Linsen Nambi Bunker Services held a cocktail party during Africa Oil Week on 5 November 2019 at the restaurant, Shio, in Cape Town. The evening had an electric atmosphere with some of the more colourful personalities in the marine fuel oil trading industry putting on their best show. In attendance were delegates from the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Mineral Resources, the Department of Transport, Transnet National Port Authority, South African Maritime Safety Authority, Saldanha Bay IDZ and industry players from Astron Energy SA, Burgan Cape Terminal, Engen Petroleum SA, Carbanado Energy, Cockett Marine, KZN Growth Coalition, Sing Fuels, STISA (Shell Trading South Africa), Vitol and of course it isn’t quite a soirée unless the attorneys and bankers preside, with maritime lawyers from ENS Africa and Webber Wentzel, as well as the oil and gas men from Standard Bank, with press from the Maritime Review.
The imagery of the bright red neon lights bouncing of the faces of guests, against the backdrop of the floor-to-ceiling geisha paintings in the restaurant-bar cum Japanese art studio cut a mood reflective of the persistent personalities in the room.
The wine served was Journeys End Haystack Chardonnay, Fable Mountain Rose and Robert Alexander Merlot. The wine bouquets paired well with the cut loose work hard, play harder mood in the room. Guests were in high spirits and high gear.
Shio has won numerous awards and accolades over the years and is a usual spot on the Linsen Nambi owners Cape Town jaunts, although the owners attest that they pace the visits to a few times a year, as good food must be given time to digest into your soul.
The cuisine style is gastro pub meets traditional Japanese sharing family style and while it is a modern twist on an old classic, it certainly isn’t derivative or blasé. It can only be described as food-cinema, as the salivating guests kept a watchful eye on the kitchen door, hidden in the corner of the room, each time servers, dressed as Geishas, walked out with boards of floating food, the conversation paused for the moment of intrigue. The food looked as good as it tasted, if not better.
The menu consisted of toyko beef sliders, chilli salt squid, forbidden black rice risotto, lamb and gochujang gyoza, tuna don buri tacos, chicken yakitori, baby shrimp tempura and Japanese crispy pork with nashi pear. In this production of food the star of the show and my personal favourite was the risotto because it was forbidden.
One would think that the aromas of salt, seaweed, shoyu and smoke would be too pungent to be showed up by the smell of oil and money permeating through the room, as industry insiders broke in to pockets of people discussing industry happenings. Wise old sages regaled young hotshots with gun slinging stories from their olden days and the hotshots fired back with 4IR and other technobabble.
The jovial feeling was shared by all and it felt that the connected energies created a marked-moment, which was reminiscent of the heydays of the high oil price and high shipping rates, but also that a new high tide had arrived.
I asked the Directors whether this was an inaugural event or an unique opportunity and was evasively told to keep an eye out for their emails.
Written By Marc Rich.