Tag Archives: Eat Out

The Bailey new Bakery, Brasserie, and Bars on Bree Street, to be opened by Chef Liam Tomlin!

 

Now that Chef Liam Tomlin’s planned Russian restaurant in Moscow is unlikely to see the light of day for some time to come, he is putting all his energy into the renovations of an historic three-storey Tintswalo-owned building across the road from his first-ever Chefs Warehouse in Heritage Square, now called Pinchos.

It is said that Chef Liam is planning to leave or close Pinchos, the branch just not as successful in attracting customers as the Chefs Warehouses at Beau Constantia, Tintswalo, and Franschhoek. Tomlin has recently walked away from his Mazza and Local establishments in the former HQ, also located in Heritage Square.

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Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 159 of Level 1, 8 March 2022

 

Tuesday 8 March 2022, Day 159 of Level 1, International Women’s Day 😷

Corona Lockdown Gratitude 🙏

#grateful for a fabulous 27C day, with no wind; for a day of working, working, and working, having to catch up for yesterday and work ahead for the rest of the week; for a sunset walk to Camps Bay; for not being affected by Loadshedding today 💙; for the end of eye drops three times a day for four weeks; and for being happy, healthy and free. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

La Colombe Group to make a double restaurant splash in the V & A Waterfront!

 

The La Colombe Group is growing its portfolio by adding two restaurants in Cape Town, both in the Waterfront, reports Eat Out.

This makes La Colombe the largest company-owned restaurant group, with 3 Franschhoek-based restaurants, and soon 4 Cape Town Restaurants. Continue reading →

Meet Chef Christina Semczyszyn of Tjing Tjing: 2021 Top 10 Woman Chef!

 

Chef Christina Semczyszyn is the Head Chef at Tjing Tjing, previously Dear Me, in the City centre. She put Tjing Tjing Momiji on Eat Out’s Top Restaurant list at 19th rank in 2019,  and was named a Rising Star by Eat Out in the same year. She wins a bottle of Adhara Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil for being named a 2021 Top 10 Woman Chef.

She has been instrumental in transforming Dear Me into a three storey Japanese restaurant: Tjing Tjing Torii, Tjing Tjing Momiji, and Tjing Tjing Rooftop Bar.

Sadly Chef Chridtina is leaving Tjing Tjing st the end of this month, emigrating to Canada. Continue reading →

The Test Kitchen to close down end September, Third Top 10 Restaurant to close down in 18 months!

 

What a shock announcement it was today: The Test Kitchen, South Africa’s best known restaurant internationally, having climbed up (and down) the World’s 50 Best Restaurants ladder over the past 11 years, and having worn the Best South African Restaurant crown for six years running, until 2017, is to close down at the end of September. This was announced in Cape Town today.

Top Ten restaurants which have also closed down since the beginning of Lockdown are Mosaic at The Orient and Waterkloof.  Ironically both Mosaic and The Test Kitchen announced in 2019 that they would no longer accept nominations for The Eat Out Awards, the 2019 awards being the last to have taken place, due to the Covid pandemic and impact thereof on the restaurant industry since the Lockdown commenced on 27 March 2020.

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Chef Bertus Basson is ‘In die Sop: Restaurant Evolusie’, a restaurant turn-around TV series, including that of controversial journalist Jacques Pauw!

 

I cannot resist writing a story about Chef Bertus Basson’s latest TV series, ‘In die Sop: Restaurant Evolusie’ on kykNet, a Gordon Ramsay-style ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ reality TV series in which restaurants are given 72 hours in which to be transformed.  It is aired on Wednesdays on KykNet at 20h00, the first episode airing last week. The title of the series ‘In die Sop’ refers to restaurants being in trouble.

The irony is that Basson himself has been no expert in restaurant design when one considers his ‘crap’ Spek & Bone off Dorp Street (one of the most widely read reviews on my Blog), and De Vrije Burger on Plein Street, both in Stellenbosch. Surprisingly, Basson admits to his restaurant faults: ‘I’ve achieved great success, but I’ve also made a lot of mistakes and learned lessons that have cost me dearly. I want to share these insights with other restaurant owners.’!  His admission should lead him to unban me from his restaurants!  Continue reading →