With coffee consumption brewing among South African consumers and across the globe, Nescafé Gold has embarked on a new brand and product journey designed to transform coffee drinking from beyond just a daily ritual to a lifestyle where meaningful connections are celebrated.
Coffee doesn’t just belong in your morning mug, and the launch of Nescafe Gold at Marble Restaurant was a true testament to this. The venue was beautifully appropriate as Marble offers Johannesburg diners something different - not just a plate of food, but a theatrical experience.
This luxurious event was hosted by actress and musician, Gail Mabalane.
The virgin cocktail and food menus were conceptualized by David Higgs, a restaurateur, an artist and a chef literally setting the South African cuisine scene on fire. Cooking with coffee isn't a completely unfamiliar concept, but Chef Higgs, through his menus, managed to communicate coffee’s versatility in a way previously unimaginable.
Chef David Higgs, resident chef at Marble Restaurant situated in the Keyes Art Mile - the growing art and food hub of Rosebank.
The first cocktail on the menu, and undeniably, the star of the caffeine show was the Nescafé Hot Volcano with orange zest, condensed milk and cayenne pepper. The contradicting flavours of sweet and spicy brought out the coffee’s essence..
Next on the virgin cocktail menu, was the Dark Mint with fresh milk, chocolate syrup, cocoa powder and mint leaves. This experience - and I say experience because “beverage” would not do Chef Higgs justice - was reminiscent of an ice coffee without the ice, with powerful minty aromas. I enjoyed this with the sweet signature soulful sounds of Mi Casa in the background.
Gail Mabalane and J Something enjoying a cuppa.The NESCAFÉ Affogato - which is an Italian dessert consisting of vanilla ice cream, and cookie crumbles topped with a shot of coffee - is by far my new favourite dessert-beverage hybrid. Last but certainly not least was the NESCAFÉ Citrus Coffee Crush. This cocktail had fresh orange juice, cinnamon syrup and orange zest. Citrus is the new black in gourmet coffee and this combination was unexpectedly refreshing.
The food was spectacular, and the coffee only served to add a bittersweet-ish dimension to the dish.