Thursday 10 February 2022, Day 133 of Level 1 😷
Corona Lockdown Gratitude 🙏
#grateful for a looooong day, getting home at 21h30; for lovely rain this morning; for Minsky coming back safely early this morning, being out all night and surviving the rain 😻; for preparing for four client Status meetings in a row this morning, followed by a half an hour me-spoil in Sea Point; for a quick chat with Celia Mauerberger, having parked near the Frosted shop; for meeting with newkings boutique hotel and Zest, lovely to see Zest so busy for lunch, and welcoming Takuan von Arnim of Haute Cabriere there too, who was having lunch; for a lovely meeting with Fiona Simons from Ireland, a long-time Blog follower, lunching with her husband at Zest, praising me to Chef Pavel when we happened to share a table 💙; for the lovely meeting of Robyn De Biaggi in her car, only knowing her as a Facebook Friend, picking up her grandchild at the French School; for getting out of a traffic mess driving from Sea Point to De Waterkant, when Strand Street was closed for our President traveling from his Fresnaye home to the City Hall, becoming a 45 minute journey for me 😱; for meeting with Utopia Cape Town and Anatoli Mediterranean Restaurant; for a Caprese salad spoil at Utopia, having to kill one hour; for a spoil pop-up dinner by Chef Ridian Kabeya at Red The Gallery, with lovely Company at the table I sat at; and for being happy, healthy and free. 🙏💙
The pop-up dinner invitation came from Chef Ridian via Messenger, not having met him before. Two tables seating twenty in total had been set up by Bespoke Events, the art works the canvas for the dinner. The beverages were supplied my MorVino, Vee Roux introducing a granadilla Amari G & T cocktail, the Gin made with ocean water. Vee was the only person present that I had met before. I was the only writer, most others being models. We seemed to have the B table, but it turned out to be super, with Ali (she lives around the corner from me in Bakoven, knows Maya from walking past, and is a lawyer and runs a concierge service) and her friend. Even more amazing was latecomer Steven Britz who sat at our table, sharing that he and a friend are opening a new restaurant Artizian on 1 April on Bree Street. It will have a pool, a cigar bar, dancing, a VIP seating section, and will be open Monday – Sunday. We were shown very impressive interior designs.
We were served three courses:
#. Yellowtail with scallops, peas, cauliflower and broccoli, paired with Zevenwacht Chardonnay 2020
#. Duck with butternut risotto, paired with The Valley Pinot Noir 2020
#. Chocolate Mousse, biscuit, crumble, coconut ice cream, paired with Die Klein Wein Shiraz.
As Chef Ridian had promised, this event was less about the food and more about the connections made. He was true to his word. 💙💙💙💙💙
SA Corona Status: 3,634,811 cases 96705 deaths 30,468,125 vaccinations
FitBit 5000 steps 3 km 👣
LovemylifeandloveGaryslife 💙❤️
The Corona Virus Lockdown (Level 5), announced by our President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier to commence on 27 March 2020 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 2021, extended but relaxed on 1 February, and relaxed back to Level 1 on 1 March 2021, moved back to Adjusted Level 2 on 31 May, moved back to level 3 on 16 June, and moved back to Adjusted Level 4 on 28 June, extended by two weeks on 11 July, returned to Level 3 on 26 July, returned to Level 2 on 13 September, returned to Level 1 on 1 October, and the Curfew Curfew lifted on 30 December 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