Newsletter

First Quarter

2008

Welcome to 2008 and what promises to be another great year in the life of Rand Club!

I would like to inform you of a few changes in proceedings compared to 2007. I have stopped the weekly specials in the Main Dining Room but am now introducing a variation of dishes that would not normally be on the menu. Dishes such as T-bone steak, Chateaubriand, Steak Old Reekie, Prawns, amongst others. I have been working very closely with Tom Couper, our executive chef, to ensure that your eating experience is like no other in Johannesburg. As of today, the Rand Club a la carte menu will change considerably. Tom and I have kept fourteen of the Rand Club Classics and introduced fifteen new menu items for you to savour.

I have also looked closely at the food available in the Assore Sports Lounge and decided to present you with dishes that are quick and easy for you to enjoy. So, as of today, you can order items such as Crumbed Calamari, Fish and Chips, a choice of Omelettes, Rogan Josh Curry, Seafood Platter etc. Please note that food is available from 11:00 right through until 19:00.

All of this whilst being able to enjoy the latest sports news, surf the net and download your emails with free WiFi access to all members. The Assore Sports Lounge is now ready for conferencing as well. It is the perfect place to have your monthly strategy meetings or the like with direct linkage to our five magnificent LCD screens with full sound capabilities.

Last December, we had an unfortunate incident just outside the Rand Club car park with two cars belonging to our members. Having looked at all of the issues relating to this incident, I have decided that it would be better for all concerned that our doormen no longer move or drive any car belonging to a member. If the car park in front of the club is full, please be so good as to use Surrey House. It is safe, secure and just a few metre’s walk from the front of the club. Rand Club will also give you two hours of parking free of charge.

Over the course of 2007, a number of cheques that members had sent to the club to pay their accounts were intercepted en route to our front door and to their horror discovered that their bank account had been debited considerable amounts of money.

The Club and I have nothing to do with these interceptions and therefore ask you to use electronic bank transfers (via internet) to pay your account. This method is much safer and saves you the cost of a stamp and taking it to the post office.

For all golfers.  Following the great success of the 2007 Rand Club Golf Day at Riverclub, we have once again managed to procure Riverclub for this year’s Golf Day.  Friday the 23^rd May has been confirmed, so make a date in your diary and I will soon be sending more details via email. Maximum field is 60 players, so book early to avoid disappointment.

On Saturday 09^th February, we had a full house in the Assore Sports Lounge for the first jazz evening of the year with Dr Mel Rosenberg on sax supported by the Marc Duby Trio. Mel kept us all very amused with his humour and great choice of music. In light of this, I will be continuing these events on a regular basis and on April 19th we will be having Stix Hojeng at the club. Stix is the pianist for Miriam Makeba and he has just released his first album which is brilliant. Also on the music and entertainment front, Eddie Eckstein and The Bats will be appearing live on May 24^th.

I am confident that 2008 will be a year of considerable growth for Rand Club so I look forward to meeting you in the club soon.

Take care,

Parking in Surrey House is still available during lunchtime, for two hours only. Please show the waiter your parking ticket and he will give you a voucher to the value of R10.00 which you must present to the Surrey House parking attendants when you leave the parking area. Please note that the R10.00 voucher will cover two hours of parking only.  Any time over and above two hours will be for your own account.   

This facility is for members only. There is additional parking within walking distance of the club at Beyers Naude Square & Gandhi Square, for members’ guests.

Parking for special functions can be arranged through our Catering offices

97 Fox Street is back on the map as the Assore Sports & Entertainment Lounge. 

Come and enjoy the ambiance of this newly renovated room with your friends and colleagues when next in the club.  Dress code in this lounge is as follows:

On normal club days, Monday to Friday, 07:00 – 19:00 – the standard Rand Club dress code is required.

On any Saturday, Sunday or after 19:00 on a weekday, casual dress may be worn.

Please note that the above is only applicable to the Sports Lounge.

For any other function hosted in this lounge – dress code will be advised accordingly.

A reminder to members that the minimum requirement of dress is –

Gentlemen - traditional African dress (including Nehru collars), throughout the club.  

