Tag Archives: Cape Town International Jazz Festival

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 28 March

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Construction of the new tourist-friendly cruise terminal in the Cape Town port could begin at the end of this year, with tenders being sought.

*   The Cape Town International Jazz Festival is estimated to generate R520 million for the economy of the country this weekend, with 35000 jazz lovers attending two nights of local and international jazz, sold out two months ago already, reports The New Age.

*   OR Thambo International handled more international passenger arrivals (3,9 million out of 4,8 million) in 2013 than all other local airports combined, reports The New Age.  International arrivals at Cape Town International were reported to be 750000 in the past year.  While Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth are both designated as ‘International Airport’, they only handled 31 and 216 international passengers, respectively, in the past year!

*   The 20th anniversary of our country’s democracy will be celebrated in April with a month-long celebration of South African wines in Hong Kong.  On 16 April a South African Wine Festival will offer 150 wines to taste at Hotel ICON. South African Sommelier Association Chairman Neil Grant will lead a wine pairing dinner at Above & Beyond restaurant on 25 April.  The Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 13 March

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Cape Town will be jazzing it up on the last weekend of the month, with not only the sold-out Cape Town International Jazz Festival taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 28 – 30 March, but the inaugural Sounds Fringe Festival will offer 60 performances between 27 – 30 March.  The list of performers includes  The Rudimentals, Spencer Mbadu, Dan Shout, Gerald Clark, Beatenberg, Sterling EQ, Saudiq Khan, Blackie Tempi, and Touchwood. Norwegian trumpeter Arne Hiorth will perform with a choir of 100 singers.  Venues are concentrated around Wale Street, at Mandela Rhodes Place, The Twankey Bar, The Reserve at The Taj, Motherland Coffee Company, The Crypt Jazz Restaurant, the Iziko Slave Lodge, and Inn on the Square. The goal of Festival founder Frank Gormley is to position Cape Town as a city of musical note.

*   Anna Trapido has been appointed as Editor of Rossouw’s Restaurants, the guide started by JP Rossouw but which he cannot continue with due to his duties as recently appointed Publisher of Platter’s wine guide, and will also handle this role for Rossouw’s Restaurants.  Diners Club bought both the Platter’s and Rossouw’s Restaurants guides last year. Trapido is a former Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant judge, and wrote ‘Hunger for Freedom’ about the food which the late Nelson Mandela liked to eat.  (received via media release from Africa Sky)

*   Cape Town restaurant prices are not increasing because there are more tourists in town, but because food prices Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 12 March

WhaleTalesTourism, food, and Wine news headlines

*   Chef Heston Blumenthal, with South African roots, is opening ‘The Perfectionists’ Café’  in Terminal 2 at Heathrow, linking to his TV series ‘In Search of Perfection’.  The 130 seater restaurant menu will feature burgers and pizza with a ‘gourmet twist‘, a ‘multi-sensory bar’, and the world’s first wood-fire pizza oven in an airport.

*   Stellenbosch American Express Wine Routes attended its first ITB travel expo in Berlin last week, with Stellenbosch 360 and the Wine Routes represented, positioning Stellenbosch as the ‘ideal hub from where (sic) to explore Cape Town and the Western Cape’.   Wine and culinary tourists tend to stay in a destination for longer and spend more, making this segment an important target for Stellenbosch. (received via media release from Random Hat Communications)

*   Transforming the N1 and N2 into Toll roads is being threatened for the Winelands again, after the City of Cape Town managed to obtain an interim High Court interdict against the implementation of the toll roads last year.  Sanral is justifying the toll roads on its need to upgrade the roads, at a cost of R10 billion, which it cannot raise Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 10 March

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Nedbank has rolled out its Pocket POS in Sport Taxis and City Cabs in Cape Town, and other metered taxi operators in Durban and Johannesburg, to allow customers to pay by credit and debit card in the taxi.

*   Clem Sunter and Justice Malala will speak at a Breakfast session on 10 June at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on ‘State of the Nation’, looking at the next five years post the General Election. Cost R895. (received via e-mail from Front Foot Events)

*   Fourpure Brewery in the UK has won a competition to brew the perfect ‘Roux Brew‘ as a house beer to be served in the top-rated Landau, La Gavroche, and Roux at Parliament Square restaurants of Chef Michel Roux Jnr in London.   ‘The winning brew featured hand-zested fresh pink grapefruit zest, fresh Sicilian Navelina orange zest and coriander seed’, good for pairing with Continue reading →