Pretoria - Last week I found myself hurling balls at silly clown-like figures in the Time Square casino complex to win tickets to redeem for prizes for the little people in my life.
The reason I was there was the media re-launch of Guy Fieri’s Kitchen + Bar, one of countless restaurants worldwide affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Not only is it open, but Time Square GM, Ruben Gooranah, hints that the Arena may be open for shows before the end of the year.
While admitting that the decision was “not in our hands”, he said there were plans for events in November/December, assuming a relaxation of rules on the number of people who may attend indoor events.
Sun International’s Time Square opened in April 2017 with the Arena, the largest purpose-built indoor entertainment venue of its kind in the country, opening in November, followed by The Maslow hotel in 2018.
Until its forced closure at the beginning of lockdown, the Arena had hosted more than 300 shows, according to Time Square PR and communications manager Henri Basil Hearne.
Aside from its large casino, the Time Square complex has many other attractions, including a variety of restaurants and bars ranging from Tatso buffet and well-known chains to the one-and-only Forti’s Grill and Guy Fieri’s. The Rockets Menlyn rooftop bar and restaurant opened last year.
Fieri, known for his “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” show among others on The Food Network, has been a leader in his home country fundraising close on $25 million to help up to 40 000 restaurant workers in the US.
Fieri was obviously not in attendance for the relaunch, but Chef Samantha explained that they follow his recipes to a tee when they present his signature dishes.
The kitchen prepared a range of these for their media guests, including Trash Can Nachos, Buffalo wings, bourbon brown sugar or fiery breaded peri-peri - pulled pork sliders, and the six-cheese mac n cheese burger for which Fieri is probably the most famous.
Trash Can Nachos – an item from Fieri’s Vegas restaurant – are prepared in a tin with layers of tortilla chips, melty cheese sauce, black beans, pico de de gallo (a salsa), jalapeños, sour cream, cheese, cilantro (coriander leaves), and pickled red onions. They cost R85 for one and R165 to share, and were my favourite of the evening.
Wings come classic with a blue cheese wasabi dipping sauce, coated with bourbon (whiskey) brown sugar or breaded fireball peri-peri, and there are many other dishes on the menu.
While some guests paired their meals with a Budweiser or wine, others tried the Cookies and Cream or Strawberry Fields milkshakes, which are like decadent desserts in a glass.
After the meal, a few bold souls tested their staying power on the mechanical bull, while the rest of us settled for some classic arcade games in the area just outside the restaurant.
