The good news: the MondoVino restaurant at Montecasino's been re-launched with MasterChef winner
Deena Naidoo. As I've mentioned before, Deena's named it Aarya - after his daughter:
It opened on Thursday 1 November and was officially launched at a party last Thursday night (the 8th) starring celebrity guests and Deena, Aarya and his wife Kathy.
The new menu by Deena was also introduced with the launch.
Which brings me to the bad news: it doesn't have a single curry on it! I was astonished as I browsed it - I thought I was missing a part of it or something but nope, there's no sign nor even a hint of a curry anywhere. Deena's speciality -
the cuisine that first got him so noticed and appreciated on the show.
Here's a link to the full menu ... see what I mean:
Aarya Menu.
When Deena won he said that he wanted the menu to be diverse and represent different South African cultures but it doesn't do that - it's predominantly Italian.
The whole menu didn't need to be curry dishes but there needed to be one curry dish on it at
least. Something special, named after Deena, a curry he made on the show, something you'd go to the restaurant for specifically - it makes
no sense that there isn't.
More understandable is how Deena's handled the prize ... turns out he hasn't relocated from Durban for the restaurant. He decided to keep the I.T. job he had in Durbs while he was on the show which means he'll be at the restaurant five days a month instead of full time - which proves that it really was a very
problematic prize.
Not everyone wants to uproot their entire life just because they've won a reality show. Also, it's a two-year deal between the restaurant and winner - what happens afterwards? Fom the sounds of it there's no guarantee that the partnership will continue. More cash would have been
much better - let's hope the show does a radical reworking of the prize for Season 2.