It was Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas who proclaimed “less is more” and engineer turned 12 Apostles executive chef Henrico Grobbelaar who added the post script “but more is better.” His crayfish and prawn risotto with foie gras mousse, white truffle oil, porcini and parmesan powder must have blown the winter catering budget of 13th Apostle, GM Horst Frehse, in one dish, last night.

Matched with the Marque 1 vintage (2001-2002-2003) Nicolas Charles Krone – arguably the best MCC ever made in SA – presented by dynamic Tulbagh winemaker Matthew Krone, this was a pure Krug moment and the guests at the 12 Apostles Sparkling Wine Dinner at Azure Restaurant felt like the audience of MasterChefSA but with far better food, wine and glamour. Certainly the situational variables, shown below, were better as the 12 Apies is the best located hotel in Cape Town. Full stop.

The foie gras reminded me that shortly after the last time I scaled Henrico’s hedonitic heights, he went on to win the Sunday Times Chef of the Year Award. Back in the day when wine counted in the competition.

In those heady days Henrico served Vergelegen and things have only got better as the Krone bubblies are real show stoppers. Full of negative ions, they are promoted as aphrodisiacs and judged by the beauty of Matthew’s fiancé, those ions really seem to work.