Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Brass Bell in Kalk Bay has to remove all its deck extensions, the City of Cape Town has dictated.

*   Vida e Caffe is said to be opening at Shell forecourts, rolling out with 40 outlets initially, and a total of 300 is planned!

*   Russia is now South Africa’s third largest export market, especially in bulk wines.

*   The Hermanus Wine & Food Festival will be held at the outskirts of the town this weekend, on Friday and Saturday.

*   Bistro Sixteen82 is focusing on South Africa in its Tapas themed dinners in August, with its ‘Bringing Tapas Home’ theme being traditional South African dishes with a contemporary twist. The ten local dishes include Bobotie, Bunny Chow, Malva Pudding, and Koeksisters.  So far the Tapas themes have been Italy and Turkey, and Mexico and the Orient will follow. (via media release from Communication Services Africa)

*   The Robertson Wine on the River festival takes place for the eighth consecutive year, over the weekend of 18 – 20 October, in the marquee at the riverside farm Goudmyn, situated on the R317 between Robertson and Bonnievale.  There will be more than 300 wines from over 40 wineries to taste. (via media release from Hazell Public Relations and Wine Consultants)

*   North Island in Seychelles is the world’s most expensive hotel!

*  The winner of the August Col’Cacchio Pizza Challenge Live is Jade Fairbrother, with her Hollywood Scene pizza, which combines a tomato base, mozzarella, bacon, oven roasted red onion and garlic topped with avocado, fresh thyme leaves and crispy onion, with the option to add banana.   The web-based competition, which included four video episodes of contestants creating delicious pizza masterpieces, was well received by the public, which voted for its favourite ‘chef’ by way of Tweets.  Jade took the title in a finale against runner-up finalist Victoria Stevens.  ‘I’m hoping my Hollywood Scene warms the heart and tastebuds in chilly August.  It’s a combination of my favourite flavours with a few special twists’, comments Jade.  The Celebrity Chef Series has raised R140000 over the past three months, R5 from the sale of each celebrity chef pizza being donated to the Children’s Hospital Trust, which raises funds for the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Paediatric Healthcare in the Western Cape. One month remains to reach Col’Cacchio pizzeria’s target of R200000. (via media release from KL PR & Events.

*   Capsicum Culinary Studio is the first cooking school in the country to use iPads in its training, allowing students to access a huge range of programmes and applications that make the learning process easier and more interactive.

*   Travel Guides using Google Glass technology are being developed, and Cape Town is one of the cities which could benefit.

*   The Ministers of Tourism of South Africa and Seychelles have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, paving the way for tourism co-operation in the future.

*   Robben Island Museum, operating the tourist ferries to the island, spent more than R300000 in the last financial year to repair just one of its ferries, and more than R10 million on repairs in total in the past two years.  The ferry breakdowns are a regular problem that has caused inconvenience to tourists wishing to use the service.

*  A total of 855000 visitors went up Table Mountain with the Cableway in the past financial year of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company.  The company has been presented with the South African National Park’s Cape Regional Business Partner of the Year Award.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: WhaleCottage