Smart Casual – open necked long/short sleeved shirts. 

T-shirts of any kind, jeans, leather jackets, golf shirts, trainers and/or shorts are not acceptable.  

Ladies dress is Smart Casual. 

Members are reminded to   ensure that their guests are made aware of the Dress Rules when visiting the Club.

Dress code for special functions will be specified in the newsletter

A REMINDER to all members that a requirement of the Clubs Act is that member's must sign their

guests in when entering the premises.  Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

MEMBERS POST, MESSAGES & LIBRARY BOOKS

Members notice is drawn to the fact that all mail, newspapers, messages, periodicals etc., will in future be left in the alphabetical cubby holes beneath the main notice board.  They will no longer be left at the Porters Lodge.

10.   To tuck into our great lunchtime or Sports Lounge menu’s.

  9.   To sink into a leather lounge chair with a newspaper.

  8.   To have a discreet meeting with a coveted client.

  7.   To combat the effects of a ‘late’ client dinner with one of our great cups of coffee.

  6.   For the weekly team-building breakfast/lunch which your staff love because

       the food’s great and being out of the office really motivates the team.

  5.   Because you left your wallet at home today –

       but luckily you don’t need money when you’re at the club.

  4.   Because the quiet ambiance of the Club is a welcome escape from

       the hectic pace of life outside.

  3.   Because tastefully decorated function rooms to have those special functions are  

         just a phone call away.

  2.   To visit the Sports and Entertainment Lounge to watch all the sport you want.

  1.   And the number one reason to visit the Club is because by supporting the Club

       you are helping us maintain our commitment to member satisfaction and high

       quality services – and helping us secure our future.

The Chicago Athletic Association - is undergoing a period of transformation.

The club will be closed from 28 May 2007 for at least 18-24 months for renovations.

The Naval & Military Club Melbourne, have announced that for their next financial year ending June 2008 they will be retaining their 2006-07 rates for accommodation

The Stock Exchange Club of New York, has closed its doors for business, thus reciprocal visits are no more.

Rand Club has established a reciprocity agreement with the University Club of Mexico. The first Club’s building is a historical jewel and is located in the heart of Mexico’s downtown business districts.  Since 2002, a second clubhouse has been developed in an ideal modern financial setting as well.  Although under different   surroundings, both clubhouses preserve the same spirit responding to the modern business demands.

The University Club features in both locations, several meeting and conference spaces in addition to formal and casual dining facilities, a business center, a library room, a game room, a banquet space for up to 400 guests and private parking.

Renowned for its food, service and prestige, both Clubs feature two restaurants which offer excellent International cuisine or less formal Mexican food. This club unfortunately does not have accommodation facilities.

With great regret Rand Club would like to advise all members that we no longer have reciprocal rights with Stoke Park Club in Buckinghamshire.

Inanda Club requires any new members visiting Inanda Club, to either have a letter of intro or an Inanda /Rand Club card.  Should you not have a Rand Club/Inanda card, please inform Roanne

For many members the Library is the focal point of their visit to the club and we would encourage all members to make use of it.  Our Librarian Mrs Jenny Brand, is in the Library on Wednesdays & Fridays from 9:30am to 1:30pm. The Library Committee meets every second month in order to select new books both non-fiction and fiction.  If a particular title is not available when you visit, please leave a note for Jenny and she will look into it.

The following periodicals are available in the Main Library

Newspapers—Business Day, The Citizen, Mail & Guardian, The Star,     International Express & Sunday Telegraph.

Magazines—Africa Birds & Birding, Africa Geographic, Car, Financial Mail, Men’s Health, Noseweek, The Economist, The Spectator, Time & Private Eye.

The following books have been added to our Library

FICTION

NON-FICTION

DONATIONS

The Library, from time to time receives donations of books. Due to severe limitations on space and shelving, the Library Committee has been forced to limit the accepted donations of books to books of historical interest and contemporary importance.  Whilst all donations are much appreciated, those that fall outside these categories of donations will have to made over to an appropriate charity

Missing Library books

The Mission Song – J Le Carre

Stalins Ghost and Young Stalin - Benecue

1st Prize - R2 650.00 - BJ Donaldson*

MEMBERS AND THEIR GUESTS ARE REMINDED CELLPHONES ARE NOT PERMITTED TO BE USED IN THE CLUB

PLEASE SWITCH THEM OFF ON ENTERING THE PREMISES

Hello once again,

The year is off to a great start, Robby the General Manager and I spent most of the holiday putting to gather a new menu which should be in place by mid February I hope to hear comments in the near future.

Here is a recipe from our new banqueting menu

Beef fillet on a potato and feta galette with wild mushroom and pea purée - 6pax

Ingredients

Red Onion Marmalade

Potato and Feta Galette

 Pea Purée

Method

For the red onion marmalade:

Fry the red onions in a saucepan in the olive oil. Add the vinegar, red wine and sugar and bring to the boil. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the wine and vinegar have evaporated and the marmalade has thickened. For the potato and feta galette.

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Peel the potatoes and shape them into neat cylinders. Slice thinly- about 2mm thick. Dip each slice in a mixture of clarified butter and cornflower and arrange overlapping potato slices in a neat circle on silicone paper. When each circle is complete, top with a little feta and red onion marmalade, then place another layer of potatoes on top. Bake for 20 minutes, and then remove from the oven and leave to cool. When cool, re-fry in clarified butter until crisp and golden brown.

For the wild mushrooms:

Sauté the mushrooms in butter and season with salt, pepper, garlic and thyme. Reserve for serving.

For the pea purée:

Cook the peas in boiling water for about 10 minutes until they are completely soft. While the peas are cooking, heat the olive oil in a pan and sweat off the onion and garlic. Add the cooked peas to this mixture, then process in a blender until smooth. Season to taste. Set aside and keep warm. Just before plating, fold in the feta.

For the beef fillets:

Increase the oven temperature to 180C. Season the meat with salt and pepper, and then seal in a hot pan in the butter, Finish in the oven for about 10 minutes for medium- rare.

For the final presentation:

Place a galette in the centre of each plate and spoon mushrooms in the centre of the galette. Place a beef fillet on top of the mushrooms and spoon a little red onion marmalade on top of the meat. Place a quenelle-shaped portion of pea purée on top. Drizzle heated beef jus around the plate

T Ridley:  1927 - 2007 Member from 1963

BH Pulford (Snr):  1932 - 2007 Member from 1993

FJL Wells:  1918 - 2007 Member from 1959

EF Penny:  1921 - 2007 Member from 1953

DGK Fish:  1946 - 2007 Member from 1977 (ex-chairman)

NV Davies:  1916 - 2007 Member from 1957

GA Upfill-Brown:  1928 - 2007 Member from 1960

TL Scaife: 1925 - 2007 Member from 1980

Mark Rule:  1932 - 2007 Member from 1980

A small piece of history…

In preparing Carneton a la Press, a duck press is used after the duck has been roasted and filleted to squeeze the juice and marrow out of the carcass, the juice being the base of the sauce served with the fillet.  The delicate flavour of the sauce is what chiefly appeals to gourmets.

…what will always remain a part of Rand Club and now has pride of place in Tommy’s bar and not in the kitchen is our very own “duck press”.  Curious and very rare, and made out of sterling silver, it may well be one of the only two or three in South Africa or even in Europe. 

A duck press was a very difficult object to acquire.

After World War II Vernon Jarrett, opened one of Rome’s most exclusive restaurants and wanted to include on his Menu “Carneton a la Press”, but he needed a duck press for this.

He recounts in “Spaghetti in my Hair”, few people in those days new of such an object and he started looking in London, Paris and Rome. They are hand made, and since there was such a small demand for them few were manufactured.

Jarrett received a note one day in the post from a silverware company in London – whom he had approached early on in his search.

They had not heard of such a thing, but promised they would keep a look out for him, and soon had found one for him. He sent for it immediately but failed to note the price.

Many years ago a wealthy Johannesburg gourmet is said to have offered the club 50 guineas for its press; but of course it was not for sale…