Caveau At the Mill | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

The recession has taken its toll, and a number of restaurants have closed down. Interestingly, a number of chefs are moving too, an unusually high staff turnover, some of the movements due to the restaurant closures. It is noticeable that many restaurants which opened earlier this year have closed their doors already. Despite the recession, new restaurants have opened or are in the process of opening (we have previously listed restaurants which opened and closed earlier this year). We will update the list of restaurant openings/closures/changes regularly, and welcome contributions:

Cape Town

* F.east Indian Restaurant has opened on the corner Long and Bloem Streets, in Cape Town

* Bean There Fair Trade Coffee has opened on Wale Street, two doors down from Honest Chocolate

* What’s On Eatery on Watson Street has closed down

* Chef Christo Pretorius, previously of De Huguenot, has started as Sous Chef at 1800 Restaurant at the Cape Royale Luxury Hotel

* Wildflour has closed down on Regent Road in Sea Point.

* 221 Waterfront has closed down in the V&A Waterfront, and a ‘concept store’ McDonald’s is opening in its space

* Dash Restaurant at the Queen Victoria Hotel has lost its Chef Oliver Cattermole (now at Le Franschhoek Hotel), Manager Darren Morgan (now at the One&Only Cape Town), and F&B Manager Alton van Biljon. Executive Chef Stephen Templeton has also left for a position in the Caribbean.

* Harbour House has opened a branch in the V & A Waterfront (right), where Fisherman’s Choice was

* Café Extrablatt has opened where shu used to be, in Green Point

* Mezepoli from Johannesburg has opened in the Nando’s space in Camps Bay

* Goloso Italian Deli and Wine Bar has opened on Regent Road in Sea Point, near KOS

* Clarke’s Bar and Dining Room has opened, two doors away from Bird’s Café on Bree Street, as an American-style diner, owned by Lyndall Maunder, ex-Superette

* A late night dinner and dance restaurant will open in the ex-Brio space, with a chef from St Tropez, and a DJ from Cannes

* Chez Chez has opened as an Espresso and Cheesecake Bar (serving 13 different cheesecakes), 3 De Lorentz Street, Tamboerskloof.

* The Black Pearl is the new name of the Tapas, Restaurant and Cocktail Bar, with new owners, of the ex-Seven Sins on Kloof Street.

* Bistro on Rose has opened at 35 Rose Street

* Rhapsody’s franchise restaurant, mainly in Pretoria, has opened next door to Café Extrablatt in Green Point, where Doppio Zero used to be, with Exceutive Chef Claire Brown, previously with Ginja and Pierneef à La Motte

* Wale Rose Lifestyle has opened in Bo-Kaap, on the corner of Wale and Rose Street, serving Cape Malay as well as ‘cosmopolitan food’.

* Andy Fenner (JamieWho?) and friends have opened Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants in Metal Lane, 8 Kloof Street, opposite McDonald’s. They are stocking Farmer Angus McIntosh’s beef, Richard Bosman’s pork, and eggs and chicken from Simply Wholesome. A barista will make coffee, and Jason will bake special chorizo muffins and bacon brioche for them. Saturday markets in the parking area outside may be on the cards.

* Renamed Blues Beach House restaurant (right) in Camps Bay has re-opened, having been reduced in size by about half, and changed its menu to ‘beach food’*

* Chef Leigh Trout, ex- Mange Tout at the Mont Rochelle Hotel, has bought Bird Café and Gourmet Eatery on Bree Street, with Kevin Mink.

* Chef Jacques de Jager, has left Salt Restaurant, setting up a consultancy. Chef Daniel Botha from Le Franschhoek Hotel has taken over his job.

* Cocoa Oola has opened on Kloof Street, where Oishii used to be

* Sommelier Neil Grant, ex-sommelier of Rust en Vrede, is opening Burrata, a new Italian restaurant in the Old Biscuit Mill in mid-February

* Societi Brasserie has opened in Constantia

* Manna Epicure is now owned by Betsie van der Merwe from Johannesburg

* Luke Dale-Roberts, just crowned Eat Out Top Chef, has opened the Pot Luck Club, a Tapas Bar next to The Test Kitchen.

* Chef Scottie Henry is the new chef at Sinatra restaurant at the Pepper Club Hotel

* The Mussel Bar has opened on the Victoria Street level of the Bay Hotel in Camps Bay.

* Peter Tempelhoff of the McGrath Collection, and The Green House in the Cellars Hohenhort Hotel specifically, has been honoured with the title Grand Chef of Relais & Chateaux. He is the first Cape Town and only the third South African chef to receive this honour.

