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Stan Higgins
A dream come true is how chef Dean Jones sees the opening of one of Harare’s newest dining venues, the stylish, cosy and intriguingly-named Bishop’s Mistress in the border area between Highlands and Borrowdale.
Dean has become something of a household name in Harare, partly for his growing experience in the catering industry but also because for the past almost 20 years he has been active in the world of entertainment as a good singer. From an early age – and as reported in a story about a show at Reps Theatre published in The Herald in March 2005 – he has wanted to be The Singing Chef, and this new venture helps seal that development.
He started performing on stage in 2005 and has done loads of shows and gigs over the years. He is a singer and an actor and has a good following among music lovers.
A decade or so ago he moved into the hospitality business, training as a chef at a leading South African institution and then gaining practical work experience in South Africa, Harare, Victoria Falls and Kariba. At Victoria Falls he even ran a small dining venue of his own for a while, covered previously in this column.
Now he’s very much back on the Harare hospitality scene and with business partners Charles and Fran Pickering opened The Bishop’s Mistress in April, quickly bringing it into the forefront of the local culinary scene.
It’s at the Pickerings’ 68 Ridgeway North retail complex, situated in an old cottage that has a long history, with some saying it dates back to a century ago and others saying it has been there since the old Rietfontein Farm became smaller plots and a burgeoning suburb just after World War 2.
My guest and I dined there on a chilly Wednesday evening and were delighted to be seated close to a roaring log fire in an impressive fireplace that was always clearly the showpiece of this delightful cottage.
The cottage has been remodelled into a restaurant but it retains an old-world feel and is cosy and welcoming. There’s both indoor and outdoor eating areas and I should think lunchtimes all year round and evening in summer will be marvellous as the setting for the diners seated in the adjacent garden.
The restaurant has a lunchtime menu – principally based on pub food standards – and an evening menu that leans towards fine dining, all based on a premise of British-style culinary inputs. Dean is changing the menus from time to time and our menu has already given way to one that features escargot, crumbed mushrooms, beef Wellington, salmon and pea risotto, soy and orange confit duck and other treats.
From the menu we had, I chose a hugely satisfying and tasty plate of mushroom arancini with a truffle sauce for a starter, while my guest did not go for a first course.
For mains, I had the really enjoyable mushroom and edamame risotto while my guest had the crisp pork belly, a visual and culinary delight that she described as ‘the best ever’ for a pork lover.
Her meat was accompanied by a cauliflower puree, spiced apple chutney and a strawberry cider sauce. For dessert it was apple crumble in crème Anglaise for me and a cinnamon and cumin creme brulee for my guest. Both were outstanding. We ended with coffees.
Although Dean was not there when we dined – he was doing a private catering function elsewhere – he has a good team in the kitchen and restaurant, and we were looked after wonderfully by manager Dylan and waiter Tafadzwa Nyangoni.
Helping Dean in the kitchen is another young chef, TJ van den Bergh, and all seems well with the response to their identification of the style and content of the cuisine they wish to impart to diners.
I met Dean a day or so later to catch up and to ask the all-important question: where did the name come from?
Apparently, the Pickerings and Dean were thinking of The King’s Mistress as ideal for a Brit-style restaurant, but the coming of a male monarch to the British throne made them think twice so it became The Bishop’s Mistress, which, quite coincidentally, is the name of a racy romance novel according to Google.
It’s a lovely name and fits perfectly the building, the décor and the whole ambience of the place, which sits somewhat in the heart of the northern suburbs.
And here’s hoping the next time I go there Dean will move out of the kitchen into the dining room, microphone in hand, to give us some great music with his excellent singing voice. Great music, great food and a great venue: what more could a happy diner ask for?
The Bishop’s Mistress has quickly become a Harare culinary highlight and is a venue where all diners will be comfortable.
It’s at 68 Ridgeway North in Highlands/Borrowdale and opens on Tuesdays for supper, from Wednesdays to Saturdays for lunch and supper and on Sundays for lunch into late afternoon.
I would recommend reservations, whatever the choice of dining day or time: call 0775 520874.
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