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 →
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. 
The 34th Cape Winemakers Guild Auction achieved a record R10,6 million in sales on Saturday, held at the Spier Conference Centre, with wines of the wine industry greats sold and bid for by top wine collectors, including a mix of hospitality and private buyers. 
Yesterday I attended two tastings of the Robertson-based Springfield Estate wines at OpenWine Pair Shop on Wale Street, a central tasting facility offering a selection of South African wines. I was impressed with the personality of co-owner Jeanette Bruwer, which came through in the evening tasting in particular! She introduced her wines in a consumer-friendly fun and natural manner. 
On Thursday I attended a function in the Cape Town Harbour, and spontaneously called ceramicist Diana Ferreira, to ask her if I could visit her studio in Paarden Eiland close by. Diana is one of our country’s leading ceramicists, specializing in restaurant dinnerware. 
I love seeing how restaurants can reinvent themselves, and often a new chef can be the catalyst. Chef Archie Maclean has been at Catharina’s for about four months, and has gone back to the history and origin of Steenberg wine estate and its first owner Catharina Ras for inspiration for his creative new menu. 