* The Bungalow has opened as a 400-seater restaurant where La Med used to be, part of the Kovensky Group, also owning Pepenero, Paranga, The Kove and Zenzero.

* Chef Brian Smit is now at Tides Restaurant at the Bay Hotel in Camps Bay, previously with Noisy Oyster in Paternoster

* La Belle Café & Bakery has opened in the Alphen Boutique Hotel.

* 5 Rooms Restaurant has opened at the Alphen Boutique Hotel

* Gypsy Café has opened in Observatory

* Kuzina in the Cape Quarter has been sold, and whilst still serving Greek food, it is now called Rocca.

* Sabrina’s has opened where Depasco was, at the corner of Kloof and Long Street

* Arts Café has opened at Artscape.

* Chef Craig Paterson has started as Executive Chef at Dash (Queen Victoria Hotel), the V&A Hotel, and Dock House

* Caveau at the Josephine Mill has closed down

* Café Sofia in Green Point has become Slainte

* Knead has opened a large outlet in Lifestyle on Kloof, Gardens

* Mitico has opened a pizzeria and ‘spaghetteria’ on Kloof Street, where St Elmo’s used to be

* Mamma Mia in Steenberg is closing down at the end of February

* Don Pedro’s in Woodstock will re-open on 14 February, under Madame Zingara management

* Madame Zingara is said to be re-opening in its original building on Loop Street

* Tong Lok on Kloof Street has closed down.

* Mason on Kloof Street has closed down

* Buzz on Kloof Street has closed down

* Black Pearl on Kloof Street has closed down

* Myög has opened as a frozen yoghurt outlet, at 103 Kloof Street

* Thai Café has opened in the Cape Quarter

* Bruce von Pressentin has been appointed as Executive Chef at The Restaurant@Longridge

* David Higgs has resigned as Executive Chef from Radisson Blu Gautrain in Johannesburg (previously with Rust en Vrede).

* Paulaner Bräuhaus in the V&A Waterfront is closing down on Sunday 19 February!

* The Fez is closing down.

Franschhoek

* The Olive Shack at Allora in Franschhoek has closed its restaurant operation, and will only operate as a shop selling olive-related products.

* Leopard’s Leap has opened its Tasting room and Liam Tomlin Food Studio and Store outside Franschhoek

* The Kitchen and The Tasting Room has opened on Maison wine estate in Franschhoek, with Chef Arno Janse van Rensburg (ex Ginja, Myoga), and Manager Julian Smith (ex Azure, Grande Provence, Waterkloof, Pierneef a La Motte) (left)

* Haute Cabriere Cellar Restaurant has re-opened with new decor, and new chef Ryan Shell.

* Reuben’s is opening a Franschhoek branch in nhis self-owned building off the main road, and will run it concurrently until its Huguenot Road branch lease expires next year

* Franschhoek Famous Pancake House, with owner Gideon, has re-opened as a take-away pancake outlet, in Mont View Centre, next to the gym, in Fabriek Street, Franschhoek.

* Batho’s Place African Restaurant has opened in the township in Franschhoek. 082 090 8660

* Chef Oliver Cattermole, previously with Dash and What’s On Eatery, has started as Executive Chef at Le Franschhoek Hotel.

* Dieu Donné in Franschhoek has leased its restaurant to Martin and Marco from Durban, and they have renamed it Roca. Chef Jo van Staden has returned to Durban with her husband, Chef Gerard van Staden, who has returned to the Beverley Hills Hotel, after a short stint at the Pepper Club Hotel’s Sinatra restaurant.

* Chef Chris Smit of Café BonBon has resigned

* Café Le Chocolatier has opened a chocolate manufacturing and demo outlet Le Chocolatier Factory, next to its restaurant, in Franschhoek

* Bijoux Chocolates has opened on Huguenot Road in Franschhoek.

* Terbodore Coffee Roasters have opened a coffee roastery and coffee shop, at Goederust, outside Franschhoek

* The sushi restaurant has closed down

* MCC Franschhoek has opened in the Village Square, opposite the church, stocking 34 MCC’s from Franschhoek and serving food as well

* Judy Sendzul has sold her share in The Salmon Bar to Gregory Stubbs of Three Streams trout farm

* Babel Tea House has opened at Babylonstoren, serving sandwiches, cake and teas.

* Donovan Dreyer from Grande Provence has resigned and starts as Restaurant manager of Indochine at Delaire Graff on 6 January. Aldo du Plessis has taken over as Restaurant Manager at Grande Provence.

* Mon Plaisir Restaurant has moved next door to the Chamonix tasting room

Stellenbosch

* De Huguenot Restaurant and Harry Q Bar have closed. The De Huguenot Estate will concentrate on weddings and events only.

* Cavallo restaurant is said to open on the stud farm on R44, between Stellenbosch and Somerset West, in 2012 or 2013

* Chef Anri Diener has left Majeka House, and Chef Tanja Kruger from De Huguenot Restaurant has taken over her position

* Vanessa Quellec has joined Wild Peacock Food Emporium, to promote their Valrhona Chocolates

* The owners of Sweet have returned to Sweden, and Dimitri has bought it and renamed it Dimi’s.

* Manager Chris Oliver and Chef Marissa Chandansing of Johan’s@Longridge have left, and will start a new restaurant, details as yet undisclosed

* Casparus will close between 24 December and 9 January

* Laurille and Lynne from Olivello Restaurant on Marianne wine estate outside Stellenbosch are handing over the ownership of the restaurant to Alex and Jane Bradbeck on 23 January.

* Cupcake on Dorp Street has closed down, and Dorpstraat Deli opens at the end of February

* De Oude Bank Bakkerij has opened a bar, serving Bartinney wines, and craft beers.

Paarl

* Chef Matthew Gordon has opened Harvest, a new restaurant at Laborie

* Peaches and Cream on the Main Road in Paarl has been taken over by Anica Bester

* The Spice Route Restaurant has opened on the ex-Seidelberg, now belonging to Fairview.

Somerset West

* Events manager Mandy Smith and Restaurant Manager Allan Ware have been retrenched at Waterkloof

Hermanus/Overberg

* Mediterrea in Hermanus has changed its name to Grilleri

* Patron Chef Stefan Louw has taken over the running of Heaven on Newton Johnson wine estate in the Hemel en Aarde wine valley.

* Ex-Hermanos chef/owner Wayne Spencer is now at Burgundy in Hermanus

* Simone’s Restaurant has opened in Napier

* Tipples Bar and Grill has opened in Hermanus

* Rivendell Estate and Bistro has opened as a restaurant and winetasting venue on the road between Hermanus and the N2, near the Kleinmond turn-off.

Garden Route

* Katarina’s has opened at the Kurland Hotel.

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

Sotano by Caveau Mediterranean restaurant opened officially today in the newly renovated funky La Splendida Hotel on Beach Road in Mouille Point, near the lighthouse. Its name has caused confusion on Twitter, as it has been referred to both as Sotano (meaning ‘cellar’ in Spanish) and Sontano (the till slip spells it this way). Given that the name is to link to Caveau (‘cellar’ in French), the spelling must be the former. However, there is no cellar visible or accessible to patrons at Sotano!

The restaurant is operated by Caveau, a Wine Bar and Deli in Heritage Square on Bree Street, and At the Mill in Newlands. The owners are the trio of Jean-Yves Muller, Brendon Crew and Marc Langlois. It is a surprise that Newmark Hotels, who operate the new hotel, has chosen to contract out the running of the restaurant to Caveau, when it has restaurant interests in OYO (in its V&A Hotel) and Salt Restaurant (in its Ambassador Hotel). Talk on the street is that Caveau has lost its charm and attraction, and lots of its good staff.

General Manager of the restaurant is Bruce Philemon, who has worked at Buitenverwachting as Restaurant Manager, at Steenberg as Food & Beverage Manager, and as sommelier on cruise ships, he told me. Chef Philip Myburgh was previously at Caveau, and before that at 48 on Hout Street, which no longer exists. He was enthusiastic about his focus on ‘authentic Mediteranean’ food that will be served at Sotano, with an emphasis on seafood and shellfish.

The wooden deck leading to the pavement, covered to protect patrons from the sun and wind (the south-easter can pump in that corner of Cape Town), with wooden chairs and tables locally made from “French wine barrels”, the imprint on each says, is clearly the most popular space on a good summer’s day. The problem with the outside seating is that non-smokers have to endure the smoking habits of others. The beauty of the interior design could be lost to those patrons sitting outside, Inhouse Interiors having constructed a fascinating bar in white with coloured bar stools. The restaurant section caters for a substantial number of patrons inside, on rainy and windy days. For ambiance, the restaurant could have done with music.

The restaurant opens at 7h00 every morning and will be serving breakfast until 11h00 every morning. There are eleven breakfast options, and they seem expensive, but the prices can only be judged on portion sizes. A health breakfast of muesli, yoghurt and honey costs R50; a charcuterie and cheese platter sounds an interesting breakfast option, at R 55; a salmon bagel with chive cream cheese and smoked salmon costs R60; French toast with fruit and mascarpone (R 55); full English breakfast costs R65; Eggs Benedict R60; and omelettes range from R58 – R70. After 11h00 the blackboards offer snacking, as well as lunch and dinner options, until 23h00 every day of the week. The staff are neatly dressed in white branded golf shirts and in grey aprons, with either Anthonij Rupert or Paul Cluver branding.

The Mediterranean menu is written onto two blackboards, and the writing is not easy to read for all menu items. My eye caught the expensive Caprese salad at R 82 immediately, and in general the prices seem on the high side. Chef Philip explained that the mozzarella has been sourced from an Italian in Cape Town, who makes the mozzarella from cow’s milk, and the full 100g ball is served in the salad. Greek salad costs R58. Oysters cost R 18 each. Vitello tomato costs (R65), Beef carpaccio (R60), Tomato salad (R60), Fish soup (R70) and Gazpacho (R40). The Gazpacho was spicy, and consisted of raw tomatoes, baguette slices, red and yellow pepper, as well as herbs, red wine vinegar and lemon juice blended together to make a thick refreshing summer’s day soup, a little on the oily side. Mains range between R98 (chicken supreme) and R125 (for grilled salmon and poached egg), seafood paella and crumbed veal being the only other options. One can order flat bread at R20, with hummus (R10) or Tzatziki (R8). An avocado and feta pizza costs R70. For dessert one can order fresh watermelon, a summertime treat one rarely sees on a menu (R25), as well as nougat glaze (R28) or lemon tart (R30).

Teething problems were the Cappuccino machine not working yesterday (although the hotel has a 70 % occupancy, and has been open since last week, and invitations on Twitter encouraged one to try the restaurant ahead of its official opening), and the toilet paper running out without any spare supplies. Waiter training was happening in front of patrons. A group of four next to me wanted to order a bottle of Pierre Jourdan Brut RosÃ© (R232), but the waiter offered to bring it by the glass, and the manager had to be called for assistance. The winelist is not yet ready, but information on the winelist will be added to this review after it is finalised tomorrow.

POSTSCRIPT 16/11: I went back to Sotano by Caveau this evening, to finalise the winelist information for this blogpost. When I looked for a table on the deck, I was blocked by Caveau/Sotano by Caveau Operations Manager Ross Stillford, who told me that the three owners of Caveau have decided that I am not allowed to eat at Sotano by Caveau, nor at Caveau, ever again because of the review I wrote about Sotano by Caveau. To add insult to injury, co-owner Brendon Crew Tweeted about this incident, referred to me as a “bitch” in a Tweet, and continued in disparaging and defamatory vein in subsequent Tweets. Not a good start to a restaurant that has only officially been open for less than 24 hours!

POSTSCRIPT 22/11: I have managed to obtain details of the Sotano by Caveau winelist. Seperated into “Bubbles, Whites, Rose, Reds, Desserts”, it details vintages but not region of origin. Two sparkling wines (Graham Beck Brut – R49/R195 and Pierre Jourdan Brut – R 38/R150) are offered by the glass. No champagnes are served. About ten options per variety are offered, and each variety offers wines-by-the-glass. Sauvignon Blancs range from R28/R110 for Haut Espoir to R51/R205 for the Warwick Professor Black. I was interested to see the name of a wine (Parlotones Push me to the Floor), a white blend sold at R116, I had not heard of before, and its red blend ‘sister’ Parlotones Giant Mistake. Shiraz options range from R25/R110 to R620 for De Trafford CWG 1999. Magnums are available for Vriesenhof Grenache 2007 (R650), Jordan Cobblers Hill 2000 (R1000) and Meerlust Rubicon 2001 (R1250).

POSTSCRIPT 2/12: Neil Markovitz, the owner of the La Splendida Hotel in which Sotana by Caveau is located, was most apologetic about the Sotano/Brendon Crew incident when I saw him at the Newmark Hotels function two days ago.

POSTSCRIPT 4/12: Today we went to have breakfast at Caveau, to try out the restaurant, given the many negative comments it attracted to this blog post. We were served by the charming Lilly, who brought the breakfast board to the table, and took our order of scrambled eggs (R19) and cappuccino. The prices were most reasonable, and the coffee was served in Origin-branded cups I have not seen anywhere else. We were shocked at how run-down the place looked on the outside, with paint peeling off the walls, the chairs wobbly, the tables and chairs not having been varnished for ages, and the Vin d’Orrance umbrellas dirty. It generally smacked of neglect. Before we could be served our egg orders, we were asked to leave by the Caveau Operations Manager Ross Stillford, but not before we paid for our coffees!

Sotano by Caveau, 121 Beach Road, Mouille Point, Cape Town. Tel 0711962660 www.sotanobycaveau.co.za (website under construction) Monday – Sunday. 7h00 – 23h00

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