Cape Dreams News from in and around the Cape
What a year 2015 has been!
We have enjoyed countless memorable moments, both in and outside the kitchen, there are just too many to count, so as a team we thought we would put our heads together and come up with a few highlights.
An absolute highlight is the Sage One: Cape Talk Small Business of the Year AWARD. Our team remembers the elbow work that went into our entry, the late nights, the goody bag packing at 2am after a Saturday evening function, the awards evening whirlwind, the suspense and all the beautiful mayhem within. It is really such an honour to have been a finalist and we applaud the winner Ziyahlanjwa Laundry once again.
Included in this experience was COOKING WITH CAPE TALK’S JOHN MAYTHEM for their 18th birthday with his specially selected listeners. You can visit their blog here for some pictures of the evening. What a wonderful evening, again we are so honoured that John chose our venue, kitchen and team for this.
Our long-standing collaboration with Liam Tomlin from Chef’s Warehouse and Canteen continued and we are very grateful to him and his team who continue to inspire us with their incredible Tapas creations (more dates in 2016 if you missed out). He generously allowed one of the team to come play in his kitchen, and gain hands on insight into his incredible food.
Throughout 2015 we met some really incredible people as well, MasterChef SA Siphokazi Mdlankomo cooked with us, there is a pic of us with her below. What an inspiring chef! Other guest chefs included Steffan Olivier from Chef’s Bench, Nathalie Larsen (Earth to Plate), Brandon and Nikki Werner of COOK.better and of course Jean Nel who hosted the first ever Weber Braai Academy course with a gourmet braai (more dates below).
The Fry’s Family Foods group also hosted a bunch of evenings experimenting and taking over the Ginger & Lime studio with their new ideas, their passion for the environment, their energy and their meatless recipes. The whole concept focused on changing the way people view meatless but tasty innovative dishes and many carnivores were pleasantly taken with the dishes #FoodMadeGood – this adventure was very well documented on their Twitter handle – go check it out.
If we go back a bit, memories flood back of the DUTCH DINE AROUND WITH LOCAL SA FEEL; we hosted 45 guests of the Dutch Consul-General for DESIGN INDABA and cooked for Margot Jansen van Vuuren! Each month brought new accomplishments and we are just so proud, it was especially amazing getting the nod from foodies. We did it and we pulled it off!!
We also had a visit from Secret EATS “A Single Taste” one evening. Their fun concept and their Secret Dinner was captured by ST Photography – some pics here.
Right at the beginning of 2015 we hosted our VALENTINES BRUNCH – each year we try new ways of taking what guests expect from certain menus and making them even better – what wonderful lunch time course, intimate and loads of laughs – just the way we like it here at Ginger & Lime. Watch this space for the 2016 installment.
A definite highlight was our first sponsorship that materialised this year. A huge thank you to Oakhurst Olives who supplied us with amazing olives and olive oil. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with them with exciting new adventures at their farm in Tulbagh – watch this space!
Some of the travel highlights included COOKING IN COMO, just imagine being behind the scenes in the kitchen, no one speaking English, yet all communicating, as one does over fabulous food – the kitchen has its own universal language. I also stayed and ate with the staff, feeling part of a team.
Another cooking experience for me was in THAILAND on KOH CHANG/KOH SAMUI – my memories take me back to hours exploring the food markets, and in particular, on this trip at Amber Sands Resort cooking with chef Debbie, who taught me so much!
All in all, we find ourselves humbled by the incredible response to our concept and ready for the challenges that 2016 holds. It is amazing to see that more and more people are returning, typically bringing more friends and family with them the next time and spreading the news, literally by word of mouth because the Ginger & Lime experience is just so different. #NotaCookingClass
So thank you! Thank you to each one of you for being part of this incredible food adventure.
