The Vivat Bacchus Restaurant in London recently made world headlines with its exclusive six-course meal costing £1 000 per person. Two South Africans own the restaurant. Neleen Strauss and Gerrie Knoetze said that the dinner is served to a maximum of six people, and has to be ordered 48 hours in advance. Gerrie was the owner of the former Browns Restaurant in Rivonia, Sandton. In 2003, he, Neleen and their South African partner, Mark Batchelor, launched the Vivat Bacchus Restaurant near Smithfield meat market.
The special dinner was created by the South African head chef, Robert Staegemann, for clients who had large bonuses to spend in January, February and March. It included Royal Sevruga caviar, Bahama rock lobster linguini, Joselita ham from Spain, Wagyu fillet steak from Australia, a variety of the best cheeses in Europe, Valrhona Belgian chocolate souffle, a cup of coffee and some cognac. Each course is washed down by some fine drinking - the caviar is accompanied by Kaufmann vodka, Forrester Chenin white wine with the lobster, Vega Sicilia Unico with the ham, Chateau Lafite Rothschild with the steak, 1963 Taylors port with the cheese, Chateau D'Yquem with the chocolate souffle and Martell Cordon Bleu cognac to accompany the coffee.
