Tag Archives: Greenhouse

May Restaurant Update: More restaurants opening and closing in Cape Town and Winelands!

 

 

New restaurants are still opening, or planning to open in Cape Town and the Winelands, despite it being on the eve of Winter.

The biggest planned opening is that by Chef Liam Tomlin, who will open The Bailey, a three storey Brasserie, Bakery, and two Bars across the road from Heritage Square.  His opening is running late. He has closed down his Chefs Warehouse on Bree Street. Restaurant Artizian will open on Bree Street in July. Chef Peter Tempelhoff is said to open a Japanese Street Food restaurant on the ground floor of Speakers Corner, the building in which FYN operates. Misfits by Ideas Cartel has opened in the former Beluga in Green Point. TANG will create a big stir when it Continue reading →

SÜD-AFRIKA Magazin features WhaleTales Blog story on Restaurant Recovery since Lockdown!

 

Today SÜD-AFRIKa magazine launched its first newsletter of 2022, and included an article written in German,  summarising my Blogpost of earlier this month,  with the wonderful news that more Restaurants have opened than have closed in the past 22 months, a wonderful turn-around for the industry.

The article features the photograph alongside, which is of the view from the terrace at Zezt Restautant Sea Point, one of the more than 100 restaurants that have opened during Lockdown. Continue reading →

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 67 of Level 1, 6 December 2021

Monday 6 December 2021, Day 67 of Level 1, Nicklaus Day 😷

Corona Lockdown Gratitude 🙏

#grateful for a beautiful mild sunny day, at 22C; for a very productive working day, ticking everything off the Do List; for working so well with our Sandak-Lewin Portfolio Manager Vanessa that our EbbTide Maintenance Do List is almost ticked off for 2021; for a walk to Woolies to pay the rates & taxes, popping in at The Pottery to help them proofread their Beverage List, and a late afternoon Bakoven walk; and for being happy, healthy and free. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

New restaurants opening in Cape Town and Winelands, 5 in Camps Bay, Greenhouse closes! December 2021

 

With the country at Level 1 for over a month, the restaurant tide is turning, with business in the restaurant industry improving. The impact of SA being placed on the travel ban list has already been felt, with booking cancellations.

For the first time in a number of months new restaurants are opening in Cape Town and the Winelands, including Rykaarts Stellenbosch, MiCaffé in Bree Street with more restaurants about to open in The Barracks, a most disappointing Shoreditch House restaurant at The Winchester Hotel, and in Camps Bay Beach House, Gibson’s Gourmet Burgers & Ribs Food Truck, Marcel’s Frozen Yoghurt, The Pottery, and Cause & Effect have opened, with Bo-Vine opening shortly.  Since the beginning of Lockdown 20 months ago, 122 new restaurants have opened. Continue reading →

Twelve SA Restaurants make La Liste 1000 Top Restaurant List, Restaurant Klein JAN receives special award!

 

At a Gala Event held in Paris on Monday, the new La Liste 1000 for 2022 was announced, with 12 South African Restaurants included in this prestigious list of 1000 top restaurants around the world, one sadly included but no longer operating!

In addition, brand new Restaurant Klein JAN at Tswalu in the Kalahari, owned by Chef Jan-Hendrik van  der Westhuizen, received a special Award as World Hidden Gem Restaurant. While his JAN restaurant in Nice has been awarded one Michelin star for the past six years,
it is not included in the La Liste List.  The La Liste accolade for Restaurant Klein JAN, and its inclusion in the world’s Top 1000 List, is the first international recognition for any of Chef Jan-Hendrik’s restaurants. Continue reading →

Spate of new restaurant openings in Cape Town & Winelands, Greenhouse closure: November 2021

 

With the country at Level 1 for over a month, the restaurant tide is turning, with business in the restaurant industry is improving.

For the first time in a number of months a number of new restaurants are opening in Cape Town and the Winelands, including Rykaarts Stellenbosch, MiCaffé in Bree Street with more restaurants about to open in The Barracks, and in Camps Bay Beach House, Bovine, The Pottery, and Cause & Effect are opening this month.

Since the beginning of Lockdown 19 months ago, 114 new restaurants have opened.

Continue reading →

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 28 of Level 1, 28 October 2021.

 

Thursday 28 October 2021, Day 28 of Level 1 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#grateful for making the best of today, with 5 hours of my working day being affected by Loadshedding, using some of it to catch up on sleep, a walk in Bakoven, and shopping at Ultra (looking very different) and Spar (looks like a mini-Ultra when you walk in); for getting my Dinkel rolls and free range eggs; for doing a large part of my writing after the first Loadshedding this morning, at 2h30 😱; for a good meeting for Utopia and Anatoli, with a spoil of biscuits for tea, I joking with my client that they were to celebrate my first anniversary of working on the Utopia Continue reading →

Matt’s Homespun opens second restaurant, at The Andros Boutique Hotel in Claremont

 

I have the highest regard for Chef Matt Schreuder of Homespun in Blouberg, for the creativity of his world class Secret Supper Club in particular, and his Tasting Menus which are of a Top 10 Restaurant standard.

Ahead of the official opening on Friday 18 June, I was invited to a ‘friends and family’ preview of Chef Matt’s new Homespun at The Andros 5 star Boutique Hotel in Claremont on Saturday evening. It was my first visit to the Hotel.  The Hotel has an old-world charm and dates back to 1908. It was designed by renowned Sir Herbert Baker.  It has 15 rooms. Parking is available on the propperty. It has a delightful Champagne Bar. Continue reading →

Breaking Restaurant News: Homespun at The Andros opens 18 June, second restaurant of Chef Matt!

 

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 →

Only 16 of the 2019 Top 20 Restaurants in SA are still operating! How has our Gourmet scene changed in the past year?

In preparing for an interview conducted by Süd-Africa Magazin newsletter writer Werner Klein about how the restaurant scene has changed in Cape Town and the Winelands since Lockdown started over a year ago, I looked specifically at the Eat Out Top 20 Restaurant List of November 2019. Eat Out did not Award any restaurant awards in 2020, and appears unlikely to do so in 2021.

Of the latest Eat Out Top 20 Restaurants shortlisted, only 16 of our country’s Top 20 are still operating, I was shocked to discover.  Three of the four the top restaurants closed down in 2021. Two of the restaurants were on the Top 10 list, and two on the List of 11 – 20 ranked local restaurants in 2019.

The four restaurants which have closed down permanently are the following:

#   Restaurant at Waterkloof: The Chef Gregory Czarnecki owned restaurant operating at Waterkloof Winery in Somerset West closed on 22 November 2020. There has been no sight or sound of Chef Gregory, last posting on Instagram on 22 February. The restaurant held the number one slot of the Eat Out Top 10 list in 2018, and was ranked third in 2019.

SA Top 10 Restaurant List loses one of its stars as Restaurant at Waterkloof closes down in two weeks!

#   The Shortmarket Club was the first Fine-Dining restaurant to close down in Lockdown, almost immediately after it began last year.  In December 2020 it reopened with most of its chef team, who left Tintswalo to reopen the restaurant.  It has since ‘closed indefinitely’ but is still on the website of the LDR Group of Restaurants owned by Chef Luke Dale Roberts.  The site currently operates as The Test Kitchen Fledgelings, a Burger joint only operating on Fridays, and a training ground for new chef talent. In 2019 The Shortmarket Club was ranked at number 18 in 2019.

Is Chef Luke Dale Roberts scaling down his Restaurant Group? Salsify at the Roundhouse no longer part of the Group!

#   Mosaic at The Orient is the saddest closing, very unlikely to be due to the Lockdown. An Eat Out Top 10 restaurant for most of its existence, yet never given the number one slot, Chef Chantel Dartnall and her restaurant received better international recognition than local!  She appears to be investing in herself, taking time off at a local coastal retreat, and to spend time in Paris, to learn French and to work at a restaurant there. At the Eat Out Awards in 2019 Chef Chantel announced that she would no longer participate in the Eat Out Awards, wishing to make space on the Awards list for younger chefs and their restaurants. Many saw a different message in this announcement, given that she was not receiving the recognition she deserved locally. She was followed by Chef Luke Dale Roberts a few weeks later, in making the same announcement. Restaurant Mosaic closed down outside Pretoria at the end of March. It was ranked 9th in 2019, an insult to the restaurant  and its chef.

Top 16 women Chefs recognised by Michelin for International Women’s Day, Farewell to only Top SA Woman Chef! !

#.  La Tête also closed down, on Bree Street, on 6 February. It was ranked 17th in 2019.

 

The remaining Top 20 restaurants, in order of their 2019 ranking from number 1, are:  La Colombe, The Test Kitchen, Wolfgat, FYN, La Petite Colombe, Eike, Salsify at The Roundhouse, Chefs Warehouse at Beau Constantia, Camphors at Vergelegen, Overture, LivingRoom at Summerhill Estate, Chefs Warehouse at Maison, Greenhouse at The Cellars-Hohenhort, Le Coin Français, Tjing Tjing Momiji, and Rust en Vrede.

 

The interview about the changing restaurant scene in the past 13 months highlighted the following:

#   The restaurant industry has been doing well in the past two months, when the regulation regarding the sale of alcohol in restaurants was normalized, and the Curfew start time moved to midnight. Restaurants are reporting excellent trade, especially on weekends.

#   A total of 100 restaurants have closed down in Cape Town and the Winelands. Chef Luke Dale Roberts has lost two restaurants in his stable, only retaining The Test Kitchen and The Pot Luck Club.

#   More than 70 restaurants have opened, Chef Liam Tomlin having opened three in this period.

#.  A handful of restaurants announced their permanent closure, but managed to reopen again, including Clarke’s, Nelson’s Eye, and Perseverance Tavern.

#.  Franschhoek has been particularly hard hit by the Lockdown, losing Foliage a week ago, and Entrée and Fork recently. Yet restaurateur and Chef Darren Badenhorst has opened two new restaurants,  and has taken over the running of Tuk Tuk, in addition to his two existing restaurants.

#.  The ultimate fine dining restaurant has opened in our county, Restaurant KLEIN JAN at Tswalu Private Game Reserve, owned by Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen, who also owns one Michelin Star JAN restaurant in Nice. The new restaurant is likely to fly right into the number one spot when Eat Out reintroduces its Awards.

Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen finally opens his Restaurant KLEIN JAN in the Kalahari, most expensive restaurant in SA!

#. Capetonians can more easily access our city’s fine dining restaurants. It still takes three months to book at Wolfgat, and it took six months to get into The Test Kitchen. The latter restaurant now has availability for all dates in May. Most top restaurants now offer Reduced Tasting Menus, fewer courses offered making them more affordable.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity for an amended German version of this story to be published in the Newsletter of the Süd-Africa Magazin.  https://www.sued-afrika.de/artikel/newsletter-11-kapstadt-gastroszene-im-wandel. And for the magazine using a photograph of Utopia Cape Town restaurant.

 

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whaletalesblog.com  www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide