A part of me agrees with Neil Irwin’s diatribe in The Washington Post against the small-plate phenomenon. In a column, The Case Against Small Plates, Irvin, who wrote the best-selling The Alchemists, about the run-up to the global economic crisis of 2008, bemoans the fact that in 2013 he cannot get an adult-sized meal in Washington.
“Small plates have gone from novelty to cliché; a tool for punishing those who just want an honest meal and, really, an affront to civilisation. But the very things that make small plates appealing for a restaurant’s chef and owner, make them terrible for diners.”
Social convention demands sharing, which means you can’t enjoy a plate of what you are in the mood for.
And, you can’t get a square meal: you have to order a few dishes to satisfy nutritional requirements. Irwin says chefs provide cheap thrills, by “loading their dishes with salt and fat in ways that pop on the palate but would become gross if you ate a whole dinner-size portion”.
He has a point: much like ordering colour-coded plates of sushi off the conveyor belt, an economist might see small-plate dining as price gouging.
Clearly, enjoyment is subjective, and many people want variety. In small-plate eateries, you can be experimental. It might cost more, but you don’t have to commit to just one dish (and be disappointed).
Chefs also see it as a platform to showcase their skills, and Irwin underestimates the effect of the market: restaurants charge what customers are prepared to pay.
I pondered this recently over lunch at The Grazing Room. The casual sidekick to the acclaimed DWeleven-13, Marthinus Ferreira’s small-plate eatery is about nibbling and socialising. At both, ice buckets are prepared beforehand, guests properly welcomed, and waiters watch their tables.
Patson Mathonsi, Tsogo Sun’s Sommelier of the Year in 2014, collaborated with Ferreira in designing the shared wine list.
Mathonsi has done an excellent job of balancing demand for bigger names such as Springfield, Bosman and Thelema, with that for boutique local producers such as Bizoe, Lismore and Druk my Niet, and wines from New Zealand, France and Spain.
The plates, most of which are prepared in a small show-kitchen, are brought out when ready, which is worth considering when ordering. Not familiar with their portions, we ordered too freely for two adults and a child: squid, springbok tataki, barbecue-smoked wings, beef tortilla, prawn ragù and pommes purée.
The vibrant squid, served handsomely in a cone, was crispy outside and ultra-tender inside, drizzled with a tangy lemon gremolata and a side of squid-ink mayonnaise (R75). The barbecue chicken wings (R85) were cooked sous vide, coated in a glorious sticky, smoky sauce, cucumber and carrot crudités and a gorgonzola sauce, which was too rich. This didn’t stop us from tucking in to the wings and relishing the mess.
The lightly seared impala loin tataki rolls (R80) were an East-meets-West confusion of dukkah crusting and kimchi dipping sauce, misoyaki (a teriyaki variant) and radish and cucumber spaghetti. We weren’t convinced the overpowering, spicy flavours were complementary.
The prawn ragù (R100) served with a sweet and sour tomato gastrique, lemon butter, rocket and micro herbs on brioche toast, was excellent, with firm prawns, but the bread became a soggy mess, and the tortilla – filled with smoked Wagyu beef, lettuce, tomato salsa, Sriracha sauce, mayonnaise and sour cream was a meal on its own (R95).
The dud was the over-the-top pommes puree into which so much butter was whipped,that the inedible creamed potato dish was coated in a layer of saturated fat.
You can’t go wrong with their churros, which is served with a bitter chocolate sauce – a perfectly balanced dark chocolate sauce and toothsome strips of fried dough dusted with cinnamon sugar (R65).
Irwin might have a point about small-plate eateries but, for now, customers here are lapping it up.
And with so many “tapas-style” venues opening, the Grazing Room is at the top of the crop. But be warned, the food is rich and the portion sizes, immodest.
The Grazing Room
Dunkeld West Shopping Centre
corner of Jan Smuts Avenue and Bompas Streets
Dunkeld West
Tel: 011 325 2843
Ratings:
Food:* * * *
Drinks:* * * * 1/2
Service:* * * *