red curry and coconut milk shooter
•••
Drakensberg goats’ milk and vegetable ash white rock with a wood-smoked apple puree on warm, crisp crostini
•••
Almond and citrus flavored Baklava squares baked to perfection

oude meester demant…

Spicy gingered chicken cakes topped with a pineapple, mango and coriander salsa
•••
Smoked ostrich and sweet melon “lollipops”
•••
Little apricot and peach tarte tatins topped with a vanilla mascarpone

van ryn’s 10 year old…

Walnut and blue cheese shortbread round topped with brie cheese and honey glazed pear slices
•••
Little canapé dishes filled with pan fried linefish cubes topped with a lemon zest, tomato, dill and caper salsa
•••
Thai spoon with citrus panacotta garnished with candied orange peel

oude meester 12 year old reserve…

Vanilla, star anise and red wine mini poached pear stuffed with blue cheese
•••
Caramelized red apple tartlets topped with a vanilla mascarpone

klipdrift gold…

Lamb & cumin triangles served with a date and pear chutney
•••
Beetroot, citrus zest, maldon salt and dill cured Norweigin salmon strips served on a silver spoons with blanched asparagus and drizzled with sauce maltaise
•••
Decadent chocolate and hazelnut truffles

One of our favourite events of the year is the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards (being held on 20 March), for which we’ve done the catering for several years. In keeping with the performances and people being recognised, the entire event is jam-packed with the most wonderfully stimulating creativity.

The excellence of the theatrical component, as well as the event itself, stretches us to come up with food that is going to do justice to the real stars of the night. This year we are cooking to the Fleur du Cap theme “nature meets craftsmanship”.

Fleur du Cap’s standard offerings are reliable, well-priced and widely available, but you should try something from Fleur du Cap’s Unfiltered range (we have the Unfiltered Merlot on the wine list at Sidedish Theatre Bistro). It is at this end of the range that the nature and craftsmanship thing really shines.

Unlike many A-list events, this is one that has limited space for interested members of the public, at a giveaway R150 per person. Not only do you get to participate in a glamorous event, with performances by David Kramer and other leading lights, but Fleur du Cap wines and our canapés are also included. You can book via Computicket, or by phoning 021-4217695.

The VIP Room at Theatre on the Bay has wonderful views of the ocean and Twelve Apostles. Join us for sunset bubbly and canapes, followed by Fascinating Aida.

The Package
a glass of bubbly on arrival
red and white wine available throughout the evening

to devour …

Slow roasted tomato and herb tartlets with Danish feta, olives, basil pesto
•••
Seared sirloin carpaccio rolled and stuffed with rocket, roasted rosa tomato and caramelized onion, secured with a crystal pick
•••
Wild mushroom and asparagus filled beetroot ravioli hearts drizzled with a decadent sage butter reduction
•••
5-spiced duck spring rolls served with a sweet soy dipping sauce

something sweet at interval…

Decadent dark chocolate brownies and soft and fluffy marshmallows served with fresh strawberries

Cost: R275 (cash bar for beer and spirits).
Bookings: The Theatre Box Office (021-4383301) or Computicket

I’ve previously mentioned my participation in Liam Tomlin’s cooking course (yes, it is a bit late for the owner of a catering business to learn to cook, but better late than never). The first of his dishes I used at home was Singapore Chicken Rice, which has appeared on the home menu on a regular basis.

Two weeks ago I was so impressed with his gnocchi dish that I was determined to try it at home. When writing menus for clients’ events, I often include gnocchi, because it’s something that Chef Arno and his team are totally on top of. Anyone walking into my home kitchen on Wednesday last week would have wondered whether the gnocchi dough hadn’t, in fact, got the better of us. I had Aedan’s assistance in choking the gnocchi beast into submission, then the neighbours’ daughter, and still chaos abounded.

Eventually, at the irresponsible dinner time of something after nine, and a fortune’s worth of truffle oil and prosciutto later, we sat down to dinner. Our plates were lovely, but the kitchen floor was covered in a snow storm of flour (and our Weimaraners were white instead of their usual tan grey).

So, from this week, blanched gnocchi will join the line-up at Dishfoodmaket.com. Had I grown up beside a nonna who made her own I’d probably regard it as a quick and easy thing to knock together. However, as a woman the wrong side of 40 trying it for the first time, I’d have to class homemade gnocchi in the same category as stuffed mushrooms. Buy it in, darlings. That’s what credit cards are for!

For more years than I care to remember, I haven’t needed to worry about my Met outfit. It’s been a chef’s jacket. My only other experiences of attending the Met go back to the early days of our marriage, when we used to run a ‘picnic’ for 100-odd people. That also involved a lot of work.

I was at the J&B Met on Saturday, purely to enjoy the day, which I certainly did. From a business perspective, I do need to wish for future work at the event, but it was sooo nice to just have fun. My outfit even included a hat, but for someone as inquisitive as I am it was a huge disability, because my field of vision was so limited. Next time (if I ever wear a hat again) it will be more garnish than umbrella. I know exactly how a horse wearing blinkers must feel. Speaking of which, the men in our party could have done with sets of those.

We were delighted to find numerous taxis available to take us home. Apart from his size, our driver wouldn’t have a future as a jockey; we told him Vredehoek (to gatecrash friends’ romantic dinner at Sidewalk Cafe), but he tried to head for Fishhoek, which pretty much sums up my day’s gambling as well.