The Sweet Service Award goes to Poetry in the V & A Waterfront, and its Trainee Lynn. Lynn impressed with her proactiveness in finding a different size dress at the Cavendish branch, and encouraging me to buy two dresses to make use of the special offer the clothing store was offering just before the Festive days. Dealing with a number of clothing shops at that time, Lynn’s service was far superior to that experienced at other clothing stores.
The Sweet Service Award goes to Pick ‘n Pay for its super Gift Card service, which offers a 2,5% discount for purchases of Gift Cards to the value of R20000, a service most Pick ‘n Pay clients do not know about. It does not replace the Smart Shopper card, which will be swiped for grocery purchases too. Intended as a corporate product for companies to use in rewarding their staff, it can also be bought by anyone else spending large sums of money at the retailer, as we do to pay our municipal accounts and guest house groceries, monies we would have to spend anyway but had paid by cheque via Easy Pay in the past. The process is simple: one requests an invoice from Pick ‘n Pay’s head office, pays the R20000 into their bank account, and then four cards are loaded with R5000 each, and the R500 discount Continue reading →
I haven’t driven on the N2 through Riviersonderend in years, taking a route via Robertson and Swellendam to get to the Garden Route. The town with one of the longest names in the province is clearly known for its wonderful pies, which makes a stop at the bakery there an absolute must, I have learnt. Now the pies have come to Cape Town, with Ou Meul Bakkery opening in the city, and past country customers cannot wait to try the new city counterpart.
I had read about Ou Meul Bakkery opening in Cape Town on Twitter, and popped in yesterday. Ou Meul Bakkery opened in Riviersonderend in 1984, and was taken over by Antonie Basson four years ago. The previous owners run the country branch, while Antonie is hands-on in his city branch. He is also the co-owner of Col’Cacchio in Cavendish Square. Antonie grew up in Franschhoek, and was a residential property developer before the economy turned four years ago.
Antonie said that they are best known for their light and fluffy pies, a range which includes
chicken (R16,50), venison, bobotie, pepper steak, steak, steak and kidney, spinach and feta, ham and cheese, and mutton (R24,50) pies, as well as sausage rolls. Their sweet treat baking is also popular, and the range include delicious apple turnovers, melktert, and Hertzoggies (R3,80 each), as well as pecan nut
chocolate tarts, apple crumble, and lemon meringue (R9 each). Breads are sold too, and used for making sandwiches, and include baguette (R11), ciabatta (R18), sourdough (R20), and 100% rye (R28). I enjoyed their cappuccino (R15), the beans coming from Union Hand Roasted, whose owner Gerald Childs was the only local roaster to be invited to the World Coffee Roasting Championships in Vienna two months ago, and which supplies the Seattle Coffee Company, Antonie said
A Deli section stocks a large range of Brenda’s (wife of the winemaker at Fairview, Antonie told me) branded products, included canned peaches and guavas, green fig preserve, sweet chilli, marinated olives and feta, and grape, wild black berry, and ripe fig jams, marmalade, and orange preserve. Brenda’s Himalayan Crystal salt and Gourmet grinders, mustard glaze, balsamic glaze, lemonade, and sweet red and pepper chutney are also available. Gansbaai honey, rusks, fudge, and Wedgewood nougat can also be bought.
As has become popular, Ou Meul Bakkery has a large wooden-top ‘communal table’, as
Antonie called it, with additional small tables for seating inside and outside in the generous area. A mix of wooden chairs to seat 40 guests was selected by Bone Interior Design Studio. The baking area is open plan.
Antonie also owns GoGo, having four outlets in Woodstock, St George’s Mall, the Metropolitan building, and 11 on Adderley, with an extensive menu of fresh sandwiches, salads, wraps, and breakfast foods, which are served with the same excellent Union Hand Roasted coffee.
Ou Meul Bakkery, 14 Long Street, Cape Town. Tel (021) 419-0662. www.oumeul.co.za. Twitter: @OuMeulBakkery Monday – Friday 6h30 – 17h30, Saturday 7h00 – 14h00.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: WhaleCottage
The Sweet Service Award goes to I ♥ my Laundry, for its invitation to lady lifestyle bloggers to attend its Taittinger Heart FM After Eden function yesterday evening. I ♥ my Laundry has been open for less than three months, and has already established itself as one of the most creative function venues, coming up with unusual food and beverage pairings and themes. Taittinger brand ambassador in South Africa, Mike Cox, shared that there are 20 million bottles of the champagne under maturation in Reims at any point in time, and that they produce 6 million bottles per year, with a minimum of 4 years maturation. Their product range is a Brut Reserve Non-Vintage, a Cuvé Prestige Brut Rosé, and a 2005 Brut Reserve. The function was an opportunity for Tweeters and bloggers to connect, most not having previously met.
The Sour Service Award goes to the Sunday Times, which carried a full page advertisement last week, inviting readers to an ‘Exclusive Sunday Times movie screening’ of ‘The Romantics’, at Cinema Nouveau branches in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, and at Cavendish Square in Cape Town. When they arrived at the cinema, a number of angry and very disappointed moviegoers were turned away, as the movie was fully booked. The invitation was not subject to a ‘first come first served’ clause, nor was a number given for one to call to book a seat. All one was asked to do was to bring a coupon contained in the newspaper ad to the cinema. The manager of the Cinema Nouveau Cavendish Square absolved his cinema of any responsibility, saying that it was the fault of the Sunday Times!
The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog. Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com. Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.