Tag Archives: Terra del Capo

La Paris Bistro dishes up generous winter comfort food and live music on Friday evenings!

I have visited La Paris estate outside Franschhoek a number of times since it opened towards the end of 2017, but never in the evening. I was invited by Chef Nico Vorster to try the evening fare and live music of the La Paris Bistro last Friday, the only day of the week on which the restaurant opens for dinner.  We loved the good music, and the cosy comfort food. Continue reading →

Paris comes to Franschhoek for Bastille Festival this weekend!

imageThe Franschhoek Bastille Festival is one of the most popular events held in this French Huguenot village, and this weekend (11 and 12 July) Franschhoek will be decked in red, white, and blue to celebrate its French roots. Even a mini Eiffel Tower is to bring Paris to Franschhoek this year!

The Franschhoek Bastille Festival Marquee will be set up next to the Franschhoek Huguenot Monument, with parking nearby. A number of Franschhoek restaurants will offer their cuisine, and Chef Marcus Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 21 May

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Daniel ‘Harry Potter’ Radcliffe was spotted climbing Table Mountain yesterday.  He is in Cape Town for the filming of ‘Game Changer’.

*   Lion’s Head is closed to hikers, due to a rockfall, but Table Mountain National Park is hoping to re-open it in time for the weekend.

*   Cape Vintner Classification will be launched officially at the London Wine Fair this week, to counter the image of our country’s wines as ‘cheap and cheerful‘.  The Classification will represent the 80% of brands that make up 10% of our wine export volume, and will market quality local Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 18 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and news headlines

*   ‘People love our country and continue to visit South Africa‘, said President Jacob Zuma in his State of the Nation Address at the opening of Parliament last night. He set our country’s tourism target at 15 million visitors per year by 2017, with a revenue of R125 billion generated.

*   TripAdvisor is testing amongst a sample of American hotels a new Question and Answer service on listed property pages, so that guests can request further information before they book, including  for example questions such as the cost of a mini-bar, availability of tickets to attractions at reception, opening times of the pool, etc.   Other travelers and the property can answer the questions. Hotels in the same town are not allowed to answer about another hotel in the discussion forums.

*   Much admired and liked Eat Out Top 10 Chef Jackie Cameron from Hartford House is leaving the KwaZulu-Natal hotel at the end of July, to open Jackie Cameron’s School of Food and Wine in Hilton in January next year. Continue reading →

Restaurant Revisit: Franschhoek Kitchen at Holden Manz introduces fresh new Chef Julia Hattingh!

Holden Manz Chef Julia Hattingh Whale Cotatge PortfolioJulia Hattingh is the fourth chef at Franschhoek Kitchen since Holden Manz bought the previously named Klein Genot wine estate, and it was renamed after the owners’ surnames.  She is a breath of fresh air, and the restaurant will attract back customers, as Chef Julia settles in and takes the restaurant to a new level.

Security is stricter now, one having to fill in a sheet at the boom, but friendly.   One walks through the downstairs tasting room to get to the upstairs restaurant, and I chose the smaller room with the fireplace. Front of House Manager Cobi Bosch is new, and he and I did not gel at all.  He previously worked at Rhapsody’s at Cape Town International and in Bloemfontein.  I knew that Manager Wayne Buckley would pop in, and I did want to meet Chef Julia, which made me stay.  Cobi also served as the waiter on Monday.   He recommended to a neighbouring table what his favourite dishes are, in guiding them what to order (they ordered a cheese platter to share in the end), but did not offer me this service.   He brought two wine lists, one with Holden Manz wines, and the other with wines from their ‘friends’, being other wine estates in Franschhoek and one in Stellenbosch, telling me that the Chardonnay on the list was sold out already.  He seemed most put out when I requested butter instead of the bottles of Willow Creek extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, for the slices of olive oil bread which he had brought to the table. Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 24 February!

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The V&A Waterfront appears to be getting the go-ahead from the City of Cape Town for its new development in Granger Bay, which will include parking, residential accommodation, and a coastal walkway connecting it to Sea Point, reports People’s Post.

*   Africa Travel Week, a triple travel and tourism exhibition, will be held in Cape Town from 28 April to 3 May, the first time a tourism exhibition will be held on such a large scale in Cape Town.   International travel brand names such as TripAdvisor, Hilton Worldwide, Starwood, and Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group (with brands Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, and Hotel Missoni)  will be present at the inaugural World Travel Market (WTM) Africa.   Africa is regarded as the ‘next key region for international travel brands’, making the continent attractive to global airlines, hotel groups, and technology companies, WTM Africa Event Manager Polly Magraw said.

*   Cape Town International is experiencing a shortage of jet fuel, Chevron has announced, saying it is working with Shell and other ‘colleagues’ to solve the problem, proudly stating that no flights were affected today.  On Kfm news however a Cape Town International spokesperson said that two flights were delayed by an hour each today as a result of the fuel problem.

*   A week ago the MyCiTi Bus introduced new routes (108 and 109) from Hout Bay, through Continue reading →