After four years at Cellars-Hohenhort, the Greenhouse has completely transformed itself by changing its decor and menu, only the floor remaining the same!
How brave yet exciting it must have been to remove every decor item (including the ceramic bunnies), all the crockery and cutlery, the glassware, the menu covers, the placemats, the waiter uniforms, the tables and chairs, the lamps and lighting, and anything else that had gone before, Continue reading →
Eat Out is really trying hard to be different in its Top 10 Restaurant Awards this year, and comes across as rather silly. Now it is starting to release its Top 20 Restaurant shortlist, but in batches of five restaurants at a time (ten today, in two batches), with another two batches of five to come. Instead of releasing the list of names, one has to watch a video to see the name of each Finalist restaurant. We will expand upon this Blogpost tomorrow, as the further ten restaurant names are revealed. Continue reading →
The participation by restaurants in the Western Cape in the Diners Club Winelist Awards 2015 is a shock, declining from 80 restaurants in 2014 (already a decrease from 96 in 2013) to 65 restaurants this year! Diners Club will have to find a solution to the declining interest in its Winelist Awards.
The Diners Club Winelist Awards acknowledge restaurants which take pride and interest in their winelists, and how the wines match the food Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The announcement last week of the discovery of a new hominid species Homo Naledi at The Cradle of Humankind at Maropeng, and its international media coverage by National Geographic in particular, could give Tourism to our country a much-needed boost.
*. The 31st Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild will be held at Spier on Continue reading →
The Eat Out judges are doing the rounds in evaluating our country’s Top 20 restaurants, from which they will pick their Top 10 Restaurants for 2015, to be announced at a Gala Lunch at Mistico Equestrian Centre outside
Paarl on 15 November.
Last year a number of restaurants made it to the Top 20 shortlist, possibly by default, as the largest number of chef changes ever took place in 2014, making the restaurants linked to those chefs ineligible to be considered for an Eat Out Top 10 award. This affected Hartford House (Chef Jackie Cameron starting her Jackie Cameron School of Food and Wine), Delaire Graff (Chef Christiaan Campbell Continue reading →
The Chefs who Share – the ART of Giving competition to find South Africa’s Young Chef has started cooking, with 75 restaurants around the country having been sent invitations for one of their up-and-coming chefs to participate in the competition.
Beautiful presentation boxes were prepared, with Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The Garden Route is one of nine Best Coastal Drives in the world, selected by CNN Traveler, and described as follows: ‘Drive along the #GardenRoute @GoToSouthAfrica absolutely stunning!” —@SuryaSadisivan’ . Other coastal drives on the list includes the Atlantic Ocean Road in Norway, the Amalfi Drive in Italy, the Road to Key West in Florida, and Sea-to-Sky Highway in Vancouver.
* Horst Frehse, Executive Director of the Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent Red Carnation Hotel Collection Staff Appreciation Awards held in London. Continue reading →
It was a recent article by Nick Lander, husband of renowned wine critic Jancis Robinson and restaurant critic in the UK, about restaurants in hotels he had visited in Dubai that made me consider once again why hotel restaurants fare so poorly in patron support and in the Eat Out Top 10 restaurant awards in our country.
What a surprise to read this morning that Chef Peter Tempelhoff, co-owner of Mondiall Restaurant with Patrick Symington, is leaving his own restaurant, to focus more time on The Greenhouse and the other restaurants in the McGrath hotel portfolio!
The announcement was made via Eat Out, and Chef Peter is quoted as saying: ‘Along with the sudden death of one of my greatest mentors, Liz McGrath, a few weeks ago, 
has come a change of thinking and a new challenge. My role in the three Relais & Chateaux hotels of The Collection by Liz McGrath has become more important than ever before, as I have been offered a more significant role within The Greenhouse and the company… a challenge I cannot ignore. Continue reading →
The second AfrAsia Bank Cape Wine Auction was held at Boschendal Wine Farm yesterday, and generated R10,5 million, exceeding its goal of monies to be raised at the prestigious event, which saw 34 wine estates offering very generous auction lots.
Bids could be made online, or in person at the Auction. Auction lots were donated by ‘Auction Ambassadors‘, with rare local and international wine collections, gourmet dinners, art, luxury cruises, and unique travel destinations. The Auction was preceded by a ‘Barrel Tasting & Preview‘ the evening before in what looked from photographs like a magical Dylan Lewis Continue reading →