The Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa is one of the first hotels to have recognized the special bond between pets and their owners, in accommodating pets with sleeping arrangements, but also in terms of a new special gourmet Pets’ Menu!

Twelve Apostles Executive Chef Christo Pretorius has worked closely with the Panorama Veterinary Clinic & Specialist Centre, to develop its brand new Pet Menu.  The pampered pets may dine in their room via (more…)

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines 

*   The South African Reserve Bank announced today that it will increase the interest rate by 0,25 %!

*   The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway will close for its annual maintenance on Monday 27 July until 9 August. Maintenance work will be undertaken, and the cable car cabins will be upgraded too. The maintenance work is overseen by Swiss engineers, to meet the global cableway safety standards of the Swiss Governing Body for Cableways.

*   Uber is looking at introducing UberPool, allowing the sharing of (more…)

I have not attended a #TweetandEat event for a long time, and when the invitation came from FIVE STAR PR to attend one at the Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa presented by their sister property Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat last week, it was a yes immediately, not having experienced the contemporary Cape cuisine of Executive Chef Floris Smith before.

Bushmans Kloof GM James Basson came to welcome me immediately, and it is clear to see why he was named the Best GM in the Red Carnation Group earlier this year. He is bubbly, friendly, and vivacious, and one feels that one has known him for years. I asked him what he does to have won the award, and he immediately said that it his team that makes a difference. His staff stay for long, and many couples work there, given that they are in the middle (more…)

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  The Good Food & Wine Show will be brought to Mumbai in India for the first year this year, after 16 years of running the show in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg, show organisers Fiero Milano have announced. (more…)

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. (more…)

If it depends on the Cape weather, it is hardly winter yet. However, the first restaurants are sending out their Winter Specials information, summarised below.  The list is updated continuously. We welcome information about new specials:

Cape Town

*   Umi in Camps Bay: 2 course set menu R155, 3 courses R195.  Beef shortrib R105, beef sirloin R95, fish & fries R85, Tataki Beef R55, Beef sliders R55, Baby squid R45. Half price sushi. Cocktails R40  Tel (021) 437-1802 (added 1/5/15)

*   Pepenero in Mouille Point : 2 courses R150, 3 courses R190. Sirloin R90, Rump R90, Lamb cutlets R120, Seafood platter R160, Sushi platter R130, Veal schnitzel R110, Oxtail R110, prawn platter R130, chicken liver pasta R80, and chicken curry R90 .  Half price sushi (selected items) all day. Cocktails R35. Daily. Tel (021) 439-9027 (added 1/5/15)

*    5 Rooms, Alphen Boutique Hotel: 2 courses R160; 3 courses R 200; Sirloin R95, slow braised lamb shank (more…)

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The French association of travel agents and tour operators has written to the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Tourism, and the Department of Foreign Affairs, requesting an improvement regarding the new Immigration Regulations regarding children traveling to our country.  The association points out that tourism to our country will be harmed, by up to 40% they warn!

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DnA Event Management has announced that it is calling for entries for the inaugural The Sommelier Selection, which will become a list of wines which will receive the stamp of approval of sommelier judges who serve on the committee of the South African Sommelier Association, the first local wine competition judged by a panel of sommeliers, and aimed at assisting the ‘everyday wine drinker’ in selecting good and affordable wines.

Not only wines in categories of House Wine under R110 a bottle (White, Red, Rosé, ‘Bubbles‘, ‘Sweets‘); Whites (Fresh/Crunchy, Elegant/Classy, Full/Rich, Luscious/Aromatic); Reds (Fresh/Juicy, Elegant/Classy, Voluptuous/Rich); Pinks (Rosés, Blanc de Noirs); ‘Fizzys/Bubbles‘ (MCC Non Vintage, MCC Vintage, MCC Rosé, MCC (more…)

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.

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When UK wine judge and writer Jancis Robinson visited Cape Town last month, she brought her restaurant critic and former restaurateur husband Nick Lander along.  He visited a handful of Cape Town restaurants, focusing mainly on Cape Town’s favourite foodie Bree Street, and wrote a brief overview about them.

Lander wrote that he found it hard to concentrate on Chef Christo Pretorius’ dishes of a lamb terrine, kingklip, and a milk and honey dessert, whilst eating at Azure at the Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa, given the breathtaking view onto the Atlantic Ocean: ‘Cape Town’s natural beauty is so striking that it is impossible for any chef to compete‘.  He blamed the lightweight Cape Town restaurant overview on the view! (more…)