On Tuesday I was invited to attend the hand-over ceremony of StreetSmart SA, of the monies raised by the voluntary R5 added to the bill of 92 restaurants around the country. The more than R1 million raised nationally goes to social upliftment projects for street children. Continue reading →
Tag Archives: Bizerca
‘Rossouw’s by Diners Club 2015 South African Restaurant Guide’ is back, 13 Cape Town and Winelands 5* restaurants!
After a one year absence, the Rossouw’s Restaurant Guide is back, with a new name, new sponsor, new editor, and a new methodology of recognising top restaurants. Restaurants in Cape Town and the Winelands still dominate the 5-star restaurant list by far, with 13 out of 20 restaurants in the Western Cape, out of 300 restaurants evaluated in total!
Yesterday ‘Rossouw’s by Diners Club International 2015 South African Restaurant Guide’ was launched in Johannesburg, now sponsored by Diners Club, the same company also sponsoring the Platter’s by Diners Club 2015 South African Wine Guide. Anna Trapido has been the editor for just more than half a year, writing individual reviews about restaurants on their website, and has compiled the new Guide, awarding twenty restaurants with 5 star ratings nationally, another change, as the Rossouw’s restaurants only achieved a maximum of 3 stars in the past, when it was run by previous owner JP Rossouw. The publication format now matches that of the Platter’s Guide. A 5-star rated restaurant is defined as a ‘consistently superlative restaurant in its category – with no/almost no issues’! To obtain a 5-star rating the restaurant had to achieve a score in excess of 90%, errors in food being unbalanced, or wines and foods not matching, counting against a restaurant, for example. Every element of the restaurant visit, from making the telephonic booking to the departure, was scored. All meals were paid for by Anna’s reviewers, all largely unknown Continue reading →
Western Cape dominates Rossouw’s Restaurants 2012 3-star restaurant list!
JP Rossouw has published his latest restaurant guide, and has awarded his top 3-star restaurant rating to the following restaurants, 18 out of the 23 restaurants being located in the Western Cape:
CAPE
· 95 Keerom (CBD, Cape Town)
· Aubergine (CBD, Cape Town)
· Bizerca Bistro (CBD, Cape Town)
· La Colombe (Constantia, Cape Town)
· Greenhouse, The (Constantia, Cape Town)
· Roundhouse, The (Camps Bay, Cape Town)
· Île de Païn (Knysna, Garden Route)
· Mariana’s (Stanford, Garden Route)
· Zachary’s (Knysna, Garden Route)
· Overture (Stellenbosch, Winelands)
· Rust en Vrede (Stellenbosch, Winelands)
· Terroir (Stellenbosch, Winelands) Continue reading →
Charlize Theron puts Cape Town on the map in ‘Mad Max:The Fury’!
Charlize Theron is causing a stir in Cape Town, currently filming the latest ‘Mad Max: The Fury’. She is attracting attention at local eateries, with her ultra-short hair, and her baby Jackson and mother Gerda in tow.
Charlize has been seen eating at Bistrot Bizerca, Beluga, and Café Caprice, and drinking imported champagne, a shame given our country’s excellent bubblies, as will be on show at the Cap Classique and Champagne Festival in Franschhoek on Saturday and Sunday.
South Africa is increasingly attractive to international film makers, and the new ‘Mad Max’ movie is one of the largest productions to be filmed here. ‘Safe House’, with Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington, was almost exclusively filmed in Cape Town, whereas ‘Mad Max’ has been extensively filmed in Namibia. Other big film productions have been attracted to our country’s beautiful locations, competitive pricing, favourable exchange rate, and talent , which have also included ‘Chronicle‘, ‘Blood Diamond’, and ‘Lord of War’. The film industry generates R7 billion per annum to the economy. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) incentive makes it 40% cheaper to shoot in South Africa than in Europe, reports the Sunday Times, encouraging large-budget international film and TV productions, which not only create employment for our film industry crew, but also help to market our country to cinema goers around the world.
The Cape Town Film Commission has seen a 20% increase in enquiries for film and TV shoots in the past year, and the Cape’s film industry was valued at R5 billion in the past financial year. With the Cape Town Film Studios, and its abundance of beautiful location, Cape Town could become one of the top five film production locations, according to the Cape Film Commission CEO Denis Lillie.
Having actors like Charlize Theron in Cape Town, snapped by the paparazzi and featured in international magazines, as well as their roles in international movies, are excellent opportunities for Brand Cape Town to be marketed internationally.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage