South Africa Food and Drink Pairings, Just for Valentine’s Day

I shall be writing posts about the food in South Africa,  all written in hushed and reverent tones. Deservedly so! But for you, my loyal fans with the wonderful and slightly twisted senses of humor, I give you this first post.

We stayed in the little town of Plettenberg Bay for two nights and ate down the street at a great place for both of them. Nineteen 89 is the name of the bar-restaurant. We liked the look of it and the mix and variety of the patrons. And the menu sounded great.

Like every single place we ate  in South Africa, Nineteen 89 has spectacular cooks who lavish extra loving attention and detail on whatever lands on your plate. Take the following order, for example:

Tempura prawns

I’m a big fan of microbrews, and my first question as I studied the bar menu was “Do you serve any regional microbreweries?”

“The  Fokof Lager.” The waiter suggested this with a totally straight face. “And these others,” he pointed.

Clearly, I needed to order the Fokof. When the bottle arrived, I immediately fell in love with their label.

“I know you’re bored. Do not FEAR. You are NOT ALONE. The universe has conspired and you are at the epicentre of its spectacularly complex master plan to get you lit. You have been specifically selected fellow LIGHT WARRIOR. The cosmic fire-forged unity of forces inextricably binding YOU and this FOKOF LAGER together in MAGNIFICENCE makes you the most interesting thing this side of the observable universe. This is YOUR TIME, you GLORIOUS RASCAL. Now SUCK IT… YOUR MAJESTY.” https://www.fokoflager.com

It tasted just as good as I expected it would. A toast to all of my fellow Light Warriors and Happy Valentine’s Day!

NOTES: Here’s Nineteen 89’s website: Nineteen 89. I dedicate this post to Don over at the beer chaser and my nephew Niko Smirnoff, his wife Ellen, and the staff in Hong Kong at Graceland and in Sai Kung at Momentai. ©2023 Jadi Campbell. All photos © Uwe Hartmann. Uwe’s photography may be viewed at viewpics.de.

My books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, and The Trail Back Out

Tsunami Cowboys was longlisted for the 2019 ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Award. Broken In: A Novel in Stories was  semifinalist for the international 2020 Hawk Mountain Short Story Collection Award from Hidden River Arts and Finalist for Greece’s 2021 Eyelands Book of the Year Award (Short Stories). The Trail Back Out was American Book Fest 2020 Best Book Award Finalist: Fiction Anthologies, Runner-Up for the 2021 Top Shelf Award, 2021 IAN Book of the Year Award Short Story Collection Finalist, and awarded a 2021 Wishing Shelf Red Ribbon. The title story The Trail Back Out was longlisted for the 2021 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Award.

Click here for my author page to learn more about me and purchase my books.

 

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