Thursday 10 June 2021, Day 11 of Adjusted Level 2 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for a wonderful day; for a busy writing morning, bringing the good news that our Sandak-Lewin Portfolio Manager Greg Anderson will soon be moved off our account, after I have lodged complaints about him for more than a year; for a quick walk through Bakoven; for collecting my Dinkel rolls; for finding the new Paris Cape Town Boulangerie and Pâtisserie on Main Road in Sea Point which opened yesterday; for an unusual Utopia Status meeting, winemaker Ken Forrester popping in to see my client, and for finally meeting Rene Hurwitz who I know from Facebook, celebrating her 48th wedding anniversary with lunch at Utopia, and for a spoil glass of Bottega Prosecco at Utopia, tasting the Extra Brut and celebrating a good day; for a German shop at Hartlief in the Garden Centre; for seeing Annie at the Pick n Pay in the Centre, having given me years of fabulous service when they delivered my grocery orders to my guest house in Camps Bay; for a wonderful evening at the launch of the Steak Club at The Lawns at the Rotunda in Camps Bay; and for being happy, healthy, and free. 🙏💙

My Blogpost today was a list of Restaurants offering Winter Specials in Cape Town and the Winelands.

Restaurant Winter Specials: Cape Town and Winelands (10 June 2021)

I was eagerly awaiting the opening of Paris Cape Town Boulangerie and Pâtisserie in the beautiful Art Deco building on Main Street in Sea Point. I bought a poppy seed half baguette, tooooo delicious, and croissants, which I haven’t yet eaten. The prices are very reasonable relative to Cassis. Laurent the owner showed me around, and introduced me to baker Thierry, ex Cassis, and gifted me an epi bread. #merci. They are open from 7h00 – 14h00 initially. I’ll definitely be doing a Wednesday order. One can do sit down too. A great asset for Cape Town 🥐🥖🥐

I didn’t know what to expect when I was invited to the opening of the Steak Club at The Lawns, a secret exclusive four month pop-up restaurant in a large marquee opulently decorated inside, with a central whisky bar especially made, and small tables, seating 60 persons per night. The Chef is Stephen Mandes (a former Ultimate Braai Master winner), whom I met many years ago at Mondial Restaurant, and he remembered that I don’t eat onions. Wow. I was taken care of by Gemma Botha, who had done the staff training about the wines for the event. We got on like a house on fire, and her friend Dax of Vinimark joined us too, he and I invited to the same function on Saturday. Tonight’s guest list was mainly wine and spirits trade. I had not seen Aubrey Ngcungwana in a number of years. Similarly Salvin Hirschfield of Son of a Butcher was there, the supplier of the steak, and we chatted about the meat supply, many small farmers having suffered. Alison Pearce of Nalu Wines was there too. The fun end of the evening was chatting to the best friend of Manbun #Bananaboy Reece, who features in my SwitchBitch Book 3, reminiscing about the good old dancing days at La Parada Constantia Nek. The food served as canapés, representing the dishes on the menu, was very good, especially the Wagyu. I drank a glass of excellent Lomond Shiraz 2019. Diners should dress warmly, as I didn’t see any heaters there. A lovely evening, like the ‘good old days’ pre-Lockdown.

SA Corona Status: 1 722 086 cases 57410 deaths 1 619 011 vaccinations

FitBit 6000 steps 4 km 👣

Lovemylife❤️

The Corona Virus Lockdown (Level 5), announced by our President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier to commence on 27 March and to continue until 16 April, subsequently extended to 30 April, lowered to Level 4 from 1 May, lowered to Level 3 from 1 June, lowered to Level 2 from 18 August, lowered to Level 1 from 21 September, and moved back to Adjusted Level 3 from 29 December,  extended to 15 February on 11 January, extended but relaxed on 1 February, and relaxed back to Level 1 on 1 March 2021, is an unprecedented event in my lifetime. I am posting my daily Facebook post to journal this Corona Lockdown Journey, perhaps to serve as material for a future Book.

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whaletalesblog.com www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein, My Cape Town Guide/Mein Kapstadt Guide Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide