The Sweet Service Award goes to The Blanc Canvas and its owner Lisa, inside Oxford Stationers at the Gardens Centre. I had three small paintings and drawings bought on my recent trip framed, and they were completed within a week, at a very reasonable price.
A week ago I attended a wine tasting with a difference, not stiff upper lip and peppered with heavy wine terminology, but light and fun, as a guest of ask-Jean.com, which I had seen on Instagram. Continue reading →
The most exciting news for the South African restaurant industry is that Interlude, at Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens in the UK, was crowned with a 2020 Michelin star today, the kitchen headed up by South African Chef Jean Delport, formerly of Benguela on Main in Somerset West. It follows in the footsteps of JAN restaurant in Nice, owned by South African Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen, which also has one Michelin star. It may be no coincidence that both chefs studied at the very under the radar Zevenwacht Chef School. Continue reading →
On Thursday I attended Patrón Perfectionists 2019, a two-prong event that was held in Franschhoek and in the Waterfront to select the winner of the 2019 Patrón Tequila cocktail competition, out of a finalist list of 15 mixologists from around the country. Cape Town mixologist David van Zyl of Cause & Effect Cocktail Kitchen won the competition, winning an entry into the Global Finals against 21 other mixologists in Mexico in January 2020.
This Blogpost focuses on Part One of the Patrón Perfectionists event. Part Two follows tomorrow.
The Sweet Service Award goes to Straatwerk and their workers, who have helped me clean up in Camps Bay on numerous weekends, to weed the stream that I look after near the Tidal Pool, and to remove litter underneath bushes along Victoria Road. They are energetic, friendly, and dedicated in the work that they do, despite their very tough lives and backgrounds. Seeff is doing a fantastic job in sponsoring the work of Straatwerk to the benefit of the Camps Bay community. Continue reading →
Last week I enjoyed the special Heritage Day lunch at pop-up SŸN restaurant on Bree Street, and after the lunch I heard the first details of the permanent fine-dining restaurant opening on 1 November, to be called Exhibit A. The restaurant will be located on the 3rd floor of the Villa 47 building at 47 Bree Street. Yesterday I returned to the restaurant to hear more details from the chefs about their new 46-seater restaurant. Continue reading →
On Sunday 17 November, from midday to midnight, the country’s top restaurants will be celebrated and will celebrate their performance in the hotly contested 2019 Eat Out Awards. Could there be another upset in the number one slot, as happened last year when The Test Kitchen slipped into second position, after number one winner Restaurant at Waterkloof? Continue reading →
The most coveted 2019 Diners Club Winelist Award, its Icon Award, recognising restaurants that meet all the requirements of a Diamond Award, but also feature an extensive collection of international wines, as well as Reserve and vintage wines, having a sommelier on the floor, and having ‘a deep interest in wine curation’, were awarded to Restaurant Mosaic at the Orient Boutique Hotel in Pretoria, and the Saxon Hotel Villas & Spa in Johannesburg. This is the second year that the Icon Awards have been presented, to both restaurants. Continue reading →
On Thursday I was invited to try the newish Boudha Lounge on Buiten Street, in the block between Loop and Long streets, offering Cantonese cuisine. Its marketing is managed by well-known Justin Paul Jansen, and his formula is to offer a restaurant and bar service to guests, as well as a DJ box, with a line-up of different DJs on different evenings. DJ René will play on Tuesday evenings, from 19h00 until late. Continue reading →
The Sweet Service Award goes to Woolworths in Camps Bay, and its manager Gary Arendse, for dropping off a bag of oranges at my home, when I recommended to him that the new branch offer a larger fruit and vegetable supply, and break up a pocket of oranges so that one can buy them individually, for single customers like myself and like they do in the Waterfront. Continue reading →