With a Flourish: Sit up straight at Signature

When trying to bowl someone over, there are times when one needs to use elegance like a wrecking ball.

When it comes to restaurants, few are able to channel this aura of rushing exquisiteness without coming across looking gauche and pretentious. Signature in Morningside, Johannesburg has no such problem.

Adjacent to Africa's so-called "richest square" in Sandton, the restaurant has repeatedly won or been in line for some of the highest fine-dining honours, including the Platinum Diners Wine Club List Award in 2011.

The brown and gold decor give it the air of a chocolate cake designed by Audrey Hepburn, though it lends a sombre air. It is not the type of place to laugh raucously at vulgar jokes.

The food is gorgeous and likely the progeny of only the most well-bred ingredients, all of which would doubtless be shocked if you ate them with the wrong utensils. Unlike so many in the restaurants of today, the menus at Signature are large and offer guests the chance to sample a wide variety of God's bountiful harvest.

Should you want to experience the restaurant equivalent of a 1920s actress, be warned. The meals come with the kind of price tags that keep the riff-raff firmly at bay.

• Reservations on 011-884-8888 or visit www.signaturerestaurant.co.za