Tag Archives: Bistro

Restaurant Review: There are no pistachios at Pistachio Bistro in Franschhoek, review wish comes true!

Pistachio Bistro Exterior Whale Cottage PortfolioPistachio has existed as a decor outlet in Franschhoek for a number of years, first at the top end of  Huguenot Road, and then lower down the main road when it moved into Place Vendome Lifestyle Centre at the entrance to town.  Recently it opened up as Pistachio Bistro, in which no pistachios are used at all, and which does not appear to have anyone qualified to cook!  Pistachio Bistro is a total failure in more ways than one.

I have been a past customer of Pistachio, having bought cushions for my couches, and should have known that service would not be their strength, as an order for additional cushions was never received!  Two months ago a Tweet alerted me to the transformation of the decor shop into a Bistro, and I decided to pop in.  Little had Pistachio Bistro orange chairschanged inside Pistachio, the sales/payment desk still being at the entrance, the staff are still the same, and all that had changed was that a few tables for seating had been added, as had a longer table with a selection of cakes and small treats, for which there should be a good demand, given that good cake is scarce in Franschhoek. Continue reading →

Balance wines are ‘hip, hop, and happening’!

Balance Banner Whale Cottage PortfolioThe Bay Hotel in Camps Bay was a perfect venue for the tasting of the newest Overhex Wines International’s Balance wines on Tuesday, the venue being as light and crisp as the Balance wines.

The function moved to different venues inside the hotel, a welcome glass of Balance Boldly Brut being served with a canapé of samoosa filled with crocodile (luckily we were not told what was inside when it was served!), bacon, and green apple on an Asian spoon,Balance Canapes Whale Cottage Portfolio in Sandy B, the downstairs bar.

The tasting was held in the downstairs Bistro, with an introduction of Overhex Wines International by co-owner and MD Gerhard van der Wath.  The company was established seven years ago, and he got Swiss winemaker JC Martin, co-owner of Creation and son-in-law of highly respected winemaker Walter Finlayson, on board as winemaker.  JC and Gerhard recently bought out the other partners, and JC makes his own Creation wines as well as blending the Balance wines.  The company is one of the top 20 exporters of South African wines.  Their strategy is to be different, Gerhard said, which shows in their fun label of an elephant balancing on the letter ‘l’!   They develop different styles of wines for different markets.   All the grapes are bought in for their wine production, a total of 10000 tons.  He shared that they have won the largest number of wine tenders in Finland in the past Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 1 August

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The vine growing regions in South Africa, Bordeaux, and South Australia could be affected negatively by climate change in future, due to droughts, while the Rhine region of Germany, New Zealand, the USA states of Oregon and Washington, and Mendoza are likely to benefit from climate change, writes Antonio Busalacchi, wine expert and climate scientist.

*   The Eat Out Restaurant Awards will take place at The Lookout in the V&A Waterfront on 10 November, much earlier than usual.  Awards to be presented are

Restaurant of the Year
Chef of the Year
Service Excellence
Top 10 restaurants
Boschendal Style Award Continue reading →

Franschhoek Artisan Food Route launched to showcase local ‘handcrafted produce’!

One can commend Franschhoek Wine Valley tourism for constantly finding new ways to attract visitors to its gourmet food and wine village. Now it has launched the Franschhoek Artisan Food Route, attracting attention to the diversity of 21 hand-made high quality small quantity food producers in the valley, with more to be added.

The little A5 Franschhoek Wine Valley leaflet about the Franschhoek Artisan Food Route does not do justice to the quality of the food artisans on the Route, and one wonders why they skimped to keep the map so small, when the Wine and Restaurant map is A3 in size!  The result is that the detail provided is minimal, just three lines per food artisan, with the exception of La Motte’s entry.  The Franschhoek Artisan Food Route will be launched to the media later this week.  Many of the food artisans on the Route have operated in the valley for years.  Not all the listed artisanal outlets seem true to the definition provided in the Route map: ‘Artisan producers understand and respect the raw materials with which they work. They know where these materials come from and what is particularly good about them’! A number of artisanal producers have been left off the list, Continue reading →