FOODSTUFF: chef news

Sad changes affecting two eating spots I like:

Pastry chef Vanessa Quellec has left Caffe Milano in Kloof Street. The standard of pastry remains high for the moment as she’s still training staff at this Italian-style bakery on a consultant basis. Exciting news for Vanessa: she’s off in early July to spend time training at the Willi Wonker Chocolate Factory of modern-day chocolate: Valrhona chocolate’s HQ in the Rhone Valley, plus a pastry stint in Paris. The good news for South Africa is that Vanessa will be returning to Cape Town to continue her sweet legacy.

Chef Pete Goffe-Wood closed his bistro restaurant Wild Woods. We enjoyed plenty of happy meals eating hearty fare at affordable mark-ups. Unfortunately Hout Bay’s location made it too far a trip for Capetonians on a regular basis, and Pete didn’t get enough support from the locals to sustain it over the long run. Pete hopes to open again in a busier location when the time is right.