The Clico team would like to thank all our guests for their patronage over the past 18 months or so, since we opened our beautiful guesthouse, Clico. During this time, we have endeavoured to provide a superior service to you, our valued guests and friends, have learnt from your feedback, and have ironed out the teething problems of a new business.

We’re proud to say we’ve received glowing commendations from guests, the media and the travel industry alike. We started this year with a listing in the latest edition of the prestigious Fodor’s Guide to South Africa. Fodor’s is published by Random House in New York, and is sold in good bookstores all over the world. The review starts:

“This small, upmarket guesthouse in central Rosebank is a 60-year-old Cape Dutch house with a gracious garden, and offers perhaps the best value in an area known for expensive accommodation.”

(See Amazon’s listing of Fodor’s South Africa by clicking here.)

To those who haven’t experienced our hospitality yet, we look forward to welcoming you to 27 Sturdee Ave, Rosebank Johannesburg.

Romance in February 2008

Yes, it’s time to plan for that special day to show your other half how much you care for them: Valentine’s Day 2008...

Clico will again offer Valentine’s couples a special night of romantic dinner, bed and cosy breakfast at a special rate of R1600, excluding wine, for two sharing (R550 dinner for two including wine).

Some of the delectable dishes on the Romance Menu are:

Smoked salmon salad with strawberries and pomegranate on fresh butter lettuce with a kiwi and aged balsamic dressing – served with a glass of bubbly;

A tantalising combination of monkfish, lobster tail and clam thermidor, with seasonal vegetables – served with a Weltevrede chardonnay;

The sweet sensation will be a titillating red raspberry pannacotta dressed with a white chocolate cream – served with a fruity Ouma se Wyn from Weltevrede Estate;

Coffee or tea and Turkish Delight will end this sensual dining experience.

Extending the luxury …

Clico Guesthouse is able to offer “home away from home” for a few more lucky guests, with two new suites, rooms eight and nine. Spacious and decorated in warm colours, the new rooms are especially ideal for guests planning an extended visit to Johannesburg.

Room Eight is the only Clico guestroom equipped with a kitchenette – complete with large fridge, oven, stove and breakfast nook. Armchairs and a table face outwards to a sunlit garden, complemented by interior décor in colours of orange, green and brown. Tucked away from the kitchen lies an extra-length queen-size bed. A small private garden is only a step away from the bed, with a small table and chair shaded by trees and bougainvillea.

Upstairs, the balcony of room nine overlooks Clico’s immaculately kept gardens and pool. The room, one of the largest in the house, is decorated in the guesthouse’s blues and browns. It is spacious and fitted with a double wardrobe. Beautifully covered easy chairs provide perfect seats for a lovely view out into the garden.

Both rooms come with all the standard amenities Clico’s provides. Décor is by Peter Breytenbach, with manufacturing by Dilly Lill’s.

Food with flair

For Clico’s chef, Sean Ackermann, good food is as much about spontaneity and passion as it is about quality ingredients and skill.

Clico does not have a set menu. Every day, Sean creates new and extravagant menus for guests, based on their requests or on what he feels like creating that day, always with the freshest of ingredients. The best part about cooking for the guesthouse, he says, is having “free rein to cook what I want ... cooking off the cuff.”

Sean enjoys shopping for ingredients and experimenting on the day, creating dishes based on how he feels, what he’d like to try out, or even the weather.

His favourite meal to cook is fish, particularly the red snapper or rock cod. He says this is because of the “texture of the fish – both are beautifully flavoured.” He will only buy the fish a few hours before cooking it, ensuring its freshness.

Sean clearly loves cooking for Clico guests and has collected some great memories since the first visitors sat down to dinner. His fondest memory he says, is when a group of tourists from New York gave him a standing ovation after dinner. “It was quite embarrassing!” he says. But it would be hard to find a more fitting tribute to a passionate chef who puts his heart into the meals he creates.