Two weeks ago I attended a pop-up dining event at RED! The Gallery on Wale Street, hosted by Chef Ridian Kabeya, who had invited me and 19 others to attend his dinner. We were a mix of Influencers from the modelling world, a lawyer, an artist, two restaurateurs-to-be, and I the only food writer.
I knew only one person, Vee Roux of MoreVino, who supplied and introduced each of the three wines which were paired with each dish. Continue reading →
My friend Gary Peterson invited me to choose a restaurant at which to celebrate my December birthday. I was eager to try Cabo Beach Club, the former Shimmy, in the Waterfront, as I needed a sounding board as I was not expecting much in respect of its food offering, despite knowing that Chef Ryan Cole of Salsify at the Roundhouse is in charge of the restaurants at Cabo. I had a feeling that this restaurant visit might become similar to the one to the renovated The Winchester Hotel and its disappointing Shoreditch Restaurant, a previous outing with Gary.
Cabo Beach Club is similar to Shimmy in its layout, but different in many other respects. Continue reading →
On Tuesday I heard about Chef Matt Schreuder opening his second restaurant, at the luxury The Andros Boutique Hotel. When I ate at Homespun by Matt in Blouberg one and a half years ago, I predicted that this restaurant was destined for great things, it being one of my best fine-dining eating experiences in our country. Continue reading →
Dineplan, a restaurant reservation system company, conducted a survey shortly after it was announced that Restaurants were allowed to open for Sit-Down Service from 30 June onwards. The survey interviewed diners to understand their willingness to eat out during the Corona Lockdown, to understand their expectations of restaurants, not only for Sit-Down Service, but also for Food Delivery and Collection. A relief for restaurants must be that only 1% of the respondents said that they would not eat out during Lockdown. Continue reading →
The only new restaurants opening this month are Epice, in Franschhoek, headed by Chef Charné Sampson, belonging to The La Colombe Group, and to be located in the former Marigold restaurant, as well as The Four Square Club, opened as a lunch restaurant by Chef Chris Erasmus at Môreson. Chef Peter Tempelhoff announced the opening of a new ‘funky’ restaurant in Cape Town on Kfm last week.
Other recent restaurant openings are Exhibit A of Chefs Rikku O’Donnchü and Warwick King on Bree Street in Cape Town, La Chêne was opened by Chef Darren Badenhorst at Leeu Estates in Franschhoek, and Cowboys & Cooks has opened in De Waterkant. Continue reading →
With rating agencies giving our economy a thumbs down, and our Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni painting a bleak picture of our economy last week, it is no surprise that there are few, if any, restaurant openings planned for the rest of the 2019/2020 summer season.
Exhibit A of Chefs Rikku O’Donnchü and Warwick King opened on Bree Street on Friday. La Chêne opened at Leeu Estates in Franschhoek two weeks ago. Cowboys & Cooks is running late in opening its planned new restaurant in De Waterkant.
Cape Town restaurant openings
The news is brief, and no doubt more will be revealed as 16 July gets closer. Dynamic Chefs Rikku O’Donnchü and Warwick King are opening a somewhat more permanent pop-up restaurant for a three month period before they are ready to open their exciting experimental fine dining restaurant, the location and name of which is still a big secret. Continue reading →
Last Thursday my son and I visited Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens in Horsham, West Sussex, in the UK, on my first day of visiting the country. I loved seeing Chef Jean Delport, previously working at my then favorite restaurant Benguela on Main in Somerset West, and enjoying his creative take on Afternoon Tea at the estate.
Continue reading →
Very quickly and quietly The Harbour House seafood restaurant at Constantia Nek has been transformed into a fine-dining The Restaurant at The Nek, now making it part of an interesting trio of fine-dining experiences at the pinnacle of Constantia, flanked by Eat Out Top 10 restaurants La Colombe and Chef’s Warehouse Beau Constantia. Continue reading →
This afternoon Eat Out announced its list of the Top 30 restaurants in our country for this year. The Top 20 restaurants will be revealed at the Awards ceremony on 18 November at GrandWest, and the Top 10 list within that ranking. There are some surprise inclusions and exclusions in this list. Continue reading →