In what is a first for a restaurant from South Africa and the African continent, Restaurant Mosaic at the Orient has earned a 2018 Grand Award from the highly-acclaimed US publication Wine Spectator for its incomparable wine list and cellar.

Taryn Nortje, Eric Botha, Chantel Dartnall, Moses Magwaza and Mari Dartnall toast their win

It joins a very elite group – being one of only 85 restaurants around the world – in holding this highest honour, out of more than 3 500 global restaurants that have earned Wine Spectator awards for their wine lists.

The award-winning Gauteng based restaurant has been celebrated for its cellar which boasts more than 75 000 bottles and nearly 6 000 different labels.

In a letter to Mosaic, Marvin Shanken, editor and publisher of Wine Spectator said: “(Your) wine list is one of the best in the world and our inspection determined that Restaurant Mosaic also excels in food, service and ambience.”

In reaction, Restaurant Mosaic's Cobus du Plessis said: “To be awarded this accolade by such a well respected and distinguished publication as Wine Spectator is truly the highest mark of distinction. We understand that this will be the first time that a restaurant from the African continent will be awarded this celebrated prize and it means everything to the sommelier team and all the staff who worked tirelessly for the past 10 years in establishing and upholding the standards of the restaurant.”

Wine Spectator's Restaurant Awards programme, currently celebrating its 38th year of identifying the world’s best wine programmes, recognises restaurants whose wine lists offer interesting selections, are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers.

Their highest award – the Grand Award – is given to restaurants that show an uncompromising, passionate devotion to the quality of their wine programmes. These wine lists typically feature

1 000 or more selections and deliver serious breadth of top producers, outstanding depth in mature vintages, a selection of large-format bottles, excellent harmony with the menu, and superior presentation.

Du Plessis, along with Mosaic’s multi award-winning chef Chantel Dartnall and winner of last year’s Wine Service Award from Eat Out, sommelier Moses Magwaza, have been invited to attend the New York Wine Experience Grand Awards Banquet, which will be held in New York City on Saturday, October 20, to receive their award.

 

Moses Magwaza, Eric Botha and Chantel Dartnall toast their win

ABOUT CHEF CHANTEL DARTNALL
Award-winning chef, Chantel Dartnall, has enhanced South Africa’s status as a gourmet destination on the international culinary map, thanks to her meticulous approach to modern fine dining at the celebrated Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient. In 2017 she was named the world’s Best Female Chef at The Best Chef Awards in Warsaw, Poland. She was also placed at number 32 in the Best Chef Awards Top 100 list for 2017, ahead of luminaries such Spain's Elena Arzak at 33, France’s

Sebastien Bras at 35 and celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal at No 37. Dartnall was also the only South African chef listed in the top 100. Dartnall has twice been named South African Chef of the Year at the annual Eat Out Restaurant Awards, first in 2009, and then again in 2014, while Restaurant Mosaic has continuously been placed in the top 10 eating establishments in the country. Dartnall combines her classical French training with her love of nature and is well known for creating the art of nature on her plates with delightful botanical dishes. Inspired by her travels abroad and by the setting of Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient in the Francolin Conservancy, she is passionate about using organic and seasonal produce with her innovative approach to food preparation and presentation.
Dartnall has always embraced her femininity and feels that it is important for chefs to reveal their true personalities in the way their dishes are creatively plated and presented to their guests. After graduating from the Prue Leith Chef’s Academy, acclaimed UK chef Nico Ladenis offered Dartnall a position in the kitchen of his three-star Michelin restaurant, Chez Nico at 90 Park Lane, in London - a huge break for the young chef. Dartnall has also worked with Michael Caines at Gidleigh Park in Devon, a two Michelin star establishment, while chefs such as Ladenis, Alain Ducasse and Marco Pierre White set the standards by which she measured herself on her return to South Africa. She has also gained a huge wealth of knowledge from her extensive annual travels to some of the world’s finest restaurants in Italy, Portugal, Madeira, Spain and France.

ABOUT RESTAURANT MOSAIC
Renowned South African Impressionist artists and interior decorators were commissioned to step back in time to the romantic early 1900s to create a restaurant that was both romantic and unique and which paid homage to acclaimed chef, Chantel Dartnall’s love of Parisian Belle Époque restaurants. Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient, which opened in 2006, has an intimate feel with booth-type seats and two private dining rooms. Unlike many other establishments, Dartnall is always in charge of the kitchen and in attendance to meet guests when the restaurant is open. The restaurant is known for its impressive degustation menus. Restaurant Mosaic is located in The Orient Private Hotel in the Francolin Conservancy Area, Elandsfontein, Crocodile River Valley, Gauteng. It is a place as unexpected as it is spectacular; an exotic Moorish-inspired palace that transports guests to another time with nothing to distract from the beauty that nature has to offer.

ABOUT MOSAIC’S WINE CELLAR
Restaurant Mosaic has one of the most comprehensive wine cellars in South Africa, comprising more than 75 000 bottles of wine under 6 000 different local and international labels. The selection of brandies, including an extensive range of Armagnac and Calvados, are unmatched anywhere else in South Africa. Sommeliers include Moses Magwaza who is the recipient of the coveted Wine Service Award at the 2017 Eat Out Awards. Magwaza has passed several courses and is currently completing his Level 3 at The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), a British organisation which is regarded as one of the world's leading providers of wine education. Also in the Mosaic wine team is one of the country’s most exciting female sommeliers, 28-year-old Taryn Nortje, who is currently busy with her WSET Level 4 Diploma preparing to join the exclusive small group of female Cape Wine Masters, as well as Eric Welile Botha, who has worked at top establishments around the country.

Restaurant Mosaic is located in The Orient Private Boutique Hotel in the Francolin Conservancy, Elandsfontein, Pretoria. GPS Location: 25 ° 45 ‘ 40.0 ” S (-25.761114), 27 ° 59 ‘ 56.6 ” E (27.999083)
Phone: +27(0)12 371 2902/3/4/5
Email: reservations@restaurantmosaic.com
Website: www.restaurantmosaic.com and www.the-orient.net