Tag Archives: Neil Jewell

Chef Liam Tomlin admits his Local, La Cantina, and Mazza food projects are not working at Heritage Square!

 

After a big fanfare about taking over the former HQ on Shortmarket Street, adjacent to his Chefs Warehouse Pinchos and Winebar in the same building, and turning it into a Local market of mini restaurants,  an Italian restaurant La Cantina, and a Lebanese restaurant Mazza on the mezzanine level of the building in 2020, Chef Liam Tomlin has admitted defeat and walked away from all three restaurant projects, all in Heritage Square in town, he announced on his Social Media accounts last month! Continue reading →

New Restaurant Openings in Cape Town and Winelands grind to a halt! April 2019

Winter is on our doorstep, autumn making itself felt already. Traditionally winter commences at Easter, giving the restaurant industry just three weeks to make its last bucks. The only new restaurant that I have heard open is Botanicum Café & Grill in Constantia, previously Bootlegger Café & Grill, now (silently) 50% owned by Bootlegger, as the concept was not working with the Bootlegger name, it being seen as a coffee shop and not a stand-alone restaurant. 

Restaurant openings Continue reading →

Pastry goes pink with new Callebaut Ruby RB1 pink chocolate!

In my passion of writing about food and restaurants in the main, I am very lucky and often spoilt. Yesterday I attended a historic event for the food and restaurant industry, the launch of the new Ruby RB1 chocolate by Callebaut, an iconic new pink chocolate, the first new chocolate launch in 80 years since the introduction of dark, milk, and white chocolates. It was developed over a period of ten years by Callebaut with a University in Germany. Continue reading →

Le Quartier Français’ The Tasting Room Chef Margot Janse sets record of longest-standing fine-dining chef in SA!

imageToday culinary history is made with Chef Margot Janse of The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français, now part of the Leeu Collection, celebrating her 20th anniversary at the same restaurant! There is no Fine Dining chef in our country who has worked in the same Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 1 September

imageTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*. The price of petrol will decrease by 69 cents per liter at midnight this evening. The decrease is mainly due to the drop in the price of crude oil, which has resulted from an oversupply of Brent crude oil. The new petrol price contains an allocation of 4,6 cents per lite to fund a 9% increase in the salaries of pump attendants and cashiers.

*.  Eskom has announced that its Koeberg Unit 2 has gone into a refueling Continue reading →

South African restaurants reflect (most) international food trends!

Food Trends BreadHow are food trends made?  Is it chefs inspired by other chefs, especially award-winning ones? Is it chefs doing stages in the top restaurants of the world, and returning to create dishes inspired by what they have seen and learnt, as has happened in our country with Noma clones!?  Is it chefs looking at photographs of food bloggers and restaurant reviewers, or their photographs on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook?

The six following food trends are hot right now:

1.   Bread and Butter: something many restaurants have done away with appears to be making a come-back, in being created as something so special that it is a serious dish on a menu.  Breads are now self-baked, Banting-approved butter is not only served salted or unsalted, but also with additives like cheese, salts, bone marrow, burnt onion, sun-dried tomatoes, or Marmite, or as I experienced at Boschendal’s new The Werf Restaurant with lamb and beef added, or with Shiraz added at Equus at Cavalli.  Serving whipped butter is particularly trendy.

2.  Since Banting took off last year, the price of cauliflower has soared in Cape Town, a staple element of Banting menus, including cauli-mash, making bases for pizzas, and as a ‘safe‘ vegetable. Internationally Noma has revived this vegetable, by serving it pot-roasted whole, topped with pine and yoghurt whey. It is served puréed, barbecued, pickled, and even as a ‘steak’.

Continue reading →