I was fortunate to have been born in the Union of South Africa, where moral values ran high, friendships kept, good service competed for, and it was safe to sleep with your doors open at night.

Service was to compete for, not a quick buck. You gave good service, you kept your clients and you enjoyed continued cash flow.

I can remember Saturday mornings at the Fairlady Restaurant in the South of Johannesburg. I'm going back 40 to 45 years now. All the friends and neighbours would gather there. The wives would do the shopping, the men would hold up a table drinking soft drinks, while the kids would be playing on the nearby fields, while my friends and I would be playing football for our various teams in the vicinity.

At noon we would all regather at the restaurant. By now everybody would have done what they needed to do and it would be time for lunch. In the good old days a restaurant could not serve alcohol without a meal order. So the men would have to wait to get "stonkus dronk" for the day.

One of my dearest friends, and a very good friend still todate was Porky. Porkus and I go back 45 years or more. We have done virtually everything together besides going to the same High School together. He opted for some junkie scrap yard called John Orr Tech while I settled for a decent education at Park Town Boys' High School.

My father always had a saying. When you eat out make sure you get value for money and a meal you would not dare to make at home. And that has stayed with me till this day.

Porky, otherwise known as Peter, and I frequent restaurants all over Johannesburg. Whenever I am in Johannesburg, Peter, a third person - Lyn, and I will go to a restaurant together. Lyn will meet us there after work as she lives in Edenvale and it is easier for her if we go to a restaurant on the other side of town.

We have been to some really grotty places but we have also been to those I will now discuss in this article.

When I eat out I expect the following - The food must be of a standard that I could never make for myself (Peter and I have had a lot of training in the kitchen), the presentation must be exceptional, the taste out of this world, the restaurant lay out must be beyond anything I can imagine, and the support and service must be to die for. We are not asking for much. And yet we find it hard to get what we want.

Ah! For but a few..

 Just recently Peter, Lyn and I had the priviledge of trying out Tuscan BBQ and Buffet Restaurant. What an experience. Everything we expected and more. The service? WOW should be enough. And definitely value for money.

Unfortunately, the second Restaurant has, to our knowledge, not been experienced by Lyn.

I had discovered an old school buddy on Facebook one day who happened to be an Executive Chef at a new series of Restaurants throughout South Africa - at least new to me. Peter had been to one before I had found it so he had a fair idea of its quality. This Executive Chef took his profile off the web and I struggled for about a month to find his details again. On the bus to East London one late afternoon I discovered exactly where one of these restaurants were and vowed, upon my next visit to Johannesburg, to visit and experience the quality for myself.

 Not too long after that visit I returned to the cement jungle and looked up the restaurant. I requested the Executive Chef join me only to find he was busy at another branch.

Peter and I decided to try one of their dishes. I am not accustomed to abusing friendships and therefore would expect to be treated as any other guest as well as pay the same price as any other guest would.

I have never experienced the service I did that day. It was impecable. Very friendly employees. The food was well presented and the taste divine. Everything I would have expected from a restaurant and more. I informed the Chef of my experience and stated that I would remember them in a hub.

The restaurant - Doppio Zero and the Executive Chef - Mark Cameron. Their website: www.doppiozero.co.za

I was recently requested to write a hub on the worst experience I would have had in a Hotel, but this hub is about the two most outstanding restaurants I have experienced in the Johannesburg area.

I would classify these two restaurants with great names like Villa da Maddicci, Villa da Borguesse and La Pergolla in the Johannesburg North Area. These were the restaurants my father brought us up on.

It is through this valuable and beautiful legacy that I am able to eat and experience values beyond any in the cullinary field.

Thank you to both Tuscan BBQ Buffet Restaurant and Doppio Zero for allowing me to continue believing that good service is not an experience of the past.

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