We have written previously about the new ‘The Gourmet Guide‘, which is to be launched by Jenny Handley Performance Management in conjunction with Map Studio in the next three months, it has been announced!

The statement by Jenny Handley Performance (JHP) announces that ‘In 2016 JHP and Map Studio will be launching South Africa’s first gourmet guide featuring restaurants that subscribe to standards of excellence’.

Initially ‘The Gourmet Guide‘ was packaged as a South African Michelin star Guide, but this reference is not mentioned in the latest announcement. Initially it was also announced that our country’s Top 100 restaurants would be listed in The Gourmet Guide.  Ms Handley told me last year that ‘The Gourmet Guide‘ will be launched this month. The evaluation procedure is described as follows:  ‘Months of research has been conducted and will continue, to ensure that only appropriate and deserving establishments are included. Initial visits conducted by professional gourmets are anonymous. The guide will be launched in the first half of 201 (sic)’

In a clear competitive attack against Eat Out, ‘The Gourmet Guide‘ publishers state that: ‘The absence of hotel and restaurant advertisers means that all venues are rated on merit alone. There is also no cost for the restaurants/hotels to be included. There will be an enormous level of prestige associated with an inclusion’.

For each one of the 21 restaurants selected for the 2016 ‘The Gourmet Guide‘ the following information will be provided:  ‘Each selected restaurant will have a write-up that includes a brief description of the restaurant, a map and detailed directions, GPS co-ordinates, a QR code so that readers can link directly to the restaurant’s website, a recipe and photograph of the chef’s signature dish – in addition to being a gourmet guide, it becomes a collector’s recipe book. It will navigate the reader from the major cities of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, there will be country and Winelands escapes en route, covering gourmet getaways, refined dining and fabulous food’.

The Jenny Handley Blog has provided mini reviews of a cross-section of restaurants. We predict that the following restaurants on her Blog could be in The Gourmet Guide Top 21 Restaurant list:

Springfontein Eats

Hartford House

Camphors at Vergelegen

The Test Kitchen

Aubergine

Terroir

Mosaic at The Orient

Indochine

La Colombe

Foliage

Four Seasons The Westcliff

Waterkloof

The Pot Luck Club

The Kitchen at Maison

Greenhouse

Ellerman House

Missing from Ms Handley’s list of visited restaurants is The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français, Pierneef à La Motte,  Grande Provence, Delaire Graff Restaurant, Tokara, Overture, Restaurant at Jordan, Benguela on Main, Chef’s Warehouse, Rust en Vrede, Restaurant at The Werf at Boschendal, and Cube.

It will be interesting to see how Eat Out reacts to its new ‘The Gourmet Guide‘ restaurant award competitor, as well as to the American Express Restaurant Award upgrade, as announced last year!  It is a concern that so much of the Guide has changed since it was first announced last year!

POSTSCRIPT 5/4:  Ms Handley has Tweeted that her ‘The Gourmet Guide’ will be launched at The Good Food & Wine Show, in Cape Town from 27 – 29 May, and in Johannesburg from 29 – 31 July.  She also writes: ‘Jen’s Journeys may just throw you off the scent‘!

‘The Gourmet Guide’,  2016, Jenny Handley Performance and Map Studio, Cape Town.  Tel (021) 437-0334. www.jhpr.co.za Twitter: @Jenny_Handley Available at leading book retailers, hotels and restaurants featured in ‘The Gourmet Guide‘, airports, and at other tourist outlets.

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whalecottage.com/blog  Tel 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@WhaleCottage  Facebook:  click here