Anél Potgieter’s blog, lifeisazoobiscuit.com, won the 2013 Eat Out DStv Food Network Produce Award for Best Local Food Blog. This award recognises the role that independent bloggers play in growing the local food industry, and the winner was chosen by public vote.

After reaching the final 35 of the first season of MasterChef in 2012, and being inspired by the healing power of zoo biscuits, Anél Potgieter started writing her blog.

Growing up in a small Free State town – without any real restaurants or elegant bistros – served as inspiration for food adventures in Anél’s adult life. Her innovative dishes are packed with flair, flavour and fun, and a touch of traditional comfort food.

With enticing photographs, personal yet practical advice, and unusual recipes, lifeisazoobiscuit.com will inspire you to cook dishes like a flambéed sweet apple omelette; chocolate mousse with crispy onion sprinkle; sweet lavender flatbread with buttery caramel wells; and spiced ricotta pancakes with figs and naartjie honey.

We asked Anél to recommend her favourite eateries in and around the Mother City. 

My favourite place for…

Pizza
Pizza Vesuvio in Tygervalley. Having tasted the real-deal, authentic original at Da Michele in Napoli, Italy, I have very high standards when it comes to pizza. For me, simplicity is the key to the best-tasting pizzas, and Pizza Vesuvio takes me back to Napoli with their lovely thin bases and just the simplest best ingredients. Interestingly, Da Michele only serves two kinds of pizzas: a margherita (tomato, basil and mozzarella) and marinara (tomatoes, garlic and oregano).

Asian food
Food Joy at the Cape Grand China, a wholesale distribution centre for Chinese Goods in Royal Ascot, Milnerton. This is the most authentic Chinese food I have yet to taste and experience. It’s more a canteen for the local Chinese community than a restaurant. Here you get duck tongue, intestines, pigs ears, pig snouts… It’s just fantastic – and extremely affordable, too. They even make their own Chinese buns in front of you.  

Burgers
The Loading Bay in De Waterkant. Just the best, juiciest and sexiest burgers in town.

Sushi
Sake in Sable Square. I stay in the Canal Walk precinct, so I need a good sushi place close by. I know James, the owner, very well and he and his dedicated team have been making some of the best sushi in town. It is so fresh, interesting and affordable. I also love it because it has one of the moving conveyor belts so you can pick and choose what you want.

Take-away coffee before work
Origin Coffee Roasting in De Waterkant. I work in the Cape Quarter so I pop in to Origin to grab a cup of the best coffee in town before I go to work. When I walk up the road I can smell the flavours – need I say more?

A week-day breakfast
Hemelhuijs in Waterkant Street. The place just seems to touch me emotionally every time I walk in there. The food is nostalgic, in a way, with a modern twist. My favourite breakfast there is poached eggs with artichoke hearts, hollandaise sauce and prosciutto. I just love their crockery, too, and the service is always excellent.

A business lunch
Bistrot Bizerca in Heritage Square. How much do I love this place? I have been fortunate enough to sit down for business lunches on numerous occasions and the restaurant has never failed to impress me. Brilliant food, brilliant service and a great wine selection.

Sunday lunch with the family
Diemersdal Farm Eatery in Durbanville. This is where family can sit at a long table and eat, talk, share some good wine and catch up with Nic van Wyk’s food. I love the homey atmosphere and I love how Nic takes many old recipes and brings them to life in such a modern way.

A romantic dinner and the best view
De Grendel in Plattekloof. This view is just so unbelievable and the atmosphere good enough to light up any romance. I don’t know where else in Cape Town you can celebrate the natural beauty of the Cape, the vineyards, the mountains and then the sophisticated yet scrumptious menu in such an elegant setting. From the most beautiful plates to the detail of the food, I just love this place.

An end-of-the-month weekday dinner
Knife outside Canal Walk. Rick and I love sitting there, having a drink outside. And I love their burgers: so tasty and beautifully presented.

Buying bread
Jason Bakery in Bree Street. I usually buy great ciabattas at the Cape Quarter Spar, but nothing beats this spot. Lovely fresh sourdoughs… and what’s a Saturday without visiting the hatch at Jason’s?

Buying wine
Wine Concepts in Newlands. They do all my wine pairings for me. I will send Corlien my menu and the number of guests, and she’ll make sure that we have the best wine pairing. I pay via EFT and Wine Concepts deliver! How amazing is that?

Market-style shopping
The Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock. My friend, Leonard, and I get there early in the morning and we only leave after 2pm. We have made so many friends sitting about – laughing, drinking and eating amidst hay bales – and we have made such good memories with the passionate foodies that mill about selling their wares.

For the best steak
At home on the coals! My husband braais the best rump steaks and I make a garlic butter to go with it. I challenge any restaurant to beat that.

Visit Anél’s blog, lifeisazoobiscuit.com, and follow Anél on Twitter.

Pictured (from top): Anél, Jason Bakery, Knife, Diemersdal Farm Eatery (x2), Hemelhuijs, De Grendel, Jason and Anél.