After a record year of restaurant openings, the pace of new restaurants opening in Cape Town and in the Winelands has slowed down, with no new restaurant openings in January, to our knowledge. 

We update information about newly opened and closed restaurants continuously, and welcome information.

Restaurant Openings

#  Marigold has opened in Franschhoek, part of the Leeu Collection (photograph).

# La Parada Del Mar has opened in Camps Bay: http://www.whalecottage.com/blog/cape-town/restaurant-review-la-parada-del-mar-sizzles-in-camps-bay/Dublin donuts, Speak & Bone, 

# The 41 has opened in Camps Bay

# Tiger’s Milk has opened in the SanClare Building in Claremont, in Century City, in Bryanston, and in Stellenbosch.

# Harbour House is to open in Johannesburg

# Hard Rock Café is said to open in the V&A Waterfront.

# Jamie’s Italian is to open in Cape Town.

# Dunkin’ Donuts will open 250 outlets in our country, the first outlet having opened at N1 City in Cape Town.

# Papa San, previously of Takumi, has opened his own restaurant Obi with Ben Bettendorf, on Long Street.

# Cheyne’s is opening a cocktail sake bar, to be called Fire Monkey.

# Chef Ivor Jones has teamed up with Chef Liam Tomlin, and has opened a second Chef’s Warehouse, at Beau Constantia wine estate.

# Chef Cheyne Morrisby has opened a Ramen and Japanese Grill House called SHIO in Green Point.

# The Grand Café and Beach in Granger Bay has re-opened.

# Chef Garth Almazan, previously of Catharina’s at Steenberg, is opening a restaurant in Paternoster.

# Tre Steampunk Club Restaurant and Bar has opened on Buitengracht Street.

# Chef Bertus Basson has opened new restaurant Spek & Bone off Dorp Street in Stellenbosch.

# Chef Bertus Basson is the new Chef Patron of the Bertus Basson @ Ritz Hotel Revolving Restaurant in Sea Point.

# House of H has opened.

# Villains Pub and Ale House has opened.

# Baconville has opened in Willowbridge, a second restaurant by Richard Bosman.

# Terra Madre has opened in Elgin, for lunch on Fridays and Saturdays from 10h00 – 16hoo, owned by Nicole Precoudis.

# Mangata has opened in Simon’s Town.

# Tea in the Park has opened in the Green Point Urban Park.

# Cabana will open in The Ritz

# Black & Co will open in Constantia as a coffee and gift shop.

# Pikant has opened at Uitkyk as a pop-up restaurant, operating until 29 January.

# Chefs has opened in Gardens, with Chef Jenny Ward in the kitchen.

# The Vine Bistro at Glenelly has opened, with Chef Christophe Dehosse.

# ELL Vegan Cafe has opened in Hermanus.

# Bon Appétit Keam Restaurant has opened in Grabouw.

# Solo Restaurant has opened on Loop Street.

# Pizza Hut has opened on Kloof Street

#. De Villiers Chocolate Cafë has opened in Franschhoek.

# El Burro has opened in Newlands

# Baked on Long has opened

# The Stepbrother has opened in De Waterkant.

# The Classic Car Bar has opened in the V&A Waterfront.

# La Colombe will open a new as yet unnamed restaurant in Le Quartier Français in August.

#  Vista Marina is to open next to the Two Oceans Aquarium. 

#    J’Something of Mi Casa is opening Something’s Cooking by J at the new Sun International Times Square in Pretoria in March.

#   Ground Coffee has opened in De Waterkant. 

Restaurant Closures

# Borage Bistro has closed down at its Bree Street premises, to relocate to new premises.

# Palma has closed on Bree Street.

# Ravish on Bree Street has closed down.

# Chef Conrad Gallagher has been evicted from the Café Chic premises and has left Cape Town! He opened a restaurant Gallagher’s on Stanley in Port Elizabeth, despite not having paid suppliers in Cape Town, and has been evicted from the Port Elizabeth premises!

# Hudsons in Claremont is closing down.

# Bootlegger in Bantry Bay has closed down.

# Searle’s in Greyton has stopped operating, and will only do catering for events.

# Showroom in Stellenbosch has closed down.

#  Panama Jacks has been told to find new premises by the Port authority, after 27 years of operating from the venue! 

#   Bloemendal Restaurant has closed down

Restaurant changes

# Reuben’s Franschhoek will move to new premises, and its past space has become a Woolworths. It has closed for renovations, and reopens at its new location at 2 Daniel Hugo Street in March. It is currently operating as a pop-up restaurant at the Riffel-owned Racine at Chamonix.

# OYO at V&A Hotel has re-opened after a complete renovation, and is now called Ginja.

# Tiger’s Milk Smokehouse is opening where Emily’s used to be on Kloof Street.

# The Long Table Restaurant and Café at Haskell Vineyards closed in March, and will re-open after an extensive renovation, upgrade, and general maintenance, to be run by the winery itself when it re-opens.

# Kan10 has opened in De Warenmarkt, offering lunches, ‘grab-and-go’, and dinners, with Chefs Nic van Wyk and Westley Muller.

# Chef Liam Tomlin’s Indian tapas bar Thali, headed up by Chef John van Zyl, has opened. The project partner is Dimo Papa Christodoulou of Fat Cactus and Long Street Cafe. They will not take reservations.

# Chef Eric Bulpitt and his team have opened Faber at Avondale.

# Chef Bertus Basson is renovating Overture in winter. 

# The Fat Butcher has opened in Stellenbosch.

# The Mess has opened in The Rockwell, previously Café Dijon

# Adam Whitehead of The Power & Glory has taken over the Rafiki space to create a new eatery.

# Birds Café on Bree Street has undergone a transformation, and has reopened as Mink & Trout

# Chef Kobus Van Der Merwe has moved out of his Oep ve Koep venue in Paternoster, and reopened at Wolfgat.

# Orinoco has closed at its current premises on Bree Street, and reopens next year at an as yet unidentified location.

# Original Deli in Hermanus has changed its name to Soul Cafe Hermanus.

# Seabreeze Fish & Shell is to open in April , where Palma used to operate on Bree Street. Oyster Bar already open, Wednesday – Saturday evenings. 

# La Tête Restaurant has opened where Orinoco operated on Bree Street, with Chef Giles Edwards.

# Chefs Nik van Wyk and Westley Muller have taken over the restaurant at Haute Cabriere, retaining the name of the restaurant.

# Origins at The Marine has taken over the Seafood Pavilion space at The Marine Hotel in Hermanus.

# Life Grand Café has opened where the Hildebrandt used to operate in the Waterfront.

# The former Alba Lounge in the Waterfront has re-opened as a Portugueses restaurant MAReSOL

# Ile de Pain has reopened in Knysna, after a devastating fire in 2015.

# Hail Pizza has opened in the courtyard at Clarke’s on Bree Street.

# Primal Eatery has opened where Charcoal Dining used to be on New Church Street.

# Reuben’s is no longer operating at The Robertson Small Hotel. The hotel is now running its own restaurant.

# Bootlegger has opened in Bakoven where Baked Bistro used to operate.

Chef and Restaurant staff changes

# Chef Angelo Scirocco has left Urbanologi in Johannesburg as its Head Chef. He is said to be opening his own restaurant in Pretoria.

# Chef Duncan Doherty is consulting to the restaurant at the Century City Hotel.

# Chef Adele Grewar has left Overture, but is said to be returning to Bertus Basson at Spice Route. Chef Alistaire Lawrence has left Bertus Basson at Spice Route.

# Carl Habel is the new Manager of Nobu at the One & Only Cape Town.

# Ben Kirsten is the new Restaurant Manager at Tokara.

# Chef Jochen Heathcote is now the Head Chef at The Restaurant at Villa 47, formerly at Myoga and Open Door.

# Chef John van Zyl has left Urbanologi, to return to Liam Tomlin as Head Chef of his new Indian restaurant Thali

# Chef Nick Oosthuizen from Swellendam has taken over the running of The Restaurant at Newton Johnson.

# Isabella Immenkamp has left Hoghouse at Spier, and is at the Vine Bistro at Glenelly now. Andre van der Merwe has taken over as Manager at HogHouse.

# Martell Smit has left Leeu Estates, and is a Manager at Melissa’s.

# Chef Germaine Esau has joined Dash at the Queen Victoria Hotel in the Waterfront

# Ian Smith is the GM of the new Melissa’s-owned Mantra Café in Camps Bay.

# Oskar Kotze has sold Sevruga, and his restaurants in Johanneburg, Pretoria, and Durban. He retains Beluga in Cape Town.

# Gareth Flynn is the new Pastry Chef at Pierneef à La Motte.

# Chef Veronica Canha-Hibbert is the new Executive Chef at the Silo Hotel.

# Chef Sheldon Raju is no longer with Chefs Warehouse nor is he involved with Chef Liam’s new Indian restaurant Thali.

# Chef Chris Papayannes is the new Group Executive Chef at Devil’s Peak Brewing Company in Woodstock, and opening in Durbanville in March, and in Epping in July. The Head Chef at Chalk & Cork is Justin Zietsman.

# Chef Annemarie Robertson has left Open Door and is freelancing in Johannesburg. The new Executive Chef is Evan Coosner.

# Chef Guy Clark has been appointed as the Executive Chef at Tintswalo Atlantic.

We welcome all restaurant news: chrisvonulmenstein [at] gmail.com

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: click here Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein