Category Archives: Winelands

Cape Town and Winelands see host of new restaurant openings: December 2020 update!

 

Cape Town and the Winelands is experiencing a restaurant boom, with new openings currently as well as openings announced for 2023.

The biggest restaurant opening extravaganza is that of JAN Franschhoek, the third restaurant in the JAN Restaurant Collection, opening at La Motte in Franschhoek. La Motte is undergoing a major renovation and changes at its wine estate, with a Bread-related Café & Deli opening  in the La Motte Manor House in February 2023. Chef Chris Erasmus is working with La Motte as a consultant, until February. He is going overseas thereafter. Chef Peter Tempelhoff opens his third restaurant next week, a Japanese Street Food restaurant Ramenhead. Chef David Higgs has announced opening Continue reading →

Platter’s by Diners Club Wine Guide 2023 Awards 5 stars to 196 wines!

 

The 43rd edition of Platter’s by Diners Club Wine Guide has announced its 2023 list of 196 wines in 28 categories that were awarded 5 stars this year. A total of 8000 wines by 900 producers was evaluated this year.

Red and White Blends as well as Chenin Blanc are the biggest 5 star classes, with 28, 27 and 28 individual labels, respectively. The Chardonnay, Shiraz/Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon wine categories also performed well, with 22, 16, and 12 brands, respectively.

The Top Performing Winery of the Year goes to the winery that achieves the most five-star ratings after the annual final tasting round, it being Mullineux this year, with 8 five-star wines. It is the Swartland- Continue reading →

JAN opens long-awaited restaurant in the Cape, 8 years after opening in Nice!

 

About six years ago, when Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen launched his JAN series on Showmax, I asked him when he would open a branch of JAN Restaurant in Cape Town or in the Cape. He was evasive in answering at the time.

After opening KLEINJAN Restaurant at Tswalu Game Reserve a year ago, and his JAN Innovation Studio in Cape Town, Chef Jan-Hendrik has finally Continue reading →

SA restaurants awarded with stars for the first time in 2022 Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards!

 

The Eat Out Restaurant Awards were held for the first time in three years today, an eagerly awaited event, given the impact of the Lockdown on the restaurant industry, and the change in the restaurant awards system, restaurants no longer ranked, but rated with 1, 2 or 3 stars.

It was a surprise to read a year ago that Eat Out would reintroduce its Awards this year, and that Abigail Donnelly was heading up the judging for the awards again, after an absence of a number of years. Continue reading →