Chris von ZUlmenstein | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Tasting Menus have had a reputation in our country to offer endless numbers of courses (over 20 at The Test Kitchen in pre-Covid Lockdown times), with a price ticket to match!

Seeing the prices charged by Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen at his new Restaurant KLEIN JAN at Tswalu, as well as his Innovation Studio pop-up in Cape Town, I did some research to check what is being charged at some of our top restaurants. I have listed the number of courses and the prices, and then calculated an average price per course with and without wines..

The Test Kitchen and Restaurant KLEIN JAN offer the most expensive Tasting Menus on a total price as well as on a per course basis. It is a shame that the La Colombe Group Menus are almost all designed according to the same formula. Interesting too is that most top Restaurants charge a Premium on their Vegetarian/Vegan Tasting Menus. Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 2 is the talk of the country, and we have another four weeks of viewing to look forward to. To warm things up a little, we have launched two competitions, the first being a prediction of who will win MasterChef SA in episode 26.

We are also running a weekly prize for the correct prediction of who our readers think will be chopped out of the MasterChef SA. For the correct prediction of who will leave MasterChef SA in episode 20 on 14 August, Pierneef à La Motte has generously offered a R500 voucher for two, making the correct prediction. The restaurant was featured in episode 10, when Chef Chris Erasmus conducted a MasterClass, preparing a terrine.

Pierneef à La Motte opened almost three years ago, and has made the Eat Out Top 20 Restaurant shortlist two years running. It pays homage to the master artist JH Pierneef Continue reading →