Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
Tag Archives: Christmas
Top chefs go green, with some red and white, for Christmas this year!
I am proud of my first professional writing assignment, being an article in the December/January issue of Classic Wine magazine. about how five top chefs ‘Celebrate Green Christmas this year, with some red and white’. Each chef is an ardent supporter of the green movement, focusing on sustainability and seasonality, which is reflected in their Christmas menus. The Christmas menus are paired with fine red and white wines.
Eat Out Top 10 Chef Jackie Cameron will serve a lunch of memories to her guests at Hartford House tomorrow, based on her own Christmas memories and those of her kitchen team. Her bread board, for example, will reflect the diversity of her team, consisting of Amasi curd called ‘Amaqueque’, with a new age spinach spoom, Indian chilli bites, ‘patta’ (a spicy mixture wrapped in amadumbi leaves, a true rainbow nation combination), Afrikaans mielie bread, and English health bread. Tel (033) 263-2713
Delaire Graff Chef Christiaan Campbell is serving a magical Christmas Eve dinner at his restaurant this evening, and diners will be assured that the meat is pasture-fed, the fish is SASSI green listed, and that the vegetables and herbs will largely come for the wine estate’s own garden. Guests will be serenaded by an accordionist while they enjoy drinks outside, and entertained by a magician whilst having their dinner. Tel (021) 885-8160
Chef Chantel Dartnall of Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient in Pretoria does the most beautiful plating, Continue reading →
Mourning Madiba: Sunday Times laughs all the way to the bank!
It should have been a surprise that the Sunday Times last weekend contained 10 full page and 16 smaller advertisements in honour of the late Nelson Mandela, given his passing on Thursday evening, and the deadlines of newspapers to ensure their distribution in the early hours of Sunday morning. It was interesting to evaluate corporate South Africa’s response, in their advertisements, to the passing of our country’s greatest leader, most quoting the wisdom of Madiba in their tributes to him.
Given the two days in which ad agencies had to book their clients’ advertisements, it is clear that they could not have created them in such a short time period, given lead times to conceptualise the ad, obtain client approval, and to produce the material. It is clear that the major corporates had their farewell ads to Madiba prepared and mothballed for the announcement of his passing.
The most touching and most genuine advertisement, in our opinion, is the one by Nando’s, demonstrating the power of consistency in advertisement layout and typeface, recognisable to any South African without its logo or branding. The most disgusting of all 
the ads is that by funeral organisers AVBOB, depicting Madiba in daisies, and shouting its pay-off line ‘We’re here for you’!
Pick ‘n Pay’s advertising disappointed, with three full page advertisements in last Sunday’s edition, the one on page 12 in the main body being a crass ‘Price Cuts’ one, amidst the remaining ads all being tributes to Madiba. Pick ‘n Pay and the media department of its ad agency could have done a better job in planning the placements, requesting its tribute ad in this slot, and its special offer ad in other sections of the paper. Cynically one could think that the retailer purposely capitalised on the above Continue reading →
How festive will the Festive Season be for Cape Town and Western Cape?
City of Cape Town Councillor for Tourism, Events, and Marketing, Grant Pascoe, has a lot of image polishing to do after he and his Tourism, Events, and Marketing Directorate were in the dog box, having to undergo an embarrassing forensic audit recently. It is annoying to read his misleading optimistic view of the Festive Season, clearly without substantiation. The same applies to a media release from Cape Town Tourism, making projections based on poor market research techniques.
The Councillor brags in an article in the City of Cape Town’s weekly newsletter, just two days after the Cape Town Tourism media release was dispatched, that Cape Town ‘is gearing up for a bumper festive season‘, undefined and unsubstantiated, adding that the City plans to position itself as the ‘Events Capital of Africa’, a surprise given that no events have been created since the Councillor established his Directorate headed by Anton Groenewald. In fact the Directorate, with an annual budget of R500 million, has not shown any sign of tourism marketing action, other than laying on some small scale soccer matches at the Cape Town Stadium, a sport which Pascoe personally is particularly fond of! Groenewald ironically was quoted recently in saying that Cape Town has lost out on a number of events due Continue reading →