Tag Archives: cellars Hohenhort

Festive Christmas and New Year restaurant celebrations in Cape Town and Winelands!

Festive Season 12 ApostlesChristmas Eve

*   La Mouette, Cape Town: 6-course dinner R445.  Tel (021) 433-0856

*   Savour, African Pride 15 on Orange, Cape Town: 5-courses R450. Tel (021) 469-8000

*   The Conservatory at Cellars Hohenhort, Cape Town:  6-course dinner R 750 p.p.  Tel (021) 794-5535

*   Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa, Cape Town:  4-course R955 plus eggnog. Tel (021) 437-9000

*   Makaron at Majeka House, Stellenbosch: 4-course dinner R 55o p.p.  Tel (021) 880-1550

*   Bosman’s at Grande Roche, Paarl:   5-course dinner with pianist R1395 p.p. Tel (021) 863-5100 Continue reading →

Cape Town and Winelands restaurant and chef changes continue!

Borage Bistro Interior 2 Whale CottageAn unusually high number of new restaurants has opened or will do so in the next month or two.  There have never been so many chefs leaving their employers to start their own restaurants, or to join other employers!  This list of restaurant openings and closings and restaurant staff movements is updated continuously, as we receive new information:

Restaurant Openings

*    Borage Bistro has opened in Portside, with Chef Frank Marks, previously of The Fat Duck, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, La Colombe, The Test Kitchen, and The Pot Luck Club

*   Chef Chris Erasmus has opened his own restaurant Foliage in Franschhoek, having previously been at Pierneef à La Motte.

*   Idiom Wines is said to be opening a restaurant.

*   The Butcher Shop & Grill has opened next to Sotano in Mouille Point.

*   Michael Townsend (La Parada, Lucky Fish, Harbour House emporium) is opening a steak restaurant in Muizenberg in November.

*   Neil Grant and his business partner Barry Engelbrecht (of Burrata) are opening a new restaurant Bocca on the corner of Bree Continue reading →

Eat Out Top 10 Chef Peter Tempelhoff creates Table Mountain dish for World Design Capital 2014!

WDC 001b (1024x750) Dessert by Peter TempelhoffChef Peter Tempelhoff, of Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant The Greenhouse at the Cellars-Hohenhort, has created a special dessert he calls ‘Table Mont Blanc’, in honour of Cape Town hosting World Design Capital 2014.

I received information about the dish from Cape Town Design NPC, the company managing Cape Town’s role as World Design Capital 2014, in its latest newsletter, which shared the news and the ingredients of the dish, but did not add a visual.  I was impressed with the speed of response from both Eclipse PR, handling the PR locally for World Design Capital 2014, and from The Greenhouse, despite the restaurant being closed for its winter break.  Very impressive was Chef Peter calling, to establish exactly what I required, not having seen the newsletter with the information about his dish.

The ‘Table Mont Blanc‘ dessert represents Table Mountain, according to Chef Peter, ‘but only abstractly… as we would rather leave a bit to the imagination.  The real symbiosis between the dessert and the actual mountain is in the ingredients.  Each integral part of the dessert is flavoured with an ingredient found on the slopes of the mountain’.   The elements of the dessert are the following: Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 23 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  MailOnline has written a flattering article about Franschhoek in the main, entitled ‘Touring South Africa… one sip at a time. Discover a wine taster’s paradise on a trip to Cape Town and Franschhoek‘.  The writer shares her experience on the hop-on hop-off Franschhoek Wine Tram, sampling the wines of Mont Rochelle, La Couronne, and Môreson, eating at The Tasting Room, lunching at La Petite Ferme, and visiting Delaire Graff with its diamond boutique and Tretchikoff’s ‘Chinese Girl‘ (which she defines as being in Franschhoek too!).  In Cape Town she stayed at both the Cape Grace and Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa, went up Table Mountain and to Robben Island, lunched at Baia in the V&A Waterfront, had afternoon tea at the Mount Nelson, bought art at Ebony, and dined at The Pot Luck Club.

*   The Top 12 Shiraz wines have been announced in the 2014 Shiraz Challenge, organised by Shiraz SA, an association which promotes the image of our local Shiraz, and its blending potential.  A total of 191 Shiraz wines was evaluated, and the process audited.   The Top 12 Shiraz list is Black Elephant Vintners Amistad Syrah 2012, Boschkloof Louis 57 Syrah 2012 and its Syrah 2012, Continue reading →