Bucket Scene: Lupa Osteria - Westville

There was much fanfare about this place "Lupa" that the people up the hill kept raving about, for most of you who don't know, the expression "up the hill" means the climb up that dreaded Fields Hill to Kloof and Hillcrest. Many who reside there don't venture down the hill apart from work reasons and many who reside down the hill don't head up for any reason! Now there are a host of top restaurants up there but the one that kept coming up in conversations was Lupa. So much so it enticed many to venture up the hill to try it out for them self and they were not disappointed.

Though if you were like me, lazy to make the travel, we were in luck as owners Chris Black and Guy Cluver decided to expand their eatery or "Osteria" as they call themselves, which in Italian means a place that serves wine and simple food, to pastures down the hill in close proximity to us, good thing to as I've been there 3 times since and each time provided something different so I thought I'd share my experiences.

The Westville branch opened late last year and was an instant hit in the area with most of the nights being fully booked. So after many attempts I finally managed to get a booking before the end of last year, albeit a stand by booking for myself and a couple of mates. Being on the waiting list we were asked to wait at the bar, but in truth I could spend the entire evening there with a pizza and a cold beverage. The setup is quite funky with low lighting, high tables and stools, classy bar setup with a variety of craft beers, commercial beers, an assortment of spirits and great selection of local wines. They also have a cocktail menu but for me, just a double whisky on the rocks whilst we waited.

Now I like to look at a restaurants menu prior to visiting, luckily Lupa have the entire menu on their website but even though I probably spent a few hours going through the menu on the website in my own time I still wasn't sure what to order once we were seated. I eventually settled for the Marinara Pasta. A selection of prawns, mussels and calamari, served in a rich tomato, chili and fennel sauce with a home made pasta of your choice, I chose the spaghetti. The meal was good, not great but good. The flavour from all the seafood was evident, none being overcooked, none over powering and it was a great melody tied up with that fantastic sauce. It didn't blow me away though but I did enjoy it, hence I thought that's why they called it "Osteria", simple food. The serving was quite large, so it definitely justified the price.

Upon my second visit I was tempted to try something from their Secondi Menu, I was sold on their Chicken Marsala. A crumbed chicken fillet, pan fried with a sauce of mushrooms, Marsala wine, Gorgonzola and cream. I'm one for fried foods so this was right up my alley, for my sides I decided against going for the usual starch of potatoes, though their Tuscan style potatoes are damn good! But I opted for the creamy parmesan fettuccine. I cannot begin to tell you how well it worked with the main. The chicken was done to perfection, crispy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside. The sauce was legendary and has me salivating for it as I type this. The fettuccine as I said was the perfect partner for this dish. All the elements blew me away and it was then I realised what the people from the top of the hill were talking about all this while! and all that for a R100 seemed like a steal compared to other eateries.

My third visit came not to long ago as I decided to have one of my many birthday dinner celebrations at Lupa Westville. It was my birthday so what the hell, went all out for 3 courses. To start, I shared the Rotolo of Spinach, with ricotta, mushrooms and a brown sage butter. Seeing that I was going to have a meat as my main I might as well balance it out with the veg starter. I love spinach and ricotta pies and this was very similar to that, the sage butter was the cherry on the top.

For mains I went for a combo, half a chicken peri-peri roasted in their wood fired pizza oven with pretzel dusted calamari. Priding themselves on organic chickens, I expected it to be on the smallish side but I was wrong, it was a healthy half a chicken with an equally healthy serving of calamari tubes.The calamari was excellent, I'm one for crumbed and fried but the pretzel dust proved to be a welcomed difference to the norm. The chicken was superb as well, strong peri- peri flavours and perfectly roasted in that wood fired oven. Again, instead of opting for potatoes as a side I went for the Zucchini fries. a healthy and tasty alternative. All that for R110, portions were more than adequate and could easily satisfy anyone without having starters or desert.

Speaking of which, desert, there was a lot to chose from, a salted caramel popcorn sundae caught my eye but being stuffed from the previous two courses  I opted for something small. Always been a fan of creme brule so I settled for just that. Many places stuff up on the sugar, some being too thick or too burnt but a layer as thin as film, crystallised just right as you break through to the soft, creamy cool creme underneath. It along with a cup of cappuccino was the perfect way to end the night. 

Out of my 3 visits to Lupa Westville I was never left disappointed, from the decor to the food and the service, it leaves one satisfied after getting good quality and a keen price. Which brings me back to the name Osteria and its meaning, "simple food and wine", yes while the food may be simple, it is great food and of good value, their vast selection of wines to chose from make the name apt. After the success of Westville they have recently ventured further to Durban North, which I understand is packed on a daily occurence. Another thing thats new to Lupa is that they now serve breakfast, another thing for me to try soon!

Various branches

• Hillcrest: 140 Old Main Road - 031 765 3059 - hillcrest@lupa.co.za
• Westville: 124 Jan Hofmeyer Drive - 031 266 8793 - westville@lupa.co.za
• Durban North: 6-12 Swapo Road - 031 941 1181

Website: www.lupa.co.za

Twitter: @lupa_osteria

Instagram: lupa_osteria
Facebook: LupaOsteriaSouthAfrica

Bucket Scene: Republik

When it comes to guys, there's just two B's you need to keep them happy, Beer and Burgers, well there is one other B but for the sake of keeping things clean I won't mention it. Now you take those two things and enhance it, you get Craft Beer and Gourmet Burgers, open up a place that serves just that and you're onto something special. I'm not sure if that was the thinking behind opening the place but I'd like to think Matt Richardson and Tayne Draper had something similar in mind when they decided to create Republik. 

Their motto is "For The People", their aim is to encourage everyone around to eat responsibly and act responsibly by going back to our roots through means of handcrafted, great tasting, high-quality, natural and free-range produce, while striving to act in a a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. It's a mouthful, I know but so is their burgers! Seriously though, we live in an age where people accept the most unnatural, over processed, food as suitable for consumption and by eating these things on a daily basis, we're only doing more harm to ourselves so it's great to see a place that doesn't stand for that ish. 

I've visited the guys down at Durban North a few times since they opened and never once left disappointed, the staff are friendly and ever willing to help with your choice of burger and they add that family type value to the place, a quick example would be Matt remembering myself and my friends after visiting them for the first time 3 weeks prior, knowing what we ordered and what we preferred. You don't find that genuine client service in a hurry and that was one of the things that blew me away with Republik. 

Enough jibba jabba and onto the main part, the food and drink! They have a wide selection of Craft Beer, mostly local and they have a number of them on tap. In fact they have so many, they even have a separate menu for it! All the local favourites can be found including Darling Brew, Union Brewers and Jack Black. The nice thing about the menu is that it gives you a brief description of each beer so you know exactly what you're ordering as many other places that serve craft just have in the fridge for you to choose. 

The food, I love my meat and since I do not eat beef do to religious purposes, I more than often find myself eating chicken most of the time but I was glad to see Republik do offer a lamb patty option that comes in at an extra price but for me, if its good quality lamb, no price is too much. They also have an ostrich option, if you prefer the big lean bird. The menu is pretty straight forward, you choose your base, you choose your patty and then your toppings. If you're on Tim Noakes, your base can be a no bun base, if you don't want a roll but still don't want just a patty you could go for the hipster option which has portobello mushrooms substituted for the buns. Sides include, shoe string fries, zucchini fries or sweet potato crisps. All of which are served with a honey mustard dipping sauce which is the bomb. 

If you want something different, you could always try their specials of the week which includes a choice of 3, their beef burger, lamb burger or chicken burger. I found myself going for these on all 3 occasions that I have visited for dinner and every time I have been pleasantly surprised. They keep to their word with only the best and freshest produce and no matter what their chef concocts in his kitchen, it always tastes damn good but by far my favourite has to be their "Chips, Cheese and Mutton gravy Lamb Burger Special". Inspired by a Durban favourite, Johnnies Roti, this burger had everything in it that made it local and true to Durban. I have no idea where they got the mutton gravy from but it was authentic curry and work so well with the cheddar cheese and thin, crisp potato fries. Whats also great is that you can pick this burger up with two hands and eat it, many of these other gourmet burger place tend to put so much on the burger, that it becomes a mission just to eat it.

If you're looking for something other than burgers, they do sell salads and rolls, with your choice of toppings. Also other than beer, they also make some damn fine coffees, yes they have a menu for that too! Explaining the various variants. The other day I found myself there to meet a friend for coffee. I ordered the Cotardo which is fairly new on the Durban coffee scene but a great inbetweener from your espresso or cappuccino, now you're going to want something sweet to go with your coffee, thankfully they stock a selection of donut delightness from Wicked Donuts. 

Over the place is another winner in my books and a must visit. While their food range might not be extensive, they concentrate well on the ones they have and make your experience worth while every time. I don't have to say I'll be visiting them often because I already have!

Address: Unit 8 Broadway

               Durban North

               Corner of Adelaide Tambo and Broadway

Twitter: @republikdbn

Instagram: RepublikDBN

Facebook: Republik

Website: www.republik.co.za