I cannot remember when an Eat Out Awards event was so exciting in its Top 10 countdown, with so many surprise restaurants on this year’s list, reflecting how more daring the Eat Out judging team has become, no longer playing it safe, which is highly commended. Since Chef Margot Janse took over in heading the Eat Out Awards judging panel in 2018, she has been ruthless in her restaurant recognition, which we already noticed when Eat Out announced its Top 30 nomination shortlist for this year, in some of the top restaurants it excluded! Continue reading →
Category Archives: France
The Eat and Meat of a Michelin Restaurant Inspector! A star job, eating out 275 times a year?
The local JHP Gourmet Guide once again tried to link itself to the Michelin star rating of our local restaurants, by awarding top local restaurants one, two, and three plate accolades, as if they are equivalent to Michelin one, two, and three stars. I have been critical of this exaggerated and dishonest link by Jenny Handley and her Gourmet Guide Awards, especially as I know how the restaurant visits are done by her. (See the Blogpost link at the end of this article). A recent Forbes article ‘The Secret Life of an Anonymous Michelin Restaurant Inspector’ therefore attracted my attention, and I summarise it below, so that I could double check my view on this. Continue reading →
KONG Bar & Grill has unique decor, excellent chef team, friendly service, and dancing too!
I ate at KONG Bar & Grill in De Waterkant last Thursday for the first time, at the invitation of its PR Consultant Marina Nestel, and then watched the World Cup Rugby Semi-Final there on Sunday. Not expecting much from the ‘Grill’ part of the name, I was surprised to meet Chef Coenraad Spauner, who heads up the kitchen and who worked at a Michelin Plate restaurant in France last year. Continue reading →
The Test Kitchen retains its position as Best in Africa on 2019 World’s 50 Best Restaurant list, Mirazur in Menton the number one in 2019 restaurant!
In Singapore today The Test Kitchen moved from 50th position last year to number 44 on the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurant list, and was recognised as the Best in Africa. Mirazur in Menton was named the World’s 50 Best top restaurant, not without controversy surrounding a significant change in the rules regarding the top spot this year. The 18th ‘truly global’ ceremony of the Awards was women-dominated, to make up for their past under-representation. Continue reading →
Michelin-star JAN restaurant gets a younger brother, KLEIN JAN to open at Tswalu Kalahari; to open JAN Innovation Studio in Cape Town!
Fresh from the Easter weekend break, Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen made a dramatic announcement yesterday, introducing a new KLEIN JAN restaurant, to be established at Tswalu Kalahari Game Reserve, as well as a JAN Innovation Studio, set to open in Cape Town. Continue reading →
Chef Kevin Grobler does full career circle, returns to Delaire Graff!
In 2015 I met Chef Kevin Grobler at JAN Restaurant in Nice, the now one Michelin star restaurant, a week after he had started working in South Afrca’s Best South African cuisine restaurant. He had left Delaire Graff Restaurant to join dynamic and creative Chef Jan-Hendrik at JAN, and last week he went full circle, in starting at Delaire Graff as Head Chef again. Continue reading →
JAN the JOURNAL Vol 2 2018: Honours timelessness, feasting, KZN, and Nice, is more commercial than before!
JAN the JOURNAL has published its second volume of 2018, just before the year closed. It has taken me almost two months to look at it after buying a copy at Woolworths, the 297 page manuscript of The Jan Hendrik Group (PTY) Limited being more than intimidating in thickness, and time required to do it justice in reading it. Despite having an editor for the publication, one wonders how Chef Jan-Hendrik manages to find the time to collate such a heavy-weight Journal in his role as Editor-in-Chief, given his commitment as chef to his one Michelin star restaurant JAN in Nice, and his regular trips to Cape Town and SA. Continue reading →
SA Top restaurant JAN in Nice receives one Michelin star accolade in France for the fourth year running!
JAN Restaurant is our country’s best restaurant, despite it being based in Nice, not only in serving traditional South African dishes in fine din8ng style, but also in being the only South African Michelin-star restaurant. Yesterday JAN Restaurant received one Michelin star for the fourth year running! Continue reading →
Restaurant Review: Café Paris not French at all, other than a poster of the Eiffel Tower!
A very recent restaurant opening is that of Café Paris in Green Point, a space I was watching being transformed when I drove past on Main Road. As my friend from Paris is visiting again, we decided to give it a try for a late breakfast/brunch yesterday. Continue reading →
Is Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient SA’s joint Best Restaurant with The Test Kitchen, despite their ranking drop at the Eat Out Awards 2018?!
The Eat Out judges have a hard time in deciding on the ranking of our country’s top restaurants, especially when our top restaurants are increasingly performing on international restaurant list rankings! This year they seemed to markedly not have considered the top performance of two internationally crowned SA restaurants, The Test Kitchen, and even more so, Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient outside Pretoria. Both these restaurants have just made the prestigious 2019 Top 200 of the La Liste international Top 1000 restaurant List, rubbing shoulders with the world’s top chefs. Continue reading →