Client Press Releases

InterContinental Sandton Towers Gets New Exec Chef, Launches new Spring Menu

Spring brings life, warmth and a new spirit as it wipes away the dreariness of winter in anticipation of the summer ahead. We’ve had a long, cold winter but Spring 2009 is officially here and with it, a brand new menu by the recently installed Executive Chef Nicky Gibbs of the InterContinental Sandton Towers’ Atrium Restaurant.

Food and travel media were invited to be the first to savour the unique flavours and dishes created for this special time of the year.

The Atrium Restaurant, with an abundance of natural light and unique koi-filled water feature (plus free wifi and arguably one of the best cappuccinos in Sandton) is the ideal home for a menu fit for royalty. There were definitely no complaints about feeling like a stuffed goat after the spectacular four-course meal.

The Degustation Menu is designed with a number of small, complementary servings that kept the guests craving more. The first course consisted of a Char-grilled vegetable terrine with Ricotta Cheese, Red Pepper relish and crisp Italian, Smoked Tomato and micro green salad with seared Scallops, an unusual Beef tartar, and Cucumber noodles with Vietnamese dressing.

And that was just the beginning. It was followed by the soup, served cold with the unusual mix of apple and biltong with a Parmesan crisp. This may have been one of the most profound culinary surprises of our lives. Apples with biltong? Unbelievable!

By now, expectations were at a seemingly unreachable plateau. The main course surpassed even those. Teriyaki tuna with Wasabi and Naatjie tobiko (Gibbs has a Fusion bent to her style), Paul McCartney’s favourite Aztec three-bean stack garnished with Guacamole and salsa, and loin of gemsbok with peanut and ginger basting and Hasselback potatoes.

We closed with an amazing Americano-style coffee brewed with Ethiopian coffee beans, and in keeping with the spirit of the earlier courses, we were treated to three small portions of dessert. Imagine! Chocolate and Shortbread semi-fredo with hot Chocolate sauce, Mille Feuillet with limoncello marinated strawberries, and a soft whipped Chantilly cream poached pears with cava granizado. Words cannot give these dishes justice. However flowery or well knitted together, the words simply fail in comparison.

The Nicky Gibbs Spring menu will run from 1 September to 30 November at the InterContinental Sandton Towers’ Atrium Restaurant on the ground floor. The hotel lies next to the Sandton Convention Centre. The Nicky Gibbs Summer Menu will be introduced on 1 December. It is the perfect venue for that Power Breakfast, Business Lunch, or Romantic Dinner. For reservations call 011 780 5641/2

About Nicky Gibbs

Nicky Gibbs was born in the UK and came out to South Africa at the age of two. She worked abroad for 13years which gave her a huge knowledge of food. Other highlights in her chequered career include being the first female sous chef at Quaglino's in London, co-ordinating 20 000 meals in 10 days for the 2003 MTV Music Awards, and catering for big musical acts like Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, Tina Turner and Jackson Brown.

For information on Functions:
Contact: Gareth Brown
Tel: 011 780 5555
Cell: 071 447 4384
gareth.brown@icsandtontowers.com

Media Contact:
Tumi Ndaba
PURE Communications
011-783-1955/083-366-7300
tndaba@purecomm.co.za