Evaporated milk and canned fruit cocktail. These are hardly ingredients for the gods. But mixed together in a cake (actually, the milk is heated with sugar to make a syrup and poured over the cake after it’s baked), the result is nothing short of, well … heaven.

Enlarge this image

Becky Stein/AJC special

Di’s Delight, an ultra moist, buttery tasting fruity sponge cake served with vanilla ice cream, is one of the highlights of the South African menu at 10 Degrees South, which has been open in Buckhead for 10 years.

Enlarge this image

Becky Stein/AJC special

Boerewors, a South African sausage dish, is served at 10 Degrees South with a sweet tomato-and-onion relish that resembles an old-fashioned Southern chowchow.

• Email this
• Print this
• Most popular

Even the name is rudimentary: Di’s Delight, the kind of nomenclature usually reserved for the delicacies found on the menu at a truck stop. The name, like the dessert, is short and sweet — and it gets the job done.

10 Degrees South owner Justin Anthony gets the name from his mother, Diane, who is, of course, the baker involved (Anthony’s father, Derek, is also an owner). And while the menu at this South African restaurant offers an exploration into a cuisine peppered with Portuguese, Dutch and German influences, it’s one of the few restaurants around where the maxim “eat dessert first” could truly be adhered to with no regrets whatsoever.

But let’s just say we’re interested in some savory before sweet: Hmmm … how about a crock of chopped chicken livers sautéed in piri piri sauce served with slices of very white French bread for dipping? I’d love this dish even more if the kitchen showed some interest in providing bread that didn’t seem as if it arrived from the shelves of a QuikTrip, but, really, that’s just my critic’s nose in the air.

What’s important is the melding of spice — more like a curry than the hot red heat of a true Portuguese piri piri — at times it’s almost sweet and relish-like. But whatever your thoughts on chicken livers (and mine are muddled), this dish will change them for the better.

Basic quality throughout

Burrowed into the hive of activity on Roswell Road north of Piedmont, the restaurant’s exterior (transformed from a bungalow a few years back) looks like a furniture showroom. Inside, the stylish décor, highlighted by African masks, woven baskets and candles, is soothing, even if it does look a little too much like a Pottery Barn showroom.

Other restaurants, such as SAGA, have opened serving South African cuisine, but 10 Degrees South is the only one left standing after opening a decade ago.

A favorite South African delicacy is boerewors, a type of Dutch sausage, served here with a sweet tomato-and-onion relish that very much resembles an old-fashioned Southern chowchow (or perhaps that’s the other way around).

There’s a basic quality to this cuisine that rings throughout its many varied dishes — even flourishes such as giant prawns in a spicy tomato sauce with rice (a staple that accompanies almost every main dish) seem elementary. And the kitchen has lost a bit of its fresh pizazz over the past 10 years.

But classics such as bobotie, here served more as a ground beef curry than as a meat loaf (as is often the case) are well worth exploring. 10 Degrees South’s version is made similar to a shepherd’s pie, with custard baked on top of the savory curried meat, laced with sweet spices (the dish is often served with an egg baked on top of the meat). It’s a ramped-up interpretation with a delicious payoff, served with yellow rice and sambals derived from the country’s many Indian influences.

Sample the small plates

I’d rather explore small plates here than anything else, though — especially since the wine list boasts very good selections of South African Pinotage and chardonnay. The latter lacks the off-putting oakiness of most California chardonnays, and acts on the nose and palate a little more like a sweeter, effervescent pinot grigio.

It’s the perfect wine for sipping and tasting small bites such as grilled calamari tossed simply with lemon and butter — and highlighted by the salty flavor of capers. Or a mouthful of Caesar salad topped with thin slices of biltong, a kind of beef jerky brought to South Africa by the Dutch.

The menu also offers kingclip, a weird, eel-like fish similar to whiting and hake, but tasting a lot like skate. It’s considered a South African delicacy, but here it’s hard to see why: The fish loses its texture underneath a lemon butter sauce until it’s too mushy to enjoy.

And then, of course, there’s Di’s Delight. Imagine a fruit cocktail upside-down cake marrying a slice of tres leches — buttery tasting, rich, moist beyond reason. Want to really blow your calorie count? Order a “Don Pedro” — an after-dinner drink classically served with coffee liqueur, whisky and cream, but turned on its ear when made here with Amarula, the South African cream liqueur that tastes like caramel and vanilla had a baby.

Ten years is a long time for any business to survive, but it marks a real achievement for a restaurant. Especially since — or perhaps because — it’s the only one of its kind in the city.

Food: South African
Service: The servers are so friendly that things can quickly get a little too familiar, but on the whole the staff is helpful and knowledgeable about the cuisine, as well as prompt and courteous.
Price range: $$-$$$
Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover
Hours of operation: Open for dinner Mondays-Saturdays, 5:30-10:30 p.m.
Best dishes: Boerewors, bobotie, chicken livers in piri piri, grilled calamari
Vegetarian selections: Salads, vegetable curry
Children: Why not?
Parking: Complimentary valet
Reservations: Yes
Wheelchair access: Yes
Smoking: Outside patio only
Noise level: Low, except in the bar, where there is live music
Patio: Yes (it’s enclosed in the winter)
Takeout: Yes
Address, telephone: 4183 Roswell Road N.E., 404-705-8870,
Web site: www.10degreessouth.com

KEY TO RATINGS
Outstanding: Sets the standard for fine dining in the region.
Excellent: One of the best in the Atlanta area.
Very good: Merits a drive if you’re looking for this kind of dining.
Good: A worthy addition to its neighborhood, but food may be hit or miss.
Fair: The food is more miss than hit.
Restaurants that do not meet these criteria may be rated Poor.

PRICING CODE: $$$$$ means more than $75; $$$$ means $75 and less; $$$ means $50 and less; $$ means $25 and less; $ means $15 and less. (The price code represents a meal for one that includes appetizer, entree and dessert without including tax, tip and cocktails.)