Kayla-Ann’s
Where: Umdoni Point, Pennington. At present, the estate doesn’t have an address but 1 Pienaar Road will get you to the gates.
Call: 072 3591837
Open: Daily lunch and dinner.
Exciting news. One of KZN’s top chefs, Kayla-Ann Osborn, has opened her own restaurant. Called Kayla Ann’s, it’s in Umdoni Point, a new gated estate that’s being built.
Only opening on December 21, and expecting her second child any day now, the gutsy chef jumped at the opportunity to open a restaurant in her own neighbourhood. Very brave.
I first encountered the graduate of the 1000 Hills Chef School with a magnificent duck dish she served at Traffords, a boutique B&B in Pietermaritzburg. She was soon snapped up to become executive chef for the opening of uMhlanga’s Chefs’ Table in 2017, where her goat’s cheese risotto with her signature curry leaves lingers in the memory banks.
Three years later, she was head-hunted to run the kitchens at Delaire Graff in Stellenbosch. Now she’s home, literally. Home has always been a smallholding at Park Rynie where she grew up, and where she will nurture her own children.
She invited Ingrid Shevlin and I to lunch, and could think of no better spoil for a birthday treat.
Getting there was interesting. The restaurant has no signage ‒ that’s in the works. The estate has no address, but 1 Pienaar Road will get you to the gates, which are an extension to Pienaar Road that would take you into the minuses. The long-term plan is for a second entrance to the estate off the old main road which would make getting here much easier.
There’s construction everywhere. Paddle and pickle courts being built out front, an astroturf bowling green under construction at the side. A swimming pool waiting to be filled at the back. The restaurant is above a gym which gives it great views of the suburb stretching to the sea. It’s a large room, which is very much a work in progress, but it’s light and airy, a plus on a hot day. There are some murals in the entrance but I’m sure as things get going, a number of decorative soft touches will be added to make it less of a dining room. Chef greets us warmly.
The menu is small, but carries a lot of interest. The wine list too is small but boutique, featuring many SA’s top women winemakers.
I’m tempted by the seared tuna with ponzu, pickled carrot, red pepper and rice, chips, or risotto with Parmesan, pepper and smoked butter. On a warm day, the prawn, mango and avo salad with chilli and ginger enticed. I relished slow braised tongue on a good sweet mustard-based piccalilli with crispy onions (R95). Ingrid loved a beautifully simple dish of summer squash tortellini with toasted pecans and brown butter (R99). It was nice and light and flavourful, and this is coming from a person who rarely gets excited by squashes.
Chef then brought us her grilled halloumi with summer tomato compote and basil (R105) to try. Chef makes it herself, using a recipe from Richard Haige from Enaleni Farm. Halloumi is another thing I rarely get excited by. Often, at best, it’s tasteless and chewy, at worst, cold and rubbery, but not this one. It offered texture and flavour and was beautifully creamy. The vresh tomato sauce was an inspired counterfoil.
Mains include grass-fed beef ‒ either fillet or sirloin ‒ with beef jus, green beans and burnt onions, or wood-fired leg of lamb with herb dumplings labneh, mint and turmeric pickled onions. Parmesan gnocchi with truffle, mushrooms and zucchini sounded good, as did smoked pork belly with nectarine, carrot and ginger (next time).
Ingrid had what was essentially a seafood platter for one, with a piece of line fish ‒ deboned slinger on the day ‒ with prawns tossed in home-made peri-peri and potato gratin (R295). All beautifully cooked. The potato gratin made pommes Anna style (shaved and cooked layered with butter and Parmesan) and then later cut and deep fried. Chips and potato bake all in one. Delicious. It came with a beautifully fresh avocado salad, which was avo served in a lettuce leaf dressed with Parmesan, olive oil and lemon. A wonderfully refreshing version of a side salad. In fact, all the sides were interesting, even sesame carrots, and garlic and brown butter green beans.
I opted for the prawn pasta with prawn bisque (225) and fell in love. This was pappardelle ‒ the wider-than-tagliatelle flat pasta of Florence ‒ with prawns and pulled together with a bisque of great intensity. It was a really lovely lunchtime dish.
Could we squeeze in dessert? We’d share. There’s a white chocolate namelaka with mango, litchi, pecans and ginger. But we settled on Madagascan chocolate crémeux (a thick, intensely creamy, chocolate custard) with dark chocolate soil, caramel ice cream and browned macadamia nuts (R95). Ingrid took a bite of the caramel ice cream and could have eaten the whole tub. The crémeaux was beautifully creamy and densely chocolaty. A lovely combination.
What a wonderful birthday adventure!
Food: 4 ½
Service: 4
Ambience: 3 ½
Independent on Saturday