On A Plate launch - Jamie Who slumming it with some big dogs

10 years ago if a room filled with my heroes would have been a room full of sportsmen. Bob Skinstad, Robbie Fleck, Eric Cantona and others. Today if you asked me to fill the same room with my heroes they would be chefs. People like Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, Margot Janse, Gordon Ramsay etc. Yesterday was probably the closest I will ever come to that.

I was lucky enough to get invited to the launch of a book called On A Plate. Written by a guy called Jess Watts - who has no professional training - the book is part recipe book, part restaurant guide. Showcasing some of South Africa's top restaurants (Myoga, La Colombe, Rust en Vrede, Terroir, Bread and Wine, Roots, 9th Avenue Bistro, Jardine etc), On A Plate shows you how to cook some of their signature dishes. With beautiful photography, a list of suppliers and step-by-step instructions on basic things like knifework and stock-preparation the book is awesome. And the most awesome part of all is that all proceeds go to StreetSmart.

So back to yesterday. The launch was at Myoga - Mike Bassett's restaurant in the Vineyard Hotel. We were served canape-sized portions of some the dishes featured in the book and as I lounged on a white, leather chair staring out at Table Mountain and sipping Moreson bubbly I had to wonder if someone was taking the piss. I was surrounded by people like Richard Carstens, Mike Bassett, Chris Erasmus, Philippe Wagenfuhrer, Topsi Venter (arguably Soth Africa's favourite food icon), Luke Dale-Roberts and more. And the food. Bloody hell. 8 bite-sized courses that were unreal. I won't get into them too much, but humour me for a minute:

• Salmon with avo and cauliflower puree
• Langoustine & quail fricasee
• Salad of avocado and buffalo mozzarella with grapefruit dressing
• Prawn risotto with shellfish sauce (my favourite dish)
• Salad of baby beetroot and orange
• pork and apple sausages with parmesan gnocchi
• Slow braised lamb neck
• Springbok wellingtons with caramelised red cabbage

Did I mention the Moreson bubbly? I think I did. How bout the Grande Provence Chenin Blanc? No? Or the Kleine Zalze shiraz? Yeah, we had some of that too. Look, it could have been worse.

But back to the book. A phenomenal amount of time and effort has gone into it, with nobody taking a salary. Everything was paid for by sponsors. It's for a good cause and it's awesome. Buy one.

Cheers,

Jamie Who

P.S. We were given a brief talk by a StreetSmart ambassador. She asked us to do our bit by asking restaurants if they were affiliated to StreetSmart, or indeed if they had even heard about it. I will be doing that from now on. So should you.