Yesterday Fideli’s opened on Parliament Street on Church Square in the City centre, a very fine Deli as well as eating and drinking spot next door to Pilcrow & Cleaver, both owned by the very enterprising Chef Judi Fourie. The space was previously that of Kleinsky’s. While small, it spills out into a covered side section, almost doubling its size. I have not seen such beautiful presentation of food and beverages in a Deli before, as I did at Fideli’s yesterday.
I became the first customer of the new Fideli’s, as I was looking for a gift to take to a lunch I was heading to, but of course could not resist filling up my own pantry with some of the delectable items. Continue reading →
It was my first road trip outside Cape Town in many months, I realised, not having left Cape Town in a year, other than a short business trip to Stellenbosch earlier during Lockdown. The reason for the trip was an opportunity to see the wild flowers of the West Coast, particularly spectacular this year due to the heavy winter rains, on the Waylands Farm private nature reserve outside Darling, owned by John and Jeanette Duckitt. It became a mini Huguenot High School Matric English class reunion, this being our 50th anniversary of leaving school, and celebrating 62 years of five of us having started school together in Wellington 62 years ago. 
I was fortunate to receive a copy of the gazetted Lockdown Level 2 regulations prior to the presentation by Minister Dlamini-Zuma at a Media Livestream just after lunch time today.
After 76 days at Level 3, and 66 days at Levels 5 and 4, President Ramaphosa this evening announced that the whole country will move to Lockdown Level 2 as of midnight on Monday 17 August, and has given the country a Christmas-in-August gift, with the cigarette and alcohol bans lifted, the latter with some new regulations. Inter-provincial Travel will also be allowed. 
Saturday 25 July 2020, Day 55 of Level 3, after 66 days at Levels 5 and 4. 😷
Today is a day of excitement as well as disappointment for restaurateurs, who have so looked forward to reopening their doors for a Sit-Down Service. The official reopening date is today, but sadly it appears that many restaurant doors will remain closed, restaurateurs citing the prohibition of serving alcohol with a meal, and this being the quietest time of the year for restaurants as the reasons why they will not reopen now, continuing with their Food and Alcohol Delivery and Collection Service. 
While President Ramaphosa spoke to the nation on Wednesday evening, announcing the long-awaited news that restaurants are to reopen for Sit-Down Service on an as yet unnamed date, a Tweet was sent out by the Government information service, announcing that the following is prohibited: ‘Consumption of Alcohol in restaurants, bars, shebeens, and taverns’ . This has caused a shitstorm in the restaurant industry, already struggling to make ends meet via Restaurant Food and Alcohol Delivery and Collection. Furthermore, a bar, tavern, and shebeen that does not serve alcohol is a farce, and cannot survive! 
Yesterday our new total of Restaurants offering a Food and Alcohol Delivery and Collection Service in Cape Town and the Winelands reached 660, with 4800 members in the Facebook Group which I created at the beginning of May, when the introduction of Level 4 allowed restaurants to open for the Delivery of Food, boosted from 1 June by restaurants being allowed to sell alcohol and to offer a Collection Service from their premises at Level 3.
While a few restaurants already announced their closure at the beginning of March, when the COVID-19 Virus Lockdown had not yet been announced, a flood of restaurant closures is expected when restaurants are allowed to reopen to the public in Level 1 again, at an unannounced date in the future